Competing ditransitive constructions in Enets

IF 0.6 3区文学 0 LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS

Functions of Language Pub Date : 2020-11-06 DOI:10.1075/fol.17061.kha

O. Khanina, A. Shluinsky

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract This paper reports on a corpus study of two ditransitive constructions in Enets (Uralic, Samoyedic): the standard ditransitive construction and the so-called Destinative construction involving a specific destinative nominal morpheme. We suggest that the mutual distribution of the two competing constructions depends on referential properties of theme and information structure of the clause. The Destinative construction is used when a theme is indefinite, the standard ditransitive construction is used when a theme is definite. Most often, definiteness of a theme is also accompanied by specificity of a recipient; the combination of an indefinite theme and a non-specific recipient has not been attested at all. There is also a small number of cases when the standard ditransitive construction is used in clauses with an indefinite theme: in all such cases recipients are non-standard from the information structure point of view, they are either topical, emphatic, or extraposed. We suggest that both contexts of usage of the standard ditransitive construction can be explained if we describe its main discourse function as highlighting the known referents in discourse, be it definite themes or topical, emphatic, or extraposed recipients. The main discourse function of the destinative construction is then introducing new referents in the theme position.

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Enets中的竞争性及物结构

摘要本文报道了对埃涅茨语(乌拉尔语、萨摩耶德语)中两种不同及物结构的语料库研究:标准及物结构和涉及特定目的名素的所谓目的结构。我们认为两个竞争结构的相互分布取决于主位的指称性质和子句的信息结构。目的语结构在主语不确定时使用，标准及物结构在主语确定时使用。大多数情况下，主题的明确性也伴随着接受者的特殊性;不确定的主题和不具体的接受者的结合根本没有得到证实。在少数情况下，标准的及物结构也会用于主题不确定的从句中:从信息结构的角度来看，在所有这些情况下，接受者都是非标准的，他们要么是主题的，要么是强调的，要么是附加的。我们认为，如果我们将标准及物结构的主要话语功能描述为强调话语中已知的指涉物，无论是确定的主题还是局部的、强调的或附加的接受者，则可以解释标准及物结构的两种使用语境。目的语结构的主要语篇功能是在主位上引入新的指称物。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Functions of Language Multiple-

CiteScore

1.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Functions of Language is an international journal of linguistics which explores the functionalist perspective on the organisation and use of natural language. It encourages the interplay of theory and description, and provides space for the detailed analysis, qualitative or quantitative, of linguistic data from a broad range of languages. Its scope is broad, covering such matters as prosodic phenomena in phonology, the clause in its communicative context, and regularities of pragmatics, conversation and discourse, as well as the interaction between the various levels of analysis. The overall purpose is to contribute to our understanding of how the use of languages in speech and writing has impacted, and continues to impact, upon the structure of those languages.