Although for some scholars the very possibility of syntactic reconstruction remains dubious, numerous studies have appeared reconstructing a variety of basic elements of Proto-Indo-European syntax... Show moreAlthough for some scholars the very possibility of syntactic reconstruction remains dubious, numerous studies have appeared reconstructing a variety of basic elements of Proto-Indo-European syntax based on evidence available particularly from ancient and/or archaic Indo-European languages. The papers in this volume originate from the Workshop “PIE Syntax and its Development” (Thessaloniki 2011), which aimed to bring together scholars interested in these problems and to shine new light on current research into ancient Indo-European syntax. Special attention was paid to the development of the hypothetical reconstructed features within the documented history of Indo-European languages. Show less
This article addresses the variable alignment properties of experiencer constructions in Indo-Aryan (IA) languages in the light of the available historical data fromVedic Sanskrit onwards. The... Show moreThis article addresses the variable alignment properties of experiencer constructions in Indo-Aryan (IA) languages in the light of the available historical data fromVedic Sanskrit onwards. The first aimof the article is to shed light on the possible historical sources, emergence andexpansionof constructionswithnon-cnonicallymarkedarguments inOld IA ingeneral.The second aimis to gain abetterunderstanding of the variation in case marking and agreement patterns that can be attested in New IA experiencer constructions, given that the interplay among morphological cases, semantic roles and additional semantic motivations poses many unsolved questions. Show less
This work discusses the typology of the middle, the causative and the passive marking systems of Ethiopian Afro-Asiatic languages. The discussion of these verbal derivations started from detail... Show moreThis work discusses the typology of the middle, the causative and the passive marking systems of Ethiopian Afro-Asiatic languages. The discussion of these verbal derivations started from detail description of the Causative derivation of the representative languages: Oromo, Amharic and Shakkinoono representing Cushitic, Semitic and Omotic languages of Ethiopia respectively. Oromo, Amharic and Shakkinoono have their own causative markings, causative structures and causative meanings. The causative discussion of the representative languages is followed by the causative discussion of Ethiopian Afro-Asiatic languages where variations and similarities of the causative verb derivations, argument structures and meanings of the causatives are shown. The second half of the work deals with the middle and the passive verbal derivations. The middle and the passive verbal derivation of Oromo are given different chapters since Oromo has separate middle and passive markings. But, in Amharic the middle and the passive are treated in one chapter since the middle marking is the same as the passive marking. In fact in this language there are ambiguous structures which could be treated either as a passive or as a middle. Similarly, in Shakkinoono the discussion of the passive and the middle verbal derivations are not given a separate chapters because the passive marking is often used as a middle marking. Finally, concluding chapters of the middle and the passive are given. Show less
The aim of this research was to establish if the semiotactic theory of C.L. Ebeling could be applied to Modern Japanese and mathematical descriptions of Japanese sentences could be made that are... Show moreThe aim of this research was to establish if the semiotactic theory of C.L. Ebeling could be applied to Modern Japanese and mathematical descriptions of Japanese sentences could be made that are consistent, clear and easy to understand. For this purpose example sentences from various sources, containing the most frequently used structures and expressions of Modern Japanese, were analyzed and described. In doing so, new light has been shed on various aspects of the Japanese language. Firstly, the general assumption that particles, also called postpositions, are similar in meaning and function to the prepositions in English proved to be true only for a number of the particles. Furthermore it was found that the traditional definitions for transitivity do not apply for Japanese, and the commonly assumed classification of noun phrases marked by the particle ga as direct objects has been rejected, in favor of the view that all noun phrases marked by nominative ga are subjects. That this method yields a better insight into the structure of the Japanese language is also demonstrated by the fact that, contrary to the classification commonly assumed until now, it was concluded that there are no indirect objects in Japanese. Show less
