This contribution is a plea to pay more systematicattention to the infrequently studied, fine-grained grammatical phenomenon ofcomplementation in the analysis of political discourse. The way the... Show moreThis contribution is a plea to pay more systematicattention to the infrequently studied, fine-grained grammatical phenomenon ofcomplementation in the analysis of political discourse. The way the Dutchradical populist Geert Wilders uses complementation serves as a case study tothat end. In the first half of the contribution, an in-depth description of thephenomenon of complementation is given; it is argued that the use ofcomplementation affects the degree of certainty by which a speaker presents hisideas. The second half of the contribution reports on a diachronic analysis ofGeert Wilders’ use of complementation in 47 parliamentary speeches held between2004 and 2009. It is argued that Wilders’ use of complementation significantlydecreases between 2004 and 2009. The decrease is not a gradual transition: abreak occurs between 2006 and 2007. This is an indication that Wilders offersless room for discussion from this period onwards. Strikingly, Wilders’ changeduse of complementation coincides with the moment that political scientistsindicate as the moment that Wilders’ political views radicalized. The casestudy not only shows that studying complementation can add to the inventory oflinguistic phenomena relevant to the analysis of political discourse; it alsostresses the significance of combining quantitative and qualitative methods ofanalysis for the quantification of stylistic phenomena. Show less
Aikhenvald y Dixon 2006) and whose main objective is to analyze word class change, the types of complex clauses and the strategies of complementation in mapudungun. “mapudungun” means “the... Show moreAikhenvald y Dixon 2006) and whose main objective is to analyze word class change, the types of complex clauses and the strategies of complementation in mapudungun. “mapudungun” means “the language of the land”, one word composed of mapu ‘tierra’ y dungun ‘speech or language’ and it is a language that is found among those at risk of extinction (UNESCO 2010). The five chapters of this study describe and deepen our knowledge of word class changing and formation and the construction of complex sentences through different complementation processes. Through these mechanisms, the nature of mapudungun to renew its lexicon and to create new registers and discourses can be seen. In synthesis, this study is a contribution to our knowledge of mapudungun; it allows us to understand how words are formed and how they are used to form complex sentences. There are also discoveries that are relevant to understanding mapudungun grammar, as well as some unpublished observations regarding the form and significance of little studied constructions in mapudungun Show less
