Hendrik De Smet

Coming to terms with subjectivity

Abstract In this study, we argue that the increasingly popular concept of subjectivity is in need of a more fine-grained analysis, and we make an attempt to set up a typology of distinct sub-categories. We first discuss a number of problems that emerge from the literature, such as the conflicting views on the nature of subjectivity, and the general vagueness of the way speaker-involvement is defined in order to detect subjectivity. On the basis of two case studies, we then propose to distinguish between at least three types of subjectivity, one pragmatic type relating to the use of an expression, and two semantic types where speaker-involvement pertains to the meaning of an expression. The distinction between the latter two types is based on syntactic criteria, and semantically relates to whether a particular item functions in the build-up of the content of a message, or in the enactment of the speakers position with respect to this content.

The course of actualization

Actualization is traditionally seen as the process following syntactic reanalysis whereby an items new syntactic status manifests itself in new syntactic behavior. The process is gradual in that some new uses of the reanalyzed item appear earlier or more readily than others. This article accounts for the order in which new uses appear during actualization. Five corpus-based case studies are presented involving reanalysis and actualization in different functional domains of grammar. These include the reanalysis of all but, far from, and Dutch verre van to adverbial downtoners, and the reanalysis of fun and key from nouns to adjectives. It is shown that actualization proceeds from one environment to another on the basis of similarity relations between environments. The similarity relations may involve broad syntactic generalizations but also superficial similarities to existing patterns, including even an items uses prior to reanalysis. Because actualization is guided by local and global analogies to existing uses, one determinant of the course of actualization is the locus of reanalysis, as it defines the first uses of an item under change, on which subsequent uses can be modeled. It also follows that the course of actualization is both item-specific and language-specific. The findings presented challenge the concept of reanalysis, which appears less abrupt than usually assumed. Further, it is argued that the findings fit best with usage-based models of language, which attribute a prominent role to similarity-based organization in grammar, and in which an items use can be subject to multiple, potentially conflicting generalizations.

Functional motivations in the development of nominal and verbal gerunds in Middle and Early Modern English

This article examines the use of three gerund constructions in Middle and Early Modern English on the basis of corpus data covering the period 1250–1640. The constructions examined are verbal gerunds ( eating the apple ), bare nominal gerunds ( eating of the apple ), and definite nominal gerunds ( the eating of the apple ). It is argued that the success of verbal gerunds in the history of English can only be understood against the background of the interaction with their nominal counterparts. An analysis is offered of how the system of gerund constructions is functionally organised, comparing discourse-functional behaviour, distribution, and internal syntax across the three gerund types. It is shown that verbal gerunds closely resemble bare nominal gerunds in terms of discourse-functional behaviour and distribution, but are syntactically more flexible. As a result, verbal gerunds could replace bare nominal gerunds, copying their function but adding syntactic flexibility. By contrast, definite nominal gerunds, being functionally distinct from the other two types, developed a number of specialised uses, which ensured their survival. These conclusions throw light on issues of functional motivation in the development of the English gerund. Historical change is seen to be grounded in synchronic functional organisation. At the same time, it is shown that the only existing explanation for the rise of verbal gerunds (attributing their success to their ability to combine with prepositions) can only be partly correct.

The meaning of the English present participle

While earlier descriptions of the English present participle have tended to be too general or too exclusively focused on its progressive meaning, this article aims to present an account of the meanings of the English present participle that captures their full richness. It starts from the observation that many (though not all) present participle clauses/phrases are paradigmatically related to adjectival phrases, as manifested in their distributional properties (e.g. a challenging year , those living alone ). The article analyses the semantic effects that arise from the tension between the verbal semantics of the participial stem and the adjectival semantics of the syntactic slot. These effects involve accommodation of the verbal situation to the requirement that a situation is represented as time-stable and as simultaneous to some contextually given reference time. The progressive meaning is one such semantic effect, but participles may also assume iterative, habitual or gnomic readings. Some construction-specific semantic extensions of this adjectival template are identified and a tentative explanation is offered for them. Those constructions where the present participle has lost its semantic association with adjective phrases, such as the progressive construction and integrated participle clauses, are shown to display loosening or specialization of semantic constraints.

How gradual change progresses: The interaction between convention and innovation

This paper hypothesizes that as an expression becomes more frequent in one grammatical context, its mental retrievability improves, which in turn makes it more easily available in different yet closely related (analogous) grammatical contexts. Such a mechanism can account for the progression of gradual change. The hypothesis generates two testable predictions. First, innovative constructions should be more likely to emerge if their analogical models are better entrenched. Second, an expressions retrievability can also be improved by priming, which in the short term should have a similar effect to entrenchment. These predictions are tested against the development of the noun key into an adjective (as in a very key argument ). The change is gradual, starting with increased productivity of compounds with key as specifying element, leading later to debonded and clearly adjectival uses. The development of key is analyzed using data from the British Houses of Parliament. The effect of entrenchment is tested against individual variation. Next, situations are investigated where key has been primed, either by an earlier instance of key or by a collocate of key . The evidence supports the hypothesis. Innovative uses of key are favored under conditions that improve the retrievability of its more conventionalized uses.

For … to-infinitives as verbal complements in Late Modern and Present-Day English: Between motivation and change

Much of the research into the English system of verbal complementation has aimed to reveal the principles underlying the distribution of different complement types. As is well known, each complement type displays its own combinatorial behaviour, and has, as a result, a specific distribution over the inventory of complement-taking verbs. This situation is by no means unique to English, but English does seem to have become particularly ‘‘cluttered up’’ with an extensive variety of complement types. For instance, that-clauses, to-infinitive clauses and gerund clauses each combine with distinct (though often overlapping) sets of verbs; and so do more peripheral complement types, such as bare infinitives, present and past participles, lest-clauses, and for . . . to-infinitives. The existence of a distributional profile specific to the for . . . to-infinitive, in particular, is illustrated by the examples in (1) – (4). These examples show that while for . . . to-infinitives pattern with the verbs hope and wait, they do not combine with the verbs believe and claim.

What It Means to Verbalize The Changing Discourse Functions of the English Gerund

The English gerund system consists of two types of gerunds: a nominal gerund (the learning of a language), and a verbal gerund that developed out of the nominal gerund (learning a language). While the formal aspects of this diachronic verbalization of the gerund are well documented, much remains to be said about the discourse-functional side of the change. In this paper, it is argued that the formal verbalization of the gerund is accompanied by an important change in the discourse-functional organization of the gerund system. Based on functional characterizations of noun phrase (NP) behavior in the literature, the prototypical behavior of complex NPs is operationalized as (i) functioning as manipulable discourse participants that are important enough in the following discourse to be susceptible to anaphoric targeting and (ii) being inaccessible to anaphoric targeting of internal participants. The results of an analysis of a set of nominal gerunds, verbal gerunds and ‘regular’ complex NPs covering the period 1640–1914 (taken from the Penn Parsed Corpora of Early Modern and Modern British English) shows that the increasingly clause-like appearance of the verbal gerund is in fact accompanied by atypical NP behavior. Moreover, the paper makes clear that the changes in the discourse-functional organization of the gerund system did not only affect the verbal gerund, but also had some implications for the nominal gerund. These findings shed new light on the (diachronic) processes of verbalization and nominalization, and on what they mean on a discourse-functional level.

Pragmatic strengthening and the meaning of complement constructions: the case of like and love with the to-infinitive

The meaning of complement constructions is generally thought of as determined by the interaction of the semantics of the complement clause with the meaning of the complement-taking verb. In the case of ‘ like/love + to-infinitive’, however, the meaning of the complement construction has been affected by a process of pragmatic strengthening and subjectification. As a result, ‘ like/love + to-infinitive’has developed aspectual and epistemic uses that can no longer be explained from the semantic interaction of the pattern’s component parts but that arise as speaker-based conversational implicatures in particular discourse contexts. Using corpus data, the authors show that this account is in accordance with a number of peculiarities in the present-day use of the constructions and with attested historical fact. More generally, the development of the constructions ‘ like/love + to-infinitive’ can be seen as an instance of incipient grammaticalization with reflexes in the semantic, phonological, and morphosyntactic characteristics of the constructions.

Displaced directives: Subjunctive free-standing que-clauses vs. imperatives in Spanish

Abstract This paper presents a functional account of directives in spontaneous conversations in Spanish. More specifically, we address the use of imperatives and free-standing que-clauses with a directive meaning in interactions among equals. We start our analysis from Searle’s Speech Act Theory. The purpose of this paper is to clarify how imperatives and free-standing que-clauses with subjunctive mood function in terms of the range of speech acts and degree of prototypicality within the category of directives. In order to do so, we describe the functional range of both constructions and the syntactic differences among them. It is argued that que-clauses are displaced directives, expressing atypical directivity. We also posit a functional division of labor between prototypical imperatives and free-standing que-clauses with subjunctive mood. The study is based on the analysis of 57 conversations among adolescents from Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile (COLA corpus).

Unwitting Inventors: Speakers Use -ly-Adverbs More Creatively when Primed

Speakers may use language creatively because they want to be extravagant, or because they need to communicate content for which no conventional coding solution exists. In addition, however, there is a third motivation for creativity that is both more fundamental and less conspicuous. Speakers are creative because their mental access to linguistic resources is limited and variable – a factor referred to here as ‘availability.’ In this paper, corpus data from the spoken British National Corpus and from the Hansard Corpus are used to show that speakers of English use the morphological pattern of -ly-adverb formation (as in correctly, locally, poorly etc.) more creatively when they have recently heard or used another -ly-adverb. This manifests itself in higher type frequencies – hence, more varied forms – for -ly-adverbs. The effect can be ascribed to priming, and indicates that the creative use of a linguistic resource depends on factors that facilitate mental access to it.