Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Comparative and general Indirect discourse'

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2000.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study investigates text properties of the consumer-advice magazine article in Xhosa within the framework of the genre-based approach to literacy and writing. The view of writing as component of the communication competence component in Grabe and Kaplan's (1996) theory of writing is assumed. It is argued that the analysis of (non-fictional) genres is a core ability in terms of the specifications of Curriculum 2005 for outcomes-based language teaching for writing skills. The term genre as it is used within genre theory refers to a (non-fictional) text which has an identifiable social (or cultural) purpose, an identifiable form (including beginning, middle and end) and specific constrains on the possible deviations allowed in its form. This study will examine seven BONA magazine articles to establish what identifiable generic properties can be attributed to these genretexts. The cognitive move structure of these magazine articles on consumer advice will be analysed to determine whether a typical move structure occurs for this genre. The text-linguistic properties of the various magazine articles will be investigated invoking Grabe and Kaplan's model of text-structure. In particular, properties like pronominal reference conjunctive devices, which contribute to text coherence and cohesion will be considered as well as lexical choices as a reflection of communicative purpose. Finally, the study will briefly address the issue of the significance of the genre-text knowledge underlying writing skills as the relevant kind of knowledge to be developed in terms of the specifications of outcomes-based language teaching in Curriculum 2005. The kind of analytic skills exemplified in the examination of the Xhosa magazine articles are therefore necessitated for accomplishing the outcomes for writing. The nationale for developing such analytic abilities with respect to writing skills is to empower learners to be competent writers in their future career lives.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek die teks-struktuur eienskappe van die verbruikers-advies tydskrifartikel in Xhosa binne die raamwerk van die genre-gebaseerde benadering tot geletterdheid en skryfvaardigheid. Die beskouing van skryfvaardigheid as 'n komponent van die kommunikasievaardigheid komponent in Grabe en Kaplan (1996) se teorie van skryfvaardigheid word aanvaar. Daar word geargumenteer dat die analise van nie-fiksie (of nie-literêre) genres 'n kemvermoë is in terme van die spesifikasies van Kurrikulum 2005 vir uitkoms-gebaseerde taalonderrig van skryfvaardigheid. Die terme genre, soos dit gebruik word in genre-teorie verwys na 'n (nie-fiksie) teks met 'n identifiseerbare sosiale, kommunikatiewe of kulturele doelstelling, 'n identifiseerbare vorm (insluitende 'n begin, middel en einde) en spesifieke beperkings rakende die toelaatbare afwykings in vorm. Die studie sal sewe BONA tydskrifartikels ondersoek om te bepaal watter identifiseerbare eienskappe toegeskryf kan word aan hierdié genre-tekste. Die kognitiewe skuif-struktuur van hierdie tydskrifartikels oor verbruikersadvies salontleed word om te bepaal watter tipiese skuif-struktuur voorkom vir hierdie genre. Die teks-linguistiese eienskappe van die verskillende tydskrifartikels salondersoek word deur die model van Grabe en Kaplan te gebruik. In die besonder, eienskappe soos voornaamwoordelike verwysing, voegwoord-meganismes wat bydra tot tekskoherensie en kohesie salondersoek word, asook leksikale (woord) keuses as 'n refleksie van die skrywer se kommunikatiewe doelstelling. Laastens, sal die studie kortliks vraagstukke ondersoek rakende die belang van die genreteks kennis wat onderliggend is aan skryfvaardigheid as die relevante soort kennis wat ontwikkel moet word in terme van die spesifikasies van uitkoms-gebaseerde taalonderrig in Kurrikulum 2005. Die soort analitiese vaardighede wat na vore kom in die ondersoek van die Xhosa tydskrifartikels word genoodsaak ten einde die uitkomste vir skryfvaardigheid te bereik. Die motivering vir die ontwikkeling van sodanige analitiese vermoëns ten opsigte van skryfvaardigheid is om leerders te bemagtig om 'n goeie skryfvaardigheid te hê in hulle toekomstige beroepe.
ISICATSHULWA ISIXHOSA: Esi sifundo sinika sikwabonisa ngokupheleleyo ukuba nabani na obhalayo rnakacacelwe ukuba ubhalela isizwe, ngoko ke rnakabe neenjonge. Makaqiqe akucingisise oko akukhethele ukutyebisela uluntu ngako. Ibonisiwe imigaqo elandelwa ziingcali zaphesheya nezimvo zazo ngobhalo lwesicatshulwa kwaneengxaki abathe bahlangana nazo. Esi sicatshulwa sigxininise kwirnigaqo ernayi landelwe yikharikyularn equlunqwe yalungiselelwa izikolo. Kwikharikyulam kuboniswa ukuba xa kufundiswa ukubhala urnfundi obhalayo, utitshala obhalayo, isikolo, izixhobo zokufundisa kwaneendlela zokufundisa zibaluleke ngokufanayo nangokulinganayo. Kaloku olu hlobo lwesilabhasi lujolise kwiziqhamo. Indlela zokubhala zinikiwe kubekwa umnwe kwindlela apho urnbhali abhalela ukuxela into ethile phofu ezarna ukuqweqwedisela iingqondo zabantu kurnba othile. Iintlobo zokubhaliweyo nazo ziphononongiwe kwaze kwaqononondiswa kuleyo urnntu abhalela ukugqithisa ulwazi ngento ethile. Okubalulekileyo kokokuba lowo ubhalayornakakhethe okunorndla yaye kube serngangathweni. Izicatshulwa ezichongiweyo apha kwesi sifundo zihlonyulwe kwirnagazini yesiXhosa iBona. Zonke zichazwe gabalala phaya kwisahluko sesine, izizicatshulwa ezingeso labathengi. Kweli liso labathengi kucetyiswa kufundiswa abathengi ngeendlela zokuqoqosha ngernpurnelelo njengoko arnaxabiso enyuka umhla nezolo. Incwadi ebhalwe nguGrabe noKaplan isibonisa indlela erna ilandelwe xa ufundisa umntwana ukubhala. Bagxininise kwiiphararnitha: ngubani obhala ntoni, ebhalela bani, enayiphi injongo, ngoba, nini, phi, njani. Ezi phararnitha zisetyenzisiwe ukuphengulula nokuhlalutya ezi ziqwengana zikhethwe kwirnagazini iBona. Esi sifundo sigxininisa kwicala losetyenziso - lwirni kulo rnzekelo. Esi sifundo siphinde saxoxa nzulu ngonxulumano olukhoyo phakathi kwezi ziqwengana zichongwe kwiBona ezingeso labathengi kunye neziqhamo ezisixhenxe ezidweliswe zacaciswa kuxwebhu lwe-OBE (Outcome-based Education) olulungiselelwe izikolo. Olu xwebhu lwe-OBE luzama lusikhanyisela ukuba umntwana xa ebhala isicatshulwa makazicwangcise ngokukuko izimvo zakhe. Ingaba uyakuqonda ekuva na oko kuqulathwe koko akubhalileyo. Umzekelo esiwunikwe ngokaBathia we 'moves' ezisixhenxe athi zinokuchongwa kokubhaliwe yo, nawo usetyenzisiwe ukuxovula isicatshulwa ngasinye. Kolo xovulo kufumaniseke ukuba zintandathu kuphela i'moves' ezichongeka nezifumaneka kwezi zicatshulwa zeBona.

This thesis presents an analysis of the structure and function of cleft constructions in discourse. Drawing on a corpus of naturally-occurring spoken and written data, we present a multi-layered explanation of how it-clefts, wh-clefts, and reverse wh-clefts are different from non-clefts, and from one another. After a review of previous research on clefts in discourse, we explore the aspects of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics relevant to the structure and function of all three types of cleft. The discussion falls into three main parts: An analysis of the three cleft types, within the framework of Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar (cf. Gazdar et al. [1985]), in which particular attention is paid to the variety of constituents that can appear in particular positions in each type. The output of the grammar rules is compared to the examples that occur in the corpus of data. A treatment of cleft presupposition in terms of an analogy (suggested by van der Sandt [1988]) between presupposition and the treatment of pronominal anaphora in Kamp's [1981] Discourse Representation Theory An examination of the range of accentual patterns, presuppositional relations, and information structures typically appearing in clefts of all three kinds. We show that marked distinctions exist between the three cleft types in terms of all these factors, and suggest ways in which this helps to differentiate the range of discourse contexts in which clefts in general, and each cleft type in particular, are appropriate. At the end of the thesis we point to an analogy between the formal model for clefts presented and a psychological model of sentence processing We also suggest how the conclusions regarding both the structure and function of clefts as a class of construction and the distinction between the three types of cleft could be synthesised in a decision procedure for syntactic choice. Finally, we suggest some related areas for further research.

The primary focus of this thesis was to find out what makes workable topic sentences different from inadequate ones. A group of topic sentences was collected from the author's eight grade students and reviewed.

The present study investigates discourse markers in Dardic languages (Indo-Aryan; Pakistan), focusing on the discourse markers ba and ta in Palula in comparison with other languages of the region, particularly Dameli in which two markers with the same form and similar functions have been observed. The results showed that Palula ba functions as a topic-marker, in addition to other functions, whereas ta only signals subsequence, except in an adversative construction ta... ba. In Dameli, both ba and ta function as topic-markers, in addition to other functions such as ta marking subsequence, and the ta... ba construction functions similarly to Palula. Interestingly, Kalasha and Gawri showed some similarities, as both have a topic-marker surfacing as ta and tä respectively, which can be used in the adversative constructions ta... o and tä... i respectively, both of which have another marker as the second element. No other language in the sample was found to have a construction similar to the ta... ba construction nor a marker similar in form and function to ba, but all have a subsequence marker resembling ta. These results indicated that the Palula markers ba and ta are part of an areal phenomenon encompassing at least the Chitral, Panjkora and Swat valleys, where Palula originally only had the Shina subsequence marker and later adapted the Dameli system into the language.
Denna studie undersöker diskursmarkörer i dardiska språk (indoariska; Pakistan) med fokus på diskursmarkörer ba och ta i palula i jämförelse med andra språk i regionen, i synnerhet dameli i vilket två markörer med samma form och liknande funktion har observerats. Resultaten visade att palula ba fungerar som topikmarkör, tillsammans med andra funktioner, medan ta enbart signalerar subsekvens, förutom i den adversativa konstruktionen ta... ba. I dameli fungerar både ba och ta som topikmarkörer, tillsammans med andra funktioner så som att ta markerar subsekvens, och konstruktionen ta... ba fungerar i likhet med palula. Av intresse är att kalasha och gawri uppvisade en del likheter, så som att båda har topikmarkörer i form av respektive ta och tä, vilka kan användas i språkens respektive adversativa konstruktioner ta... o och tä... i, varav båda använder en annan markör för det andra elementet. Inget annat språk i urvalet observerades ha en konstruktion lik ta... ba eller en markör lik ba i form och funktion, men alla har en subsekvensmarkör lik ta. Dessa resultat indikerar att palulas markörer ba och ta är en del av ett arealt fenomen som innefattar åtminstone dalgångarna Chitral, Panjkora och Swat, och att palula ursprungligen enbart hade shinas subsekvensmarkör och därefter integrerade damelis system in i språket.

This dissertation examines the gendered discourses in the novels of the writers of different sexes/genders, Robert Heinlein&rsquo
s Stranger in a Strange Land, Ursula Le Guin&rsquo
s The Left Hand of Darkness, Joanna Russ&rsquo
The Female Man and Samuel Delany`s Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia. This study investigates how writers linguistically construct their characters as gendered/sexed beings as an effect of certain identity politics, ideologies and power structures. In order to do so, critical discourse analysis is applied to the passages chosen from different parts of the novels under consideration. Moreover, Butler&rsquo
s performativity theory of gender and Foucault&rsquo
s theory of discourse/power/knowledge and his conceptualization of subjectivity are employed in the discursive analyses of the novels. The argument of the study is that there is a close relationship between discourse, ideology and the constitution/representation of gender/sex as contingent on a particular socio-cultural and historical context. This study is based on Butler`s assertion that gender is a doing, a performance, and it is a cultural and ideological construct. Thus, the study shows that writers&rsquo
linguistic choices for the constructions and descriptions of their characters are not ideologically or politically innocent but imbued with socio-cultural and ideological meanings.

Introduction: Despite increasing research on medical education, the field of medical education policy, including general practice teaching, has been overlooked. Discourse analysis has recently been introduced to investigate education policy in medical education. This research analyses general practice development in undergraduate medical education policy in both the UK and Brazil. In the UK, general practice is consolidated as an academic field of medical knowledge, whilst in Brazil, it is being established. The historical context of the specialty in each country and the participation of general practitioners in medical schools are considered. Two main dimensions of medical education are emphasized: the alignment with health care systems and the outlook for medical care workforce. The aim of this research was to depict the discursive continuities and discontinuities characterizing general practice knowledge in undergraduate medical education policy in two distinctive contexts. Method: Foucauldian discourse analysis was used to investigate the representation of general practice as a field of medical knowledge in undergraduate medical education policy in a comparative study design. This research method offers a critical perspective of power relations in policy documents by exploring what is made thinkable and legitimate. It supports the analysis of the assumptions of truth that delineate the frontiers of general practice. Results: General practice knowledge holds a discursively fragile position in both countries, a consequence of the differences in discursive polarities. The polarities consisted of (a) academic and non-academic knowledge and (b) specialist and non-specialist knowledge in the UK; and (a) public and private health care and (b) generalist and specialist knowledge in Brazil. The similarities included a close relationship between medical education and national health systems. In the UK, the biomedical discourse directs the portrayal of general practice, whereas in Brazil, the counter-discursive element opposed to this biomedical discourse predominates. Conclusion: The predominant discourses in medical education policy places general practice knowledge in a fragile position compared to other medical fields. A policy focused on the reflexive cycle between academy and practice and between general and specific knowledge could help strengthen general practice knowledge in undergraduate medical education. This could produce stronger, more stable and authoritative thinking in this area of medical science.

The purpose of the study was two-fold. First, it investigated, described, and analyzed tense shifts and the roles of the present tense forms in IEIL autobiographical discourse. Second, as a contribution to the study of English interlanguage of Indonesian EFL learners it presents some pedagogical implications for the EFL teaching and learning in Indonesia and offers suggestions for further research. The data used for the study were twenty-six essays containing 1700 verb phrases in 937 sentences, which were written by twenty-six freshman EFL learners of the University of Sriwijaya in Palembang, Indonesia, in 1986.The results of the study show that tense use in IEIL is systematic, on one hand, and variable, on the other. Shifts of tense from past to present are generally predictable. The present tense usually functions to present the writer's evaluation or opinion, habitual occurrences, general truth, or factual descriptions functioning as permanent truth in relation to the writer's childhood. Occasionally, the present tense functions as the Historical Present to narrate past events. The past tense, on the other hand, usually functions to describe past truth and, at times, to narrate historical events such as the writer's date and place of birth.Variability also characterizes IEIL autobiographical discourse. That is, IEIL writers do not completely follow the present and past tense rules. For instance, they usually use the present tense to express habitual occurrences, but at other times they use past tense accompanied by such expressions as "on Sundays," "on holidays," "whenever," etc.In addition, the following conclusions have been drawn: (1) IEIL autobiographical discourse largely contains description expressed in the past tense; (2) discourses are highly recommended to be used as the first material in teaching linguistic phenomena such as tense shifts to Indonesian EFL learners; and (3) following the IL theory and principles, EFL teachers should not treat EFL learner's should treat them as a sign that they are in fact in the process of learning.deviants as a sign of improper usage and harmful but instead should treat them as a sign that they are in fact in the process of learning.
Department of English

Immigration policies and border control in the US were hardened significantly more ever since the new government’s immigration executive order in 2017. A series of massive raids and immigrant detentions were carried out which got the attention of both human rights activists and the news media. How these immigration detention events are portrayed in the news media reflect, moreover, a series of discourses which seem to attract audiences from either left-wing or right-wing political ideologies, specifically to read CNN and Fox news respectively, according to previous survey-based research. This paper aims to identify through Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) how those in detention are represented in the news headlines of Fox News and CNN, and secondly, identify what possible left-wing and right-wing political ideologies about immigration are expressed in the news outlets. Reference strategies and transitivity will encompass the micro-level analysis, which focuses on language construction. For the macro-level analysis, on the one hand, discourse practices like process of production and consumption will be considered, and on the other hand, American foreign policy viewed from the left-wing and right-wing perspectives will be discussed to consider differences in style, tone, and perspective in CNN and Fox News’ headlines in relation to immigration detention events. Results show that CNN, tied to left-wing audiences, portray the immigration detention events from the perspective of immigrants who are in a vulnerable position since they are detained with their families. Moreover, Fox News, tied to right-wing audiences, show the events more from the viewpoint of the government and the public entities in charge of the immigration policies, who are in need to restrain, detain, and deport immigrants for the sake of the country’s security. This paper aims to contribute further to the research on political ideologies as a relevant factor to understand differences in discourse in the news media for future research.

Automatically generating questions from text for educational purposes is an active research area in natural language processing. The automatic question generation system accompanying this dissertation is MARGE, which is a recursive acronym for: MARGE automatically reads generates and evaluates. MARGE generates questions from both individual sentences and the passage as a whole, and is the first question generation system to successfully generate meaningful questions from textual units larger than a sentence. Prior work in automatic question generation from text treats a sentence as a string of constituents to be rearranged into as many questions as allowed by English grammar rules. Consequently, such systems overgenerate and create mainly trivial questions. Further, none of these systems to date has been able to automatically determine which questions are meaningful and which are trivial. This is because the research focus has been placed on NLG at the expense of NLU. In contrast, the work presented here infuses the questions generation process with natural language understanding. From the input text, MARGE creates a meaning analysis representation for each sentence in a passage via the DeconStructure algorithm presented in this work. Questions are generated from sentence meaning analysis representations using templates. The generated questions are automatically evaluated for question quality and importance via a ranking algorithm.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of the study is to examine the phenomenon of politeness in isiXhosa discourse within the speech acts of apology and complaint. Politeness is evidenced where nonverbal and verbal actions work together for the purpose of achieving smooth communication among speakers. The actions that occur through discourse are called speech acts. The most important aim of the speech act of apology is to maintain a good relationship among speakers. This study focusses specifically on the speech act of apology and the manner in which Xhosa speakers forward apologies and complaints among themsleves. Politeness theory will be used as a basis of this study. In this study, the main focuss is on how the male and female students forward complaints and apologies. It is discovered that, there are different ways of expressing apologies and complaints in isiXhosa in different situations, and the different ways in which males and females students forward apologies among themselves. For instance, in space situation, males forwarded more apologies as they occupied more space than females. In time situation, females forward more apologies as they were lacking more in time management than males do. According to Trosborg (1995) there are several ways or strategies of apology, which are as follows: The opting out-catergory; minimizing the degree of offence; indirect apologies; explanation or account; promise of forbearance and the offer of repair. It has been discovered firstly in this study, that females used more apology strategies than males. Secondly, four main apology strategies: request for forgiveness; explicit explanation; offer of apology and the expression of lack of intent have been extensively used by both males and females in the empirical data examined. Trosborg (1995) mentions eight complaints strategies, namely: hints; annoyance; ill consequences; direct complaints; indirect complaints; modified blame (behavior) and an explicit blame (person). Females used more complaint strategies than males. Five complaint strategies: direct complaint; annoyance; ill consequences; indirect complaint and the modified blame have been extensively used by both males and females. This study helps us to understand the different ways of expressing apologies and complaints in different situations in isiXhosa. The more appropriate apology and complaint is used, the better the communication. This becomes evident in the manner in which males and females forwarded apology and complaint strategies in the discourse analysed in this study.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is om die verskynsel van beleefdheid in isiXhosa te ondersoek binne die uitvoering van die spraakhandelinge van verskoning en klagte. Beleefdheid word aangedui wanneer nie-verbale en verbale aksies saam van belang is vir die bereiking van doeltreffende kommunikasie tussen sprekers. Die handelinge wat plaasvind deur diskoers word spraakhandelinge genoem. Die belangrikste oogmerk van die spraakhandeling van verskoning is om goeie verhoudinge tussen sprekers te handhaaf. Hierdie studie fokus spesifiek op die spraakhandeling van verskoning en die wyse waarop Xhosasprekers verskonings en klagtes tussen mekaar uitruil. Beleefdheidsteorie sal as raamwerk gebruik word vir hierdie studie. Die studie gee ook aandag aan hoe vroulie en manlike studente verskonings uitruil. Dit word bevind dat daar verskillende wyses is waarop verskonings en klagtes in Xhosa uitgedruk word in verskillende situasies, en dat daar verskillende wyses is waarop manlike en vroulike studente verskonings uitruil. Byvoorbeeld, in 'n ruimte situasie gee manlike persone meer verskonings as vroulike persone, aangesien hulle meer ruimte in beslag neem. In 'n tyd situasie, gee vroulike persone meer verskonings as manlike persone aangesien dit voorkom of hulle minder besorg is oor tydsbestuur. Volgens Trosborg (1995), is daar verskeie wyses of strategieë van verskoning, insluitende die volgende: die uitwegkategorie, minimalisering van oortreding, indirekte verskonings, verduideliking, belofte van geduld, en aanbod vir herstel. Daar is bevind in die studie dat vroulike persone meer verskoning strategieë gebruik as manlike persone. Tweedens, vier hoof verskoning strategieë, nl. versoek vir vergiffenis, eksplisiete verduideliking, aanbod van 'n verskoning en die uitdrukking van 'n tekort aan bedoeling, is uitgebreid gebruik deur sowel manlike as vroulike persone. Trosborg (1995) noem agt klagte strategieë, naamlik skimpe, irritasie, sleg gevolge, direkte klagtes, indirekte klagtes, gewysigde blaam (t.o.v. gedrag), en eksplisiete blaam (t.o.v. 'n persoon). Die vroulike persone het meer klagte strategieë as manlike persone. Vyf klagtestrategieë, naamlik direkte klagte, irritasie, sleg gevolge, indirekte klagte, en die gewysigde blaam is uitgebreid gebruik deur sowel vroulike as manlike persone. Hierdie studie werp lig op die verskillende wyses van hoe verskonings in Xhosa uitgedruk word en klagtes in verskillende situasies. Hoe meer gepas 'n klagte of verskoning is, hoe meer doeltreffend vind die kommunikasie plaas. Hierdie feit word geïllustreer deur die wyses waarop manlike en vroulike persone verskonings maak, soos aangetoon in die studie.

Mémoire (M.A.)-- Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1992.
Ce mémoire a été réalisé à l'UQAC dans le cadre du programme de maîtrise en linguistique extensionné de l'Université Laval à l'UQAC. CaQCU Bibliogr.: f. [81]-86. Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

This study aims to explore how textbooks aiming at the course English 6 in the Swedish upper secondary school display male, female and transgendered characters in fictional texts. The study also seeks to investigate what genders are represented in the authors of the analysed fictional texts in the textbooks. The method of the study was a mix between critical discourse analysis and content analysis. Content analysis was used in a quantitative way as a starting point to get an overview of the results for the critical discourse analysis which was used qualitatively. The study showed that authors identifying as male were the most common and represented at a higher rate in the textbooks. Among the results it was also shown that transgendered characters and authors identifying as something else than male or female were not represented at all. The study’s conclusion is that teachers will need to provide a greater variety to their classrooms than what is provided by the textbooks in terms of gender related issues and questions, since students should be given a variety of texts and authors during their English education according to the syllabus (Natl. Ag. f. Ed. 2013).

Orientador: Carolina Maria Rodríguez Zuccolillo
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T03:47:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Aquino_JoseEdicarlosde_M.pdf: 1661997 bytes, checksum: 0895ff2678a8b8d563159e97f07233cb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012
Resumo: Os sentidos da expressão língua materna no período inicial do processo de gramatização brasileira constituem o objeto de investigação deste trabalho, que assume uma concepção histórica e discursiva do sentido e se assenta em um campo teórico-metodológico que considera constitutiva a relação entre história do saber metalinguístico e história da língua, a História das Ideias Linguísticas. Para situar historicamente a questão, realiza-se primeiramente um estudo da emergência da expressão língua materna no Ocidente. Partindo-se da análise geral dos primeiros registros conhecidos da expressão no Ocidente, analisa-se especificadamente o funcionamento da expressão nas gramáticas de Júlio Ribeiro e de Alfredo Gomes no Brasil da virada do século XIX para o XX, de forma a compreender como ressoam nas obras dos autores brasileiros os sentidos de língua materna construídos ao longo de séculos na Europa. A hipótese apresentada é a de que língua materna é uma construção histórica cujos sentidos acompanham fortemente o processo de gramatização e constituição das línguas nacionais e do Estado nacional. Diante da ausência de registros anteriores ao século XII, a expressão língua materna é considerada uma invenção medieval, empregada inicialmente em latim nos textos da Igreja, como forma de contrapor essa língua aos vernáculos emergentes. Na passagem da Idade Média ao Renascimento, momento da gramatização massiva das línguas do mundo a partir da tradição greco-latina, realiza-se a superposição entre os sentidos de língua materna e língua nacional, em um passo que leva à construção da evidência de língua materna como primeira língua, língua do território, língua que se contrapõe à língua estrangeira, sentidos mobilizados na Antiguidade Clássica pelas expressões patrius sermo e patria lingua, o que depõe contra o próprio mérito da evidência sofrido pela expressão língua materna. No Brasil, onde gramatização também está em correspondência com a formação da nação e com a questão da língua nacional, os sentidos da expressão língua materna apontam questões como o reconhecimento de uma identidade linguística brasileira e a legitimação de um saber sobre a língua portuguesa no país
Abstract: The senses of the expression "mother language" in the initial period of the Brazilian process of grammatization are the subject of research in this work, which takes a historical and discursive conception of the sense and is based on the History of Linguistic Ideas, a theoretical and methodological field that considers as constitutive the relation between the history of metalinguistic knowledge and the history of the language. In order to situate the issue historically, it has been carried out, firstly, a study of the emergence of the expression "mother language" in the West. Based on the general analysis of the first known records of such expression in the West, the functioning of this expression in the grammars of Julio Ribeiro and Alfredo Gomes at the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century in Brazil has been specifically analyzed, aiming to understand how the senses of "mother language" built throughout the centuries in Europe resonated in the works of the Brazilian authors. The hypothesis presented here is that mother language is a historical construction whose senses follow strongly the grammatization process and the constitution of the national languages and of the National State. Given the absence of records before the twelfth century, the expression "mother language" is considered a medieval invention, initially used in Latin in the texts of the Church, as a way to counter this language to the emerging vernaculars. In the passage from the Middle Age to the Renaissance, a time of massive grammatization of the languages of the world from the Greco-Latin tradition, it is possible to state that there was an overlap between the senses of "mother language" and "national language", in a step that leads to building up the evidence of mother language as a first language, a language of the territory, a language that is opposed to the foreign language, senses deployed in Classical Antiquity by the expressions "patrius sermo" and "patria lingua", which argues against the merit of the evidence occurred with the expression "mother language". In Brazil, where grammatization is also in correspondence with the formation of the Nation and with the issue of the national language, the senses of the expression "mother language" raise issues as the recognition of a Brazilian linguistic identity and the validation of a certain knowledge about the Portuguese language in the country
Mestrado
Linguistica
Mestre em Linguística

This thesis has attempted to determine if there are differences, concerning adverbial placement, between the sentences of left- and right-handed writers. To make this determination, I have statistically analyzed compositions of eight graduate students (four left-handed and four right-), and two left-handed published authors' (Lewis Carroll's and Mark Twains) private correspondence.

Cette thèse analyse les propriétés sémantiques et discursives des prédicats d'état ('laid, généreux') ainsi que des prédicats causatifs et résultatifs, et plus particulièrement des verbes psychologiques à Expérienceur objet ('stimuler, encourager'). Le cadre adopté est celui de la sémantique néo-davidsonienne (Parsons, 1990) et de la sémantique du discours (Kamp & Reyle 1993, Asher 1993). La première partie (chap 1-7) est consacrée aux prédicats d'état, et la seconde aux prédicats causatifs et résultatifs (chap. 8-9). Dans le chapitre 1, on expose les arguments en faveur de l'idée que les verbes d'état ont un argument implicite davidsonien comme les verbes d'action. Abordant ensuite les constructions en 'by/in' ('by/in smoking, he broke his promise'), l'auteur propose de considérer, avec Goldman et contre Davidson, que celles-ci décrivent deux événements distincts, liés par une relation de génération. L'analyse goldmanienne de ces constructions est ensuite étendue aux prédicats d'état ('in doing this, he was clever'), ce qui permet de distinguer les prédicats qui dénotent un état dépendant d'une action, comme 'clever' en usage occurrentiel, des prédicats qui dénotent un état indépendant d'une action, comme beautiful (cf. '??in doing this, he was beautiful'). Le chapitre 2 fait le point sur les spécificités des prédicats d'état par rapport aux prédicats d'activité. Y est notamment montré que certains prédicats d'état acceptent le "progressif interprétatif" ('tu es en train de croire au Père Noël!'). Ce type de progressif est distingué du progressif standard et du progressif actif anglais ('he was being clever'); sont définis également les "prédicats interprétatifs" qui n'acceptent que ce progressif. Le chapitre 3 élabore une typologie aspectuelle des prédicats d'état. Sont d'abord distingués quatre types d'états en fonction de l'intervalle pendant lequel l'état en cause est vérifié. On montre que cette quadri-partition rend mieux compte des données linguistiques que la dichotomie classique en 'stage level predicates' et 'individual level predicates'. Ensuite sont définis les "prédicats d'état pur" comme beau, qui dénotent un état indépendant de toute action, et les "prédicats d'état endo-actionnel" comme 'généreux/bruyant' en usage occurrentiel, qui dénote un état généré par une action. On présente des arguments contre l'assimilation de ces derniers prédicats à des prédicats d'action. Est alors analysée l'ambiguïté des prédicats comme "généreux" dans l'emploi occurrentiel: 'Pierre m'a donné des bonbons. Il a été généreux' peut vouloir dire soit que Pierre a été généreux de (décider de) me donner des bonbons (lecture-d), soit qu'il a été généreux dans la manière de me les donner (lecture-m). Dans la foulée, on examine la relation temporelle qui prend place entre un état s et l'action e dont il dépend. Enfin, on montre que l'analyse proposée peut rendre compte de la concurrence entre passé composé et imparfait dans les phrases dénotant un état occurrentiel. A partir de la typologie aspectuelle élaborée au chapitre 3, le chapitre 4 revisite le problème que soulèvent certains prédicats d'état dans les constructions à prédicat second descriptif ('Pierre a donné des bonbons saoul/??généreux') et propose une nouvelle solution. On montre ensuite que cette solution peut être adaptée pour résoudre un problème moins étudié, à savoir celui que posent certains prédicats d'état dans les subordonnées temporelles en 'quand '(cf. 'Il était généreux, quand il a distribué les bonbons' versus '??Il a distribué des bonbons quand il était généreux'). Enfin, on fait le point sur la difficulté qu'éprouvent les prédicats évaluatifs à entrer dans les constructions présuppositionnelles, parmi lesquelles les subordonnées temporelles, mais les GN définis ('La femme rousse/??généreuse commanda une bière'). Le chapitre 5 est consacré aux relations rhétoriques qui s'établissent entre la description d'un état et la description d'un événement, aux combinaisons possibles entre ces relations rhétoriques, et à la manière dont tel ou tel prédicat d'état, vu ses propriétés sémantiques, contribue à établir telle ou telle relation rhétorique avec la description d'événement. Le chapitre 6 revient sur le problème que soulève l'indéfini des en lecture non générique avec certains prédicats d'état, notamment les prédicats évaluatifs ('Des livres étaient sales' versus '??Des livres étaient merveilleux'). En se fondant sur les outils de la 'Decision Theoretic Semantic's (Merin 1999), l'auteur fait l'hypothèse qu'un prédicat P n'accepte des que si la quantité des éléments satisfaisant P dans le contexte est non pertinente pour les fins du discours, et s'il est clair, par ailleurs, que les qualités implicites que peuvent instancier les dits éléments ne contribuent en aucune façon à expliquer qu'ils satisfont P. On montre que ces deux conditions sont respectées (resp. violées) avec les prédicats d'état compatibles (resp. incompatibles) avec des dans sa lecture non générique. Le chapitre 7 est consacré à la sémantique qu'il faut assigner aux prédicats d'état évaluatifs. On expose tout d'abord les arguments en faveur d'une sémantique "réaliste", qui analyse les prédicats évaluatifs comme des prédicats unaires dénotant de vraies propriétés. On distingue ensuite, dans le contenu informationnel des énoncés évaluatifs, un composant assertif et deux implicatures associées. On termine par l'analyse des prédicats évaluatifs superlatifs ('merveilleux'); est argumentée l'idée que ces prédicats ont un composant expressif, en ce sens que le locuteur, en les utilisant, implicite qu'une entité satisfaisant le prédicat a déclenché en lui une émotion, vécue ou rejouée lors de l'énonciation. On montre en quoi ce composant expressif contribue à expliquer pourquoi de tels prédicats sont difficilement utilisables à l'impératif ou dans certains types de questions. Le chapitre 8 répertorie trois classes parmi les verbes, dits "résultatifs", qui présupposent l'occurrence d'un événement e causant ou générant l'événement asserté e'. On présente d'abord le problème que pose la définition de cette présupposition, puis une nouvelle solution est exposée. On montre alors que la présupposition des verbes résultatifs -- achèvements droits et accomplissements strictement forts --- est de nature scalaire et peut s'expliquer par la Loi d'exhaustivité de Ducrot. Le chapitre 9 est consacré aux verbes psychologiques à Expérienceur objet (VPEO). Après avoir classé ces verbes en fonction de leur structure événementielle, on fait le point sur les différentes lectures qu'ils peuvent accepter. On montre ensuite qu'à la différence des VPEO acceptables dans les constructions agentives, les VPEO qui y sont peu acceptables exhibent deux propriétés cruciales. D'abord, ils présupposent toujours, à l'instar des verbes étudiés dans le chapitre 8, l'occurrence de l'événement impliquant le sujet; ensuite, certains d'entre eux sont "interprétatifs", en ce sens que l'assertion du changement d'état psychologique ne s'avère pertinente pour les fins du discours que si l'interprétant connaît, par ailleurs, l'événement qui cause ce changement. Cela permet d'expliquer pourquoi les verbes en question ne peuvent faire avancer la narration comme le ferait un prédicat d'action normal, et pourquoi ils sont peu compatibles avec les adverbes de manière orientés sur l'agent, les pseudo-clivées ou les compléments de lieu. On termine par l'analyse aspectuelle de la classe des VPEO, en montrant qu'on y trouve des membres des cinq classes aspectuelles distinguées dans le chapitre précédent.