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2. A CORPUS INVESTIGATION OF THE ORDERING OF SELECTED ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES IN SLOVENIANVesna Plesničar, 2022, objavljeni znanstveni prispevek na konferenci Opis: The paper investigates the question of attributive adjective ordering in
Slovenian against the background of the cartographic model of natural
language syntax (e.g., Cinque 1994, 2010, Scott 2002, Shlonsky 2004,
Laenzlinger 2005, Ramaglia 2014). Using the nearly 1.2-billion-word
Gigafida 2.0 corpus, we conducted a study in which we check the frequency
of attested orders of selected attributive adjectives belonging to thirteen
semantic categories and determine whether we can adequately predict
language use if we adopt a cartographic model as a working theoretical
framework, specifically the adjective hierarchy proposed in Scott (2002).
The results show that the probability of encountering an order that violates
the hierarchy is in general extremely small compared to the probability of
encountering an order that respects the hierarchy, which indicates that
the order of adjectives attested in the Slovenian corpus is by-and-large
compatible with the proposal that the order is governed by a hierarchy of
adjective projections. Ključne besede: generative grammar, cartography, attributive adjective string, language use, corpus Objavljeno v RUNG: 07.11.2022; Ogledov: 1721; Prenosov: 0 Gradivo ima več datotek! Več... |
3. A corpus investigation of the ordering of selected attributive adjectives in SlovenianVesna Plesničar, 2021, objavljeni povzetek znanstvenega prispevka na konferenci Opis: The paper investigates the question of attributive adjective ordering in Slovenian against the background of the cartographic model of natural language syntax, outlined already in Rizzi (1997). According to this model, the order of adjectives within a complex noun phrase results from a hierarchy of functional projections (e.g., Cinque 1994, 2010, Scott 2002, Shlonsky 2004, Laenzlinger 2005); a proposal for how the hierarchy should be structured is given below:
DETERMINER > ORDINAL NUMBER > CARDINAL NUMBER > SUBJECTIVE COMMENT > ?EVIDENTIAL > SIZE > LENGTH > HEIGHT > SPEED > ?DEPTH > WIDTH > WEIGHT > TEMPERTURE > ?WETNESS > AGE > SHAPE > COLOR > NATIONALITY/ORIGIN > MATERIAL > COMPOUND ELEMENT > NP
(Scott 2002: 114)
The model has been very influential, but has also attracted various types of criticism, ranging from the problem of innateness, origin and plentitude to the problem of rigidity (i.a., Truswell 2009, Larson 2017, Scontras et al. 2017, 2019, Leivada and Westergaard 2019). Given the conclusions based on large databases, the concerns of corpus studies focusing on the rigidity problem seem particularly relevant (i.a., Wulff 2003, Truswell 2009, Kotowski and Hartl 2019, Trotzke and Wittenberg 2019).
Using nearly 1,2-billion-word Gigafida corpus, we conducted a study in which we check the frequency of attested orders of selected attributive adjectives of thirteen semantic categories and determine whether we can adequately predict language use if we adopt a cartographic model as a working theoretical framework, specifically the adjective hierarchy proposed in Scott (2002).
The results show that the probability of encountering an order that violates the hierarchy, compared to the probability of encountering an order that respects the hierarchy, is in general extremely small, and indicates that the order of adjectives attested in our Slovenian corpus is by-and-large compatible with the proposal that the order is governed by a hierarchy of adjective projections. Ključne besede: generative grammar, cartography, attributive adjective string, language use, corpus Objavljeno v RUNG: 08.12.2021; Ogledov: 2396; Prenosov: 0 Gradivo ima več datotek! Več... |
4. Can we explain strict ordering restrictions with extralinguistic properties?Franc Marušič, Petra Mišmaš, Rok Žaucer, Luka Komidar, Gregor Sočan, prispevek na konferenci brez natisa Opis: Cartographic approach to syntax models strict universal word orders with a universal hierarchy of functional projections. For example, universal order of adjectives [Adjs]
(cf. Hetzron 1978, Sproat & Shih 1991, etc.), supposedly comes from a universal hierarchy of
FPs which host specific types of Adjs (Scott 2002). Adopting this as a premise, we explore the
origin of this hierarchy, i.e., the origin of the specific ordering of individual FPs in the
functional hierarchy and thus the origin in which Adjs end up being linearized. Ključne besede: adjectives, cartography, universal hierarchy of functional projections, general cognition, experimental syntax, cognitive foundations of syntax Objavljeno v RUNG: 16.10.2020; Ogledov: 3572; Prenosov: 0 Gradivo ima več datotek! Več... |
5. Searching for the basis of the hierarchy of adjectivesPetra Mišmaš, predavanje na tuji univerzi Opis: The talk focuses on several experiments which were conducted during the ongoing project Probing the cognitive basis of the cartographic hierarchy of functional projections in the noun phrase (J6-7282, financed by the Slovenian Research Agency and conducted at the University of Nova Gorica) and which were intended to establish whether cognition can be taken as a source of the universal hierarchy of functional projections in the noun phrase.
The experiments are largely based on the findings of the cartographic approach to syntax, see for example Cinque & Rizzi (2008) for an overview. Specifically, we observe the functional hierarchy of projections which host attributive adjectives in the noun phrase. Under cartography, the existence of such a hierarchy is responsible for the strict word order of adjectives which seems to be, just like the hierarchy itself, universal (see for example Hetzron 1978, Sproat and Shih 1991, etc.). Put differently, the order of adjectives is universal because adjectives are hosted by functional projections which appear in a universal hierarchy (Cinque 1994, Scott 2002). And while much of the cartographic work tries to answer (i) how many functional projections there are and (ii) in which order they come, we focus on the source of the hierarchy of functional projections. Different sources have been suggested in the past, with some authors arguing that the order of adjectives is a consequence of Universal Grammar (Scott 2002), however, we investigate general cognition as a possible source of the universal hierarchy of functional projections, as proposed by Cinque & Rizzi (2008) and Ramchand & Svenonius (2014).
To test the hypothesis that the universal hierarchy is dictated by general-cognition restrictions we have created tasks to observe whether the order of projections, which host adjectives, is reflected in various non-linguistic cognitive processes. If a bias is detected, it could be taken as indication that universal hierarchies of functional projections are based on properties of general cognition. To address this prediction, we only consider three types of properties: size, shape and color. These are encoded in adjectives for size, shape and color (for example, adjective red is related to the property of being red) which universally come in the order size > shape > color. Specifically, we expect to find a larger bias towards color, followed by shape and finally by size. This prediction was tested with two different tasks performed by adult subjects and with a sorting task which was tested with the help of subjects aged 18 to 36 months. Ključne besede: adjectives, cartography, functional hierarchy, cognition Objavljeno v RUNG: 15.05.2019; Ogledov: 3894; Prenosov: 0 Gradivo ima več datotek! Več... |
6. Size before shape, shape before colorPetra Mišmaš, predavanje na tuji univerzi Opis: The talk builds on an old observation that the order of attributive adjectives is universal (see for example Hetzron 1978, Sproat and Shih 1991, etc.). This also holds for adjectives for size, shape and color which seem to universally come in the order size > shape > color. One account of such adjective ordering restrictions was offered by the cartographic approach to syntax, see for example Cinque & Rizzi (2008) for an overview of the cartographic program. The core idea of this approach is that phrases consist from lexical heads which are dominated by hierarchies of functional projections. Crucially, the order of functional projections in the hierarchies is argued to be universal. This also holds for the noun phrase in which functional projections host, among other material, adjectives (Cinque 1994, Scott 2002). This means that the order of adjectives is universal because adjectives are hosted by functional projections which appear in a universal hierarchy. Based on this, the focus of the talk will be on the adjectives for size, shape and color as these adjectives will be used to investigate the possibility of a cognitive basis of the universal hierarchy of functional projections.
Following Cinque & Rizzi (2008) and Ramchand & Svenonius (2014), general cognition will be considered as a possible source of the universal hierarchy of functional projections. Specifically, I will report on a series of experiments which are a result of joint work with Rok Žaucer and Franc Lanko Marušič and are a part of an ongoing project Probing the cognitive basis of the cartographic hierarchy of functional projections in the noun phrase (J6-7282) financed by the Slovenian Research Agency and conducted at the University of Nova Gorica. These experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that if the universal hierarchy is dictated by general-cognition restrictions, then the order of projections hosting adjectives should be reflected in various non-linguistic cognitive processes. In the talk, I will report on the results of these experiments as well as ongoing research. Ključne besede: adjectives, cartography, functional hierarchy, cognition Objavljeno v RUNG: 24.04.2019; Ogledov: 4182; Prenosov: 0 Gradivo ima več datotek! Več... |
7. Adjectives, hierarchies and cognitionPetra Mišmaš, predavanje na tuji univerzi Opis: In this talk we will focus on the universal hierarchy of functional projections that host specific types of adjectives and the source of this hierarchy. To achieve this, the talk will consist from two parts. In the first part, the relevant background on the cartographic approach and the order of attributive adjectives will be given. In the second part of the talk, the focus will be on experiments which were conducted to establish if cognition can be taken as a source of the universal hierarchy of functional projections.
Specifically, we will first consider the cartographic approach to syntax. Cartography suggests that phrases consist from lexical heads which are dominated by hierarchies of functional projections. Crucially, these hierarchies are argued to be universal, see a. o. Cinque & Rizzi (2008) for an overview of the cartographic program. This also holds for the noun phrase in which functional projections host, among other material, adjectives. This view then gives a natural explanation for the order of attributive adjectives which was said to be universal as well, see for example Hetzron (1978), Cinque (1994), Scott (2002). That is, the order of adjectives is universal because adjectives are hosted by functional projections which appear in a universal hierarchy.
The second part of the talk will focus on the source of the universal word order and the functional hierarchy that dictates it. Following Cinque & Rizzi (2008) and Ramchand & Svenonius (2014), we will consider general cognition as one possible source of the universal hierarchy of functional projections. Specifically, I will report on a series of experiments which are a result of joint work with Rok Žaucer and Franc Marušič and are a part of an ongoing project "Probing the cognitive basis of the cartographic hierarchy of functional projections in the noun phrase" financed by the Slovenian Research Agency and conducted at the University of Nova Gorica. Crucially, these experiments are conducted to test the hypothesis that if the universal hierarchy is dictated by general-cognition restrictions, then the order of projections hosting adjectives should be reflected in various non-linguistic cognitive processes. To test this prediction, we are focusing on adjectives for size, color, and shape which seem to universally come in the order size > shape > color. In the talk, I will report on the results of the experiments as well as our future plans. Ključne besede: adjectives, cartography, functional hierarchy, cognition Objavljeno v RUNG: 28.02.2019; Ogledov: 4471; Prenosov: 0 Gradivo ima več datotek! Več... |
8. Looking for an extralinguistic source of the strict order of adjectivesPetra Mišmaš, Franc Marušič, Rok Žaucer, prispevek na konferenci brez natisa Opis: Assuming the cartographic approach to syntax, adjective ordering, which is argued to be universal (cf. Hetzron 1978, Sproat and Shih 1991, Cinque 1994, Scott 2002 etc.), comes from a universal hierarchy of functional projections that host specific adjectives. We want to explore the source of this order and of the functional hierarchy that dictates it. Cinque and Rizzi (2008) discuss possible origins of the many hierarchies of functional projections and give general cognition as one of the possible answers to the question. If cognition and its restrictions are behind the hierarchy, then the order of projections hosting adjectives should be reflected in various non-linguistic cognitive processes. We prepared several experiments to test this hypothesis. Ključne besede: adjectives, cartography, functional hierarchy, cognition Objavljeno v RUNG: 15.10.2018; Ogledov: 4136; Prenosov: 38 Povezava na celotno besedilo Gradivo ima več datotek! Več... |
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