Volume 58, Issue 3

This paper addresses case assignment in Standard Arabic (SA). It shows that the current Agree-based accounts of case in SA are problematic, as they face problems accounting for case assignment in complex event nominals. Using Baker’s (2015) dependent case theory, we argue that there are two modalities of structural case assignment in SA, i.e., the dependent case and the Agree-based case, and that the latter is only available when the former fails to apply. It is also argued that case assignment takes place at Spell Out, the point where phase heads are merged into the structure. We provide evidence that vP in SA is a soft phase and we claim that v in SA is incapable of assigning the accusative case to the object, due to v’s deficiency. We also claim that a DP of the complex nominal type in SA is a hard phase. SA PRO is argued to lack a case feature, and it is therefore neither a proper goal for case in the Agree-based case mechanism, nor is it a proper case trigger/competitor in the dependent case mechanism. We believe that the proposed account solves the problems that previous accounts of case in SA face.

The current paper aims to capture the properties of reduplication within the distributed morphology model (Halle and Marantz 1993, 1994; Embick and Noyer 2007; Siddiqi 2009; Embick 2010). Taking Standard Arabic (SA) as a representative, the article shows that SA, like many other languages, has both full and partial reduplication. Full reduplication repeats entire stems while partial reduplication doubles part of it. Rather than the available two analyses, i.e. the readjustment approach (Raimy 2000; Frampton 2009) and the affixation approach (Haugen 2008, 2010, 2011; Haugen and Harley 2010), the current paper provides a novel approach to the phenomenon of reduplication in the world languages. It argues that root consonants and vowels should be decomposed into non-phonetic distinctive features that undergo late insertion at PF. These non-phonetic distinctive features are supplied with sound items at PF in the same fashion that the terminal nodes with morphosyntactic features are fed with vocabulary items. This approach serves three purposes. It accounts for speech errors, captures the non-concatenative morphology in Semitic languages, and allows the reduplicant form to copy all the distinctive features of the roots, yielding instances of full reduplication. Instances of partial reduplication can be generated by root-sensitive impoverishment rules which target and delete some of the features of the stem or the reduplicant form.

Research on adult second language learning shows the importance of the linguistic proximity of acquired languages to the target language as a predictor of learning. Not much research has been done on the impact of linguistic distance in foreign language learning settings. We analysed the speaking, writing, listening, and reading skills of multilingual 14-year-old French learners (N = 409) in a German-speaking context who indicated at least one language other than German as (a) L 1. Using mixed-effect models, we tested associations between linguistic contrasts between French and the individuals’ first languages and their success on tests of French as a foreign language. The models also controlled for motivation, curriculum-related variables as well as social, economic and educational background information. Results show a small effect for lexical distance with all four skills, while relative morphological complexity seems negligible. The study therefore shows that the impact of lexical distance is measurable not only in immersive second language learning settings, but also in foreign language instruction settings with very limited exposure to the target language.

Socialization studies have emphasized the concept of indexicality, in that certain linguistic forms, having “salient social meanings and resonances” (Duff 2019: 12), are used to socialize novices to various social dimensions such as social roles, social statuses, power and social identities (Burdelski and Cook 2012). The present study explored, within the framework of second language socialization, how a group of graduate students in a non-western educational context were socialized to oral academic discourse in whole-class discussions through a specific type of formulaic language, lexical bundles. The study employed corpus techniques and conducted frequency and functional analyses of the attested data collected from whole-class discussions by a cohort of graduate candidates over one academic semester in a graduate English Language Teaching (ELT) course. The results of the study revealed that the graduate students used various lexical bundles with varying frequencies and functions that exhibited their socialization into the oral academic discourse of their graduate course community. The findings of the study offer some implications for the socialization role of lexical bundles to respective graduate community discourse in non-western tertiary contexts.

This study is an investigation of a newly-created Chinese lexeme shengnü ‘leftover women’, referring to single women beyond the socially expected marrying age. Data from an online survey of 416 respondents reveals the various aspects of gender bias against women as seen in the coined term. They also provide evidence that gender bias is waning, as younger and female respondents are more likely to view shengnü as more offensive, to see the reasons for being ‘leftover’ as women’s desire for independence and freedom, and to identify society as the source of pressure for women to marry. Our study contributes to the field of sociolinguistics via its investigation of shengnü with other aspects of the Chinese language, by adopting a social media survey data gathering method – which offered us a sizable sample – and by being possibly the first empirical sociolinguistic study of gender bias via a detailed investigation of the various aspects of a particular lexeme in the Chinese language.

This research paper provides a syntactic account of the observation that plurals of non-count nouns (i.e., collective and mass nouns) in Jordanian Arabic (JA) may express different readings, namely a counting reading and paucity in quantity. We propose that availability of such readings or lack thereof depend crucially on whether or not Division Phrase (DivP) (Borer, 2005) projects in narrow syntax. When DivP projects over nP, a counting reading is available for the plural of singulatives. On the other hand, when DivP does not project, no counting reading is available, and alternatively a small-quantity reading is held. This implies that pluralization in JA is subject to the availability of functional projections that form the relevant DP, hence supplying evidence against the lexical hypothesis of plural formation. As for paucity in quantity, we argue that it is a product of (or a subtype of) the well-known paucal plural (cf. Ojeda 1992; Mathieu 2013).

This study investigated the attitudes of Nigerians living in Europe towards accents of English. It has been observed that as migrants settle in new communities, they enter new linguistic ecologies, which tend to influence their linguistic behaviours. Language attitudes research focusing on migrants has shown that migration significantly impacts upon migrants’ attitudes towards the new (varieties of) languages to which they are exposed. In light of this and in response to the paucity of research on attitudes of Nigerian/s (migrants) towards varieties of English, this study investigated the attitudes of Nigerian expatriates living in two European countries (the UK and Germany) towards accents of English, using a verbal-guise technique. The results demonstrate that whilst there are overall positive attitudes towards Nigerian English, British English is rated more positively for both status and solidarity. The results also indicate that differences in the background variables examined have no significant influence on informants’ evaluations.

The subject matter of this paper is the external and internal syntax of adjectival compounds based on -ble adjectives in English (e.g. vaccine-preventable , machine-readable , drug-susceptible ) and passive potential adjectives in Polish (e.g. łatwopalny ‘combustible’, lekkostrawny ‘lit. easily digestible, light’, szybkozmywalny ‘quickly-washable’), with special attention paid to whether the syntactic behaviour exhibited by -ble and -ny / -alny adjectives is also present in compounds headed by them. Drawing on analysis put forth by Oltra-Massuet (2013), the present research departs from Oltra-Massuet's account in that certain ble adjectives which show irregular morphology (e.g. visible , tolerable ) are interpreted as high (eventive) -ble adjectives. It is shown that while synthetic -ble compounds in English inherit the syntactic features of their heads, passive potential adjectives in Polish often lose the ability to project the external argument upon being merged with a modifier to form a compound.

The paper aims to discuss selected syntactic aspects of English loan translations in Polish in the sphere of computers and the Internet. The study is based on the corpus of informal Polish, collected and analyzed by the author of the study. All the texts have been read in their entirety by the author, and possible loan translations have been noted. Then, with the help of specific criteria, a group of English loan translations have been gathered. Altogether, 467 types of loan translation have been found (6,206 tokens). They are grouped according to specific syntactic properties, such as the observance of (or deviation from) the syntax of their English models. The study shows that most of the calques do not retain the original English arrangement but rather adapt it morphosyntactically to the recipient language, i.e. Polish. Calques that maintain the English order, and sometimes display an untypical pattern in Polish, are clearly in the minority. Additionally, theoretical problems connected with the syntactic classification of calques are also discussed at some length.

Based on the engagement system in Appraisal Theory and taking 100 Chinese criminal judgments as data, this paper analyzes the distribution features and interpersonal functions of engagement resources in Chinese criminal judgments. The findings are as follows. First, in Chinese criminal judgments, dialogic contractive resources outnumber dialogic expansive ones. Of the nine types of engagement resources, Deny takes the largest proportion. Entertain, Acknowledge, Pronounce, and Endorse are also favored by judges, while Counter, Endorse+Pronounce, Concede, Endorse+Acknowledge, and Distance are much less favored. Second, the dialogic space is adjusted in different parts of judgments due to different engagement strategies, narrowing down in the Head, Fact, and Reason parts, then nearly closing up in the Result part, and finally opening up in the Ending part. Third, Deny, Pronounce, Endorse+Pronounce, Endorse, and Distance are used to show that criminal judgments are just, authoritative, persuasive, and compulsory. By acknowledging the arguments and submissions that have been presented, judges are showing respect for the litigation rights of the various parties, while the featured strategies of Counter, Concede, and Entertain increase the acceptability of the judgments.