Plasticity of morphological paradigms

2013

University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in …, 2012

Language, 2003

Yearbook of Morphology, Springer, 2004

The paper presents a model of morphosemantic patterns based on the model of Guiraud’s morphosemantic fields. The main reason for introducing this model into the description of the architecture of the Croatian lexicon is the fact that Croatian is a morphologically rich language, in which grammatical and semantic mechanisms interact in lexical organization. The model of morphosemantic patterns at this stage of its development consists of two basic models: the model of morphosemantic fields and the model of morphosemantic grounds. Although the model is based on structuralist tenets, it is our intention to demonstrate how it is related to some of the most prominent contemporary theoretical frameworks, namely Cognitive Linguistics and Construction Grammar, especially Construction Morphology.

Language, 2003

This article examines the concept of defectivity in the verbal system of Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan. Building on previous studies on defective verbs in Spanish and Portuguese I investigate why there are no such defective verbs in Catalan. I conclude that the structure of the verbal paradigm in Catalan non-first conjugation verbs is radically different from that of the other languages; Catalan verbs constitute paradigms which correspond to regular patterns of inflection whereas Spanish and Portuguese display non-predictable types of root allomorphy which require all non-first conjugation verbs to have a memorised form for the rhizotonic forms of the verb. Theoretically, this type of defectivity poses problems for models of inflectional morphology and suggests that the patterns of frequent verbs can become general rules for all verbs of a particular conjugation.

Journal of Pragmatics, 2006

The aim of this paper is to analyze the meanings and functions of the Portuguese discourse marker pronto, using an oral corpus. The functional polysemy of this lexical item, which is usually viewed rather pejoratively as a mere filler, has resulted from a recent process of grammaticalization of the adjective pronto ('ready, quick'), with the meanings of 'finished' or 'complete' (in the case of a thing) or 'prepared for' (for a person or thing). In this paper, we show how the different pragmatic-discoursal uses distinguished in the corpus (concluding, agreeing, explaining, imposing, punctuating, phatic, and emotive) are metonymically and metaphorically related to two initial mental images and their implications in different cognitive and communicative domains: the retrospective image of a finished process (concluding, agreeing, turn-yielding) and the prospective image of an available process (imposing, explaining, punctuating, turn-taking). We then go on to describe the process of grammaticalization. Finally, we identify the cognitive and pragmatic factors of the polysemy of the discourse markers and discuss the 'invariant meaning' hypothesis put forward by Fischer . # 2189 1 A paradox which can clearly be extended to other word classes (Soares da Silva, , 2006. 2 The reference to the corpuses used can be found at the end of this study. The oral sub-corpus of the CRPC (a project of the Center for Linguistics, University of Lisbon) contains more than a million words of spontaneous and formal oral discourse.

This study investigates the emergence of early phonological templates, i.e. systematic shapes that facilitate the expansion of the lexicon, in the linguistic development of six children, three acquiring Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and three acquiring the European variety (EP). We follow the dynamic perspective of phonological development, which understands language development as a process of evolution characterised by variability. According to this view, although there is instability in development there are adjustments in the system due to the self-organization principle, which can be understood as a spontaneous pattern formation. The whole-word phonology/templates model is adopted in the analysis of early phonological patterns. The model claims that the organising principle in early phonological development is the whole word, not features or segments. These early word patterns are understood as templates. A preliminary longitudinal study was conducted to investigate early templates in BP and EP. We observed variability between the subjects regarding template types. In addition, we observed that instances of use and disuse of templates vary from child to child. The preliminary results suggest that there are templates operating during variability in phonological development. Also, the manifestation of a template characterises instability in the development. In instances of instability, templates are formed due to the principle of self-organisation, namely the spontaneous formation of patterns. The system organises itself due to its inherent ability to find patterns from some type of interaction.

Estudos da Língua(gem) - 1982-0534, v. 7, n. 2, 2009

ABSTRACT This study investigates the acquisition of [±perfective] aspect in L2 Portuguese via knowledge of the [± accidental] distinction that obtains between the Preterit and Imperfect in adverbially quantified sentences (LENCI; BERTINETTO, 2000; MENÉNDEZ-BENITO, 2002). Crucially, we show that intermediate L2 learners demonstrate phrasal semantic knowledge that we argue is accessed via the acquisition of new L2 features. As a result, we contend that the data support theories of adult UG-continuity (DUFFIELD; WHITE, 1999; SCHWARTZ; SPROUSE, 1996) and provide evidence in contra so-called Failed Features accounts of SLA (BECK, 1998; HAWKINS; CHAN, 1997). Furthermore, we discuss these data in light of probabilistic approaches to SLA, which interpret errors in morphological use at this level as evidence of underlying deficits in L2 mental representations. With others, we argue that morphological performance alone is neither a direct nor an exact measure of linguistic competence (PRÉVOST; WHITE, 2000; LARDIERE, 1998, 2006). RESUMO Esse estudo investiga a aquisição do aspecto [±perfeito] em português L2, mediante conhecimento da distinção [± acidental] que ocorre entre o pretérito perfeito e imperfeito em frases com quantificação adverbial (LENCI; BERTINETTO, 2000; MENÉNDEZ-BENITO, 2002). Mostramos que os aprendizes L2 intermediários demonstram conhecimento da semântica sintagmática, que conforme argumentamos é acessível por meio da aquisição de novos traços da L2. Como resultado, propomos que os dados dão suporte a teorias de continuidade da GU (DUFFIELD; WHITE, 1999; SCHWARTZ; SPROUSE, 1996) e oferecem evidência contra as assim chamadas propostas de Traços Malsucedidos (FAILED FEATURES; BECK, 1998; HAWKINS; CHAN, 1997) para ASL (aquisição de segunda língua). Além disso, discutimos tais dados considerando abordagens probabilísticas para ASL, que interpretam erros de uso morfológico nesse nível como evidência de déficits subjacentes das representações mentais de L2. Em consonância com outros autores, argumentamos que o desempenho morfológico não é por si só uma medida direta ou exata da competência linguística (PRÉVOST; WHITE, 2000; LARDIERE, 1998, 2006).