It is a reasonable assumption that universal properties of natural languages are not accidental. They occur either because they are underwritten by genetic code, because they assist in language processing or language learning, or due to some combination of the two. In this paper we investigate one such language universal: the suffixing preference across the world’s languages, whereby inflections tend to be added to the end of words. A corpus analysis of child‐directed speech in English found that suffixes were more (...) accurate at cuing the grammatical category of the root word than were prefixes. An artificial language experiment found that there was a learning advantage for suffixes over prefixes in terms of grammatical categorization within an artificial language. The results are consistent with an account of language universals that originate in general purpose learning mechanisms. (shrink)

The existential and universal quantifiers in Japanese both consist of two morphemes: an indeterminate pronoun and a quantificational suffix. This paper examines the distributional characteristics of these suffixes (ka for the existential quantifier and mo for the universal quantifier). It is shown that ka can appear in a wider range of structural positions than mo can. This difference receives explanation on semantic grounds. I propose that mo is a generalized quantifier. More specifically, I assume that the phrase headed by mo (...) is of type ${\langle\langle\alpha, t\rangle, t}$ . Because of its type, mo cannot appear in certain structural positions without causing type mismatch. Ka, on the other hand, is a choice function variable of type ${\langle\alpha/t, \alpha\rangle}$ , and due to its type, its distribution is not as restricted. One of the consequences of this analysis is that there are no quantifier raising or type shifting operations in Japanese that would adequately obviate type mismatch. (shrink)

This paper investigates lexical mass-to-count and count-to-mass operators in Slavic languages, primarily Russian and Ukrainian, by exploring the distribution and semantic contribution of the suffix -_in_/-_yn_. The focus is on two uses of the suffix: the singulative turns mass nouns like _gorox_ ‘pea’ into count, denoting sets of natural units (e.g., _gorošina_ ‘a pea’), and the massifier applies to count nouns, such as _kon’_ ‘horse’, and turns them into mass (e.g., _konina_ ‘horsemeat’). It is proposed that each use of -_in_/-_yn_ (...) contributes a partition operator which triggers a new division into units of the original material part. It is further argued that the singulative and the massifier should be unified, given their (i) phonological identity, (ii) shared grammatical properties, and (iii) common semantic core. Under the proposed analysis, there is a single suffix that functions as an underspecified lexical partition shifter. (shrink)

Hethitisch ◦̯uant- und Verwantes: Untersuchungen zur Vertretung des indogermanischen Possessiv- suffixes *-went- in den anatolischen Sprachen. By Michael Georg Maier. Dresdner Beiträge zur Hethitologie, vol. 42. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2013. Pp. xix + 304. €78.

The study investigates how speakers use ‘nai-expressions’ nai as in shabere-nai ‘cannot speak’ and ik-anai ‘will/do not go’) in naturally occurring conversation. The data demonstrate that although negative utterances have been considered to be ‘grammatical’ constructions that simply negate the truth value of a proposition, nai-expressions show formulaic tendencies and serve not only to express a speaker’s emotional personal stance on a particular story/event but also to create interpersonal space with other conversation participant and to involve them in the story/event. (...) The patterns which emerged from the data are quite similar to those in Ono and Thompson’s study on Japanese adjectives. As they pointed out, some of nai-expressions in the data may also be re-analyzed as adjectives. (shrink)

Studies in conversation analysis have shown that in assessments, various linguistic resources are used to express epistemic stance in ordinary conversation. In Korean conversation, although the evidential and non-evidential functions of sentence-ending suffixes are well recognized, little research has been done on their relation to epistemic stance and their use in assessments. In this study, using naturally-occurring conversation data and the CA framework, I analyze 59 cases of a speaker’s first assessment regarding his/her interlocutor and 49 responses to these first (...) assessments. I argue that in Korean assessment pairs, the evidential and non-evidential SE suffixes are used as a resource for expressing epistemic stance. The results show that 74.4% of the first assessments were marked with an evidential SE suffix whereas 71.4% of the second assessments were marked with a non-evidential SE suffix. Furthermore, certain evidential SE suffixes are used as a resource to convey a downgraded epistemic stance in first assessments whereas certain non-evidential SE suffixes are used to express epistemic primacy in second assessments. (shrink)

This article offers an analysis of the Spanish derivative morphology potential for graduating attitudinal meanings regarding the expression of political crisis and of contested meanings of human rights violations in the discourse of recent Chilean History. This study is framed in the typological principles of Systemic Functional Linguistics and in the appraisal system, particularly in the sub-system of graduation. The analysis demonstrates on one hand the productive role of the suffixes -ada and -azo when graduating attitudinal meanings regarding the expression (...) of social and political crisis in the discourse of history. These suffixes can graduate at the rank of the morpheme, word and group and also be involved in an inter-stratal tension that is functioning as an experiential grammatical metaphor that works in combination with a lexical metaphor intensifying time and events in an incongruent manner. On the other hand, the analysis shows that when dealing with traumatic and argued meanings of state terror, extreme degree suffixes -ísimo/a/s play a critical role in the intensification of qualities and in the quantification as amount and extent in a congruent manner. Spanish suffixes can graduate by sub-modification in the lower rank of a word structure instead of at the group structure contributing to the building of constellation of patterns of evoked and inscribed interpersonal meanings in the discourse. (shrink)

L'analyse d'un corpus exhaustif des verbes espagnols montre que les suffixes infinitivaux -er et -ir dans cette langue sont en distribution complémentaire : c'est la forme phonologique de la voyelle préthématique qui en détermine le choix. Nous montrons qu'une analyse en termes de métaphonie ne rend pas compte de leur distribution, et proposons une solution en termes d'harmonie vocalique progressive : les suffixes infinitivaux -er et -ir sont des allomorphes d'un même morphème ; leur sélection dépend du timbre de la (...) voyelle préthématique. (shrink)

현장은 인도어에서 추상명사를 형성하는 접미어 -tā, -tva 등을 한역에 반영하기 위해서 -性을 덧붙이 복합어를 조어하는 방식으로 체계적인 번역을 시도하였다. 인도원전 언어에 있어서 -tā, -tva 등의 접미사가 덧붙여짐으로써 실체나 본질 등의 함의가 창출되는 경우가 드물게 있기는 하다. 하지만 대부분의 경우 그러한 함의를 가지지 않는 단순한 추상명사까지도 -性을 덧붙인 복합어로 번역함으로써 현장은 본질 혹은 본성의 개념이 일반적인 추상명사에까지도 확장 적용되게 되는 결정적인 계기를 마련하게 되었다. 이렇게 본성 혹은 본질의 함의를 일반적인 사물 혹은 개념에까지 적용하는 사고 방식은 이후 성리학이 人性과 天理 등 주요개념 (...) 위에 윤리학적 존재론을 형성하는데 중요한 디딤돌이 되었다. (shrink)