LinguaPub Date : 2025-05-29DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103961
Tianyu Zhao, Ye Yuan
{"title":"Syntax, scope, and semantic identity: a genuine-sluicing approach to multiple sluicing in Mandarin Chinese","authors":"Tianyu Zhao, Ye Yuan","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103961","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103961","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates multiple sluicing in Mandarin Chinese (MC), proposing a syntactic analysis that integrates <em>wh</em>-movement and TP deletion within a dual-probe system for <em>wh</em>-fronting. We argue that <em>wh</em>-probing in MC sluicing is sensitive to two kinds of features—[+topic] and [+focus]—of TopP and FocP in the left periphery of CP. Complex <em>wh</em>-phrases are privileged in movement due to their additional [+topic] feature, distinguishing them from bare <em>wh</em>-phrases. This dual-feature analysis is demonstrated to provide a unified account of the intricate distribution of <em>shi</em> in MC sluicing: <em>shi</em> is obligatory before bare <em>wh</em>-arguments but optional with complex <em>wh</em>-phrases. We further examine two asymmetric cases of pair-list (PL) multiple sluicing. To explain how different scope interpretations capture PL readings in multiple sluicing, we adopt a semantic approach based on implicit Question under Discussion (QuD)-equivalence. Finally, we address the unacceptability of PL multiple sluicing in <em>wh-</em>questions containing universal quantifiers. We attribute this to the costly process of super quantifier raising, required to ensure that the quantifier phrase takes a wider scope. The findings suggest that MC sluicing constitutes a ‘genuine’ clausal ellipsis operation rather than a ‘pseudo’ one.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"324 ","pages":"Article 103961"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144170678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LinguaPub Date : 2025-05-27DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103971
Hilde Hasselgård
{"title":"Verbal group complexes in Norwegian","authors":"Hilde Hasselgård","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103971","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103971","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article presents a corpus-based study of hypotactic verbal group complexes (VGCs) in Norwegian with the form ‘verb^infinitive marker^verb’, for instance <em>begynne å lese</em> (‘begin to read’). The aims are to identify the meanings expressed by such VGCs in terms of the primary and secondary verbs that occur in them, thereby illuminating the nature of the verbs that occur in such VGCs and any additional meanings that arise from the collocation of primary and secondary verb. Particular attention is paid to VGCs expressing conation, time phase, and usuality. Findings show that meaning categories are unequally represented in the corpus in terms of frequency. A large majority of VGCs express material processes. While some of the VGC meanings overlap with those of tense, aspect or modality, others go beyond these systems. VGCs can thus be seen as a supplement to the systems of tense and modality in that they can include meanings in the verbal group that are not fully grammaticalized. In addition, some of the meaning categories are associated with particular semantic prosodies, especially involving ‘effort’, ‘difficulty’ and ‘voluntary action’.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"324 ","pages":"Article 103971"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144147880","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How does language shape formation of concepts? Empirical investigation of generics and conditionals in French","authors":"Joanna Blochowiak , Cristina Grisot , Emmanuel Sander","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103959","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103959","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores how language influences concept formation, specifically how linguistic expressions signal what is central or essential to forming concepts of kinds. Prior research on preschool children suggests that generics (e.g., “Birds fly”) create strong associations between a kind and its properties, signaling essential features. To gain a deeper understanding of how language influences concept formation and its developmental trajectory, we examined two linguistic expressions—generics and conditionals—and compared them to a third type: demonstrative sentences, i.e., sentences with the pronoun <em>this</em> (e.g., “This bird flies”). We hypothesize that, beyond generics, conditionals may also act as a cue indicating that certain information is essential in concept formation. Three French-speaking groups—late adolescents, young adults, and adults—participated in an elicitation task. While Experiment 3 (adults) confirmed the importance of both generics and conditionals in concept formation, Experiments 1 and 2 (late adolescents and young adults) found no significant differences between the linguistic expressions. These results indicate that conditionals, generics, and demonstratives influence the conceptualization of kinds in a comparable way in late adolescents and young adults whereas at adulthood conditionals and generics are strongest cues for considering a given property as essential to a kind.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"324 ","pages":"Article 103959"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144139329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LinguaPub Date : 2025-05-26DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103938
Bei Zhou, Matthias Gerner
{"title":"The typology of degree marking","authors":"Bei Zhou, Matthias Gerner","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103938","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103938","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Most languages involve up to seven degree constructions in which adjectives can occur: <em>bare</em>, <em>intensified</em>, <em>mitigative</em>, <em>superlative</em>, <em>superior</em>, <em>inferior,</em> and <em>equative</em>. In a sample of 157 languages, we classify and quantify the lexical, synthetic, and analytic marking strategies of each degree construction. From this classification, we derive an implicational hierarchy (Bare < Equative < Superior < Superlative < Intensified < Inferior < Mitigative) which predicts the relative markedness of individual degree forms. If a language employs a degree form for a particular position on the hierarchy, it will also exhibit a degree form that is equally or less marked for any position ranking lower. The hierarchy is motivated by two cognitive factors: firstly, by a <em>discourse principle,</em> which rates a subject characterized by an inferior/mitigative adjectival degree as pragmatically marked since it conveys information in an atypical manner, and secondly by a <em>quantity</em> (or <em>informativeness</em>) <em>principle,</em> which tracks degree forms as quantifiers with increasingly complex profiles. Finally, we introduce two new concepts, <em>à priori</em> and <em>à posteriori</em> hierarchies, and demonstrate that the degree hierarchy is <em>à posteriori in nature</em>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"323 ","pages":"Article 103938"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144139694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LinguaPub Date : 2025-05-22DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103962
Lan Tao , Johannes Gerwien
{"title":"Evidence for syntactic audience design from the production of active and passive relative clauses in Chinese","authors":"Lan Tao , Johannes Gerwien","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103962","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103962","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines audience design at the syntactic level. We report two language production experiments investigating how Mandarin Chinese speakers choose between object relative clauses (ORCs) and passive subject relative clauses (pSRCs) to refer to patients in target events. These structures differ in syntactic function assignments. The production experiments vary in whether or not speakers interact with a real listener (Experiment 1 and 2). Two factors were manipulated: (1) the number of events in the visual stimuli eliciting verbal responses, and (2) the animacy configuration of referents. Results show that speakers adjust their syntactic choices to facilitate comprehension, with effects varying by the presence of a listener. Syntactic adaptations also increase production difficulty to some extent. A third experiment complements the findings with a language comprehension study using the visual world paradigm. The target responses from Experiments 1 and 2 served as the linguistic structures from which auditory stimuli were produced. Results reveal that the structure speakers avoided to produce under certain conditions (pSRCs with two depicted events) hindered comprehension, whereas the same structure improved comprehension in simpler contexts (pSRCs with one event). We discuss the findings with reference to different language production models.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"323 ","pages":"Article 103962"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144115999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LinguaPub Date : 2025-05-21DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103960
Delin Deng , Fenqi Wang , Ratree Wayland
{"title":"Nasalization reduction and grammaticalization of genre in Swiss French: a corpus-based sociophonetic study","authors":"Delin Deng , Fenqi Wang , Ratree Wayland","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103960","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103960","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the grammaticalization and phonological reduction of the discourse marker (DM) genre in Swiss French, focusing on its nasal vowel /ɑ̃/. By comparing its acoustic properties in DM versus non-DM usage, the analysis highlights significant phonological reduction in DM genre, characterized by lower nasality (A1-P0) and distinct vowel height and backness adjustments. The findings reveal gender-based differences, with female speakers leading the change through more pronounced phonetic shifts, reflecting broader sociophonetic patterns of linguistic innovation. These differences align with established theories on gender and language change. This research contributes to understanding phonological reduction as a marker of grammaticalization and offers insights into sociophonetic variation in Swiss French.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"323 ","pages":"Article 103960"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144106605","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LinguaPub Date : 2025-05-14DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103951
Shuang He, Ling Zhou , Shaojie Zhang
{"title":"Stance-taking and (inter)subjective roles of Mandarin zhende (ma/a)","authors":"Shuang He, Ling Zhou , Shaojie Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103951","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103951","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the non-interrogative functions of the newsmark <em>zhende (ma/a)</em> (‘really’) in Mandarin conversation interaction, focusing on its stance-taking and (inter)subjective roles in systematically context-sensitive ways. Drawing on spontaneous conversational data and a discourse-pragmatic approach, we identify affective, evaluative, and alignment stances associated with <em>zhende (ma/a)</em> that extend beyond its epistemic function as a reaction to unexpected information and its affective role as an expression of surprise. The nuanced stance-taking activities reveal three key manifestations of (inter)subjectivity, primarily tied to the stance object targeted: (1) a device for involvement and rapport-building responding to irrelevant information; (2) an emotionally charged stance marker when addressing relevant information; and (3) a buffering mechanism for managing awkward moments, maintaining rapport in response to assessments directed at the <em>zhende (ma/a)</em> speaker. Additionally, the syntactic position of <em>zhende (ma/a)</em> also facilitates its intersubjective impact, particularly regarding its metadiscursive function. This study highlights the nuanced interplay between stance-taking and (inter)subjectivity and underscores the importance of contextual features in interpreting the non-interrogative functions of newsmarks, offering valuable insights into stance-taking and its (inter)subjective roles in Mandarin conversation interaction and beyond.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"323 ","pages":"Article 103951"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143947566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LinguaPub Date : 2025-05-13DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103948
Robert Fuchs , Xinyue Yao , Peter Collins , Adam Smith
{"title":"Non-standard morphosyntactic variation in L2 English varieties world-wide: a corpus-based study","authors":"Robert Fuchs , Xinyue Yao , Peter Collins , Adam Smith","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103948","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103948","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Previous research has identified and studied a wide range of non-standard syntactic constructions in global varieties of English. However, there is currently a lack of large-scale corpus-based evidence on non-standard syntactic variation in English from a global perspective. The present study seeks to fill this gap through an analysis of a set of syntactic constructions across the fourteen L2 and six L1 varieties of English included in the <em>Corpus of Global Web-based English</em>, totalling 1.9 billion words. We conceptualise non-standard features as lying outside the “core” of the language that represents the object of description in English grammars, including those that might be regarded as “colloquial” or “vernacular”, such as <em>there</em>-existentials with singular agreement. The methodological approach is onomasiological, modelled on the alternation between non-standard features and corresponding standard forms. Across 28 morphosyntactic features drawn from eWAVE 3.0, a total of 289,827 non-standard and more than 37 million standard occurrences were analysed in a logistic mixed effects regression model. Register variation was accounted for by means of a co-variate for involved discourse following Biber’s Multidimensional Analysis. Results indicate a relatively low degree of non-standardness across both L1 and L2 varieties. The register dimension of involved discourse is the most important variable governing non-standard variation, followed by differences between world regions. These results were further confirmed by a hierarchical clustering model and a multidimensional scaling analysis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"322 ","pages":"Article 103948"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143937320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LinguaPub Date : 2025-05-12DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103950
Nicholas Catasso
{"title":"Polyadic fronting does not exist in German (but crowded CPs do): Cyclic internal Merge and multiple external Merge in the left edge of the clause","authors":"Nicholas Catasso","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103950","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103950","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Present-day German adheres to the Verb-Second (V2) rule, generating the finite verb in V before relinearizing it to C, with only one constituent targeting Spec,CP in main clauses. However, recent studies have identified several mismatches between structural and linear syntax in the CP domain. While various proposals have addressed these individual patterns, configurations with multiple intrasentential phenomena that violate the V2 constraint have been largely neglected. This paper proposes a model within the cartographic framework to derive complex CP linearizations in German. This approach excludes polyadic – i.e., dyadic or multiple – fronting, integrates cyclic movement (internal Merge) and multiple base-generation (external Merge), and effectively applies the bottleneck effect to account for the observed derivations. The findings reveal that all possible linearizations are complex variants of the basic V2 pattern, offering a nuanced understanding of the CP domain’s structural complexities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"322 ","pages":"Article 103950"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143937321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LinguaPub Date : 2025-04-30DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103939
Pin Wang
{"title":"Chinese coverbal phrases and coverbs: a systemic functional account","authors":"Pin Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103939","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103939","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>For the most part Modern Chinese grammars treat coverbs as prepositions but acknowledge their grammaticalisation from verbs. This paper firstly provides a description of Chinese coverbal phrases and coverbs from a systemic functional perspective, taking as point of departure the system and structure of Chinese verbal groups. Secondly, it explores the functions that coverbal phrases realise at both clause and group ranks, and the conjunctive usage of coverbs in marking hypotactic clauses. Thirdly, this paper provides a classification of coverbs in Modern Chinese based on their relationship with the corresponding verbs. This systemic functional description supplements and complements existing Chinese grammars in multiple ways.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"321 ","pages":"Article 103939"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143891015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}