Abstracts of recent publications
to appear "Questions in Takelma" International Journal of American Linguistics.
Abstract:
Recent developments in Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG) allow for an account of the split behavior of experiencers in Imbabura Quechua, which have some properties of subjects and some of objects. The use of Lexical Mapping Theory and inside-out function application allows us to capture new characterizations of lexical experiencers. Two new alternate characterizations are presented: lexical experiencers are always accusative; lexical experiencers behave as subjects only when they are controlled and can be controlled only by objects. The analysis presented here overcomes the deficits of LFG's functional control pointed out in Davies 1988.
1998 "Statistical distribution and the grammatical/ungrammatical distinction" Grammars 1.1, 1-13
Abstract:
Sampson (Sampson 1987, 1992, and 1995) argues that there is no grammatical/ungrammatical distinction, based on a study (Sampson 1987) of the distribution of noun phrases in the Lancaster-Oslo/Bergen (LOB) corpus of British English (Garside et al. 1987). Since many phrases occur rarely, it is impossible to make a principled distinction between grammatical and ungrammatical phrases, Sampson claims. This paper examines Sampson's evidence against the grammatical/ungrammatical distinction. It will first be argued that another putative counterargument to Sampson's claim (Taylor et al. 1989) is incorrect. It will then be shown that Sampson's evidence does not at all bear on the issue of the grammatical/ngrammatical distinction.
1997 "Logophoric pronouns and point of view" Linguistics 35, 845-859.
Abstract:
Logophoric pronouns are pronouns used to refer to the person whose words, thoughts, or emotions are being represented. In addition to reflexives which can be used logophorically ("indirect" reflexives), some languages have morphologically distinct logophoric pronouns.
The analysis of logophoricity has focussed on indirect reflexives, and their use to convey a particular point of view. However, morphologically distinct logophoric pronouns are typically used in indirect discourse. In this paper it is shown that logophoricity and point of view are distinct phenomena by examining morphologically distinct logophoric pronouns, and showing that they are primarily indirect discourse forms and usually do not represent point of view at all.
Indirect reflexives and morphologically distinct logophoric pronouns have several parallels, but most importantly, they both have a primary use (clausal coreference and indirect discourse marker respectively), with the representation of point of view being only a secondary use.
1996 "Formal properties of natural languages and linguist theory" Linguistics and Philosophy 19.6, 599-617.
Abstract:
Over the past 40 years, various formal properties of natural language and linguistic theories have been studied, most notably weak generative capacity (cf. Savitch et al. 1987) and time complexity (Barton et al. 1987). However, the standard closure properties (union, intersection, complementation, concatenation, concatenation closure, homomorphism, inverse homomorphism, and intersection with a regular set) of natural language have not been studied. A novel proof technique will be used to argue that natural language is not closed under any of these operations. Finally, the ramifications of these non-closure facts for linguistic theory will be discussed.
1996 "Agreement and Fula pronouns" Studies in African Linguistics 25.1, 1-27.
Abstract:
This paper is concerned with various types of pronouns in varieties of Fula and their analysis. These pronouns have highly unusual conditions on the NPs they can corefer with. In particular, there are pronouns that select for a coreferential pronoun; pronouns that select for a coreferential quantified phrase; and pronouns that select for a coreferential definite NP. It will be shown that this selection is not part of their binding properties, but should more properly be analysed as a type of agreement, more precisely, as accord, an extension of agreement. Analyses are given for five pronominal systems, showing in a concise way their similarities and differences.
1996 "Null objects in English recipes" Language Variation and Change 8.1, 91-124.
Abstract:
Recipes exhibit a phenomenon that does exist in other varieties that are commonly studied (e.g. narrative, sentences in isolation, conversational discourse, etc.), namely zero anaphors as direct objects, for example in "Beat [0] until stiff.'' The two goals of this paper are to examine this phenomenon in both contemporary recipes and across time, and to explore its consequences for linguistic theory. It is found that stylistic, semantic, and dicourse factors are the most important in the phenomenon, with syntax and morphology playing relatively minor roles. Furthermore, these zero anaphors pattern like overt pronouns, and have in fact replaced overt pronouns over time. A preliminary model of register variation and its consequences for the syntactic analysis of recipes is also presented.
1995 "Ambiguity and case marking in Donno So (Dogon)" in Akinbiyi Akinlabi (ed.)Theoretical Approaches to African Linguistics. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, Inc. 47-58
Abstract:
An often expressed intuition about (direct) case marking is that it serves to help disambiguate clauses, distinguishing between subject and object, or agent and patient. At the same time, we know that in many instances case marking cannot really be said to have a disambiguating function. For example, the fixed word order of English determines which NP is the subject and which is the object. Furthermore, languages in which case marking does disambiguate clauses are relatively rare (Dixon 1979).
This paper is a preliminary sketch of object case marking in Donno So, a Dogon language. Donno So has two direct case markers: (1) wa, a subject marker used in certain subordinate clauses, and (2) ñ, which I will refer to as the Object Marker (OM). The OM is used with (certain) direct and indirect objects. I will show that there is an ordered set of principles which determine whether an object will occur with the OM, and that disambiguation is the essence of the weakest of these principles. I will also show that disambiguation is a more general principle, and is relevant for determining word order in certain types of clause.
1995 "Dogon pronominal systems: their nature and evolution" (with Koungarma Kodio and Patrice Togo) Studies in African Linguistics 23.3:315-344.
Abstract:
The Dogon language family has received little attention in the linguistics literature to date. In this paper we examine the binding properties of the pronominal systems of three Dogon languages, Donno So, Toro So, and Togo Ka~. We also posit the pronominal system of their common ancestor, and the changes from the common ancestor to the contemporary languages. In doing so, we find two ways in which languages can lose logophoricity: (1) the logophoric pronoun becomes a subject oriented reflexive, and (2) the logophoric pronoun is lost without any reflex. The Dogon languages thus give us insight into the nature of pronominal systems and how they evolve.
1995 "Mapping Theory and Fula Verbal Extensions" (with William D. Davies) in Grammatical Relations: Theoretical Approaches to Empirical Questions edited by C.S. Burgess, K. Dziwirek, & D. Gerdts, pp. 15-31
Abstract:
Fula has a variety of verbal extensions, including extensions that increase the valence of the verb. The arguments associated with these extensions contrast in word order, surface realization, and passivization facts. We will account for the Fula data by proposing Mapping Theory (Gerdts 1992, 1993a) mechanisms of layered structures and universal constraints on argument-to-MAP linking. These mechanisms are an important extension of Mapping Theory, and account for a wide range of data heretofore not addressed by Mapping Theory.
1994 "Aspects of Logophoric Marking" Linguistics 32, 1055-1094
Abstract:
Logophoric pronouns are used to refer to the person whose words, thoughts, knowledge or emotions are being reported in a stretch of discourse, the logophoric domain. Pure logophoric languages are languages in which these pronouns have only the logophoric use, and not other reflexive or emphatic uses.
In examining the available data on pure logophoric languages, it can be seen that different languages indicate logophoric domains in different circumstances. The goal of this paper is to examine the heretofore unnoticed patterns in the cross-linguistic variation in the marking of logophoric domains and to explain those patterns.
One major property of logophoric marking to be considered is a semantic/pragmatic hierarchy of predicates licensing logophoric marking. This hierarchy has been hypothesized, but never demonstrated until now. It will also be shown that the putative logophoric use of reflexives is a phenomenon distinct from true logophoricity, contrary to the widespread view in the literature.
1994 "A note on logophoricity in Dogon" Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 15, 113-125
Abstract:
Logophoric pronouns, pronouns which refer to the person whose words, thoughts, or state of mind are being reported, have been much discussed in the recent literature (most recently by Culy 1991, Sells 1987, von Roncador 1992, and Wiesemann 1986).* In this paper I intend to extend the range of description of logophoric pronouns by looking at Donno SO (DS), a Dogon language spoken in Mali and Burkina Faso. In addition to the usual examination of the environments which allow logophoric pronouns, we will also examine the interaction of morphology and logophoricity. In particular we will consider complementizers, sometimes claimed to be a determining factor in logophoricity (Clements 1975, Koopman and Sportiche 1989, Sells 1987). We will also consider verbal inflection and subject marking as it relates to logophoricity.
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Revised 4 August 1998