Volume 57, Issue 3

Cognates (words sharing form and meaning across languages, e.g. Polish–English FILM–FILM (identical cognates) or TUNNEL–TUNEL (non-identical cognates)) are processed faster than single-language words ( cognate facilitation effect ), which is modulated by a number of factors. Here, we extended the study reported by Lijewska and Chmiel (2015) and tested the influence of learning experience on non-identical cognate processing in a translation task in 2 experiments with Polish-German–English trilinguals and with German–English bilinguals. The trilinguals learned English and German via Polish, whereas the bilinguals learnt English via German. They translated Polish–English non-identical cognates (MUSZTARDA–SENF–MUSTARD), German–English non-identical cognates (TRAWA–GRAS–GRASS) and controls from English into Polish and into German (trilinguals) or only into German (bilinguals). We found no evidence for the influence of learning experience on cognate processing but the novel finding was a reliable facilitation effect obtained when only non-identical cognates were tested in a translation task with trilinguals (in the accuracy data) as well as with bilinguals (in translation latencies). Additionally, the reported study pointed to the important role of language proficiency in processing.

Arabic has two models of adnominal possession: the Construct State and the Free State. Despite their superficial differences, these constructions are traditionally given a uniform analysis, in which their base-generated structures are identical, with differences residing in the movement operations that affect the possessor and the noun. This paper argues against a uniform analysis, based on new evidence from Noun Phrase Ellipsis. Specifically, I argue that the possessor in the Construct State merges in complement position of the possessum, whereas in the Free State, the possessor is an adjunct attached to a higher functional projection above the possessum. An important consequence of this analysis is that a possessor can be introduced in a headcomplement relation.

This manuscript examines various types of bracketing paradoxes: classical “personal noun” constructions, parasynthetic compounds, agentive deverbal nouns, compound denominal adjectives, plural nouns with lexicalized modifiers, multiple auxiliary constructions, and German particle verb constructions. We argue that given a dependency-based view of both sentence and word structure, these bracketing puzzles become non-paradoxical. The morph catena is taken to be the fundamental unit of morphosyntax. A morph catena is A MORPH OR A COMBINATION OF MORPHS THAT ARE CONTINUOUS WITH RESPECT TO DOMINANCE. This notion is derived from its syntactic equivalent, the catena , which is defined as a word or a combination of words that are continuous with respect to dominance . Given an understanding of morphosyntax that acknowledges morph catenae, bracketing paradoxes are resolved by the ability of morph catenae to reach across words to include parts of words.

This paper uses optimality theory (OT) to account for the phenomenon of identity occurrence resulting from clausal recursion, which we argue is derived from syntactic embedding and syntactic adjunction. This paper shows that the interaction between faithfulness and economy constraints allows for the optional deletion of functional morphemes that occur repetitively. The syntactic process of deletion is sensitive to the concept of markedness in a few ways. First, the marked, rather than the unmarked, pattern is the trigger for deletion; second, unmarked constructions have priority over marked constructions as the target for deletion. All of these ideas are integrated into the OT model that involves self-conjoined constraints, the mechanism of harmonic alignment, and the competition between faithfulness and economy constraints.