A specification of linguistic concepts relevant to the collection of databases in the Typological Database System (TDS). The ontology acts as an integration mechanism for cross-database resource discovery. The ontology is "inclusive", in the sense that it supports side-by-side different conceptualizations of the same domain. The topic areas included are those relevant to the component databases, plus related concepts introduced to provide paradigmatic consistency.
A superordinate category that includes information about languages, such as genealogical grouping, geographic location or information on the source of data.
Information concerning geographical features.
An utterance or text of any size in the target language.
The means by which grammatical relations are formally coded (i.e. head or dependent marking type). See daughter nodes for explanation.
The kind of linguistic entity (see daughter nodes for further explanations).
The form of the marker in question.
A (morpho)syntactic constituent of a clause or larger unit.
A lexical unit is a lexical form with the meaning of a lexeme.
A clitic is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a word, but shows evidence of being phonologically bound to another word. (http://www.sil.org/linguistics/glossaryoflinguisticterms/whatisacliticgrammar.htm).
A sublexical unit is a form which can modify the meaning of the word to which it is attached.
An affix is a morpheme which is connected to a root or stem to form a word.
A nominal affix is an affix which is attached to a noun.
A verbal affix is an affix which is attached to a verb.
The smallest chunk of linguistic matter which bears meaning and which cannot be further segmented into smaller meaning bearing units.
A system of word classes that divides a clause into linguistic categories or classes, i.e. parts of speech. The canonical parts of speech in Latin grammars were noun, pronoun, verb, participle, conjunction, preposition and interjection. The system in Ancient Greek included the article (Matthews 2005) Since antiquity, the parts of speech have been extended to adjective, adverbial, copula, and adposition.
‘An adjective ... is a lexeme that can be used as a modifier within a referential phrase’ (Hengeveld, Rijkhoff & Siewierska 2004:530). A linguistic element that denotes a semantic property (Dryer 2002:3).
In grammar, an adposition is a word or affix which shows a word's grammatical function. The three types of adposition are prepositions, postpositions and circumpositions. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adposition).
An adverbial modifies any part of speech but nouns.
A copula is a word that is used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate (a subject complement or an adverbial). Though it might not itself express any action or condition, it serves to equate (or associate) the subject with the predicate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copula).
A determiner is "any of a class of grammatical units characterized by ones that are seen as limiting the potential referent of a noun phrase." (Matthews 2005)
A nominal is a word which functions as a noun.
‘A noun ... is a lexeme that can be used as the head of a referential phrase’ (Hengeveld, Rijkhoff & Siewierska 2004:530).
A noun is a class of words whose characteristic role is an argument of a verb and which is characteristically that of words denoting concrete entities, e.g. "dog" or "tree". (Matthews 2005:248)
Pronouns may be used instead of nouns in a clause. "Typically what is meant by an independent/free/full, etc. person form is a person marker which constitutes a separate word and may take primary word stress, such as the English 'I, me, you, she, they'." (Siewierska 2004:16). Pronominal argument analysis: Person marker treated as an agreement marker when co-occurring with a corresponding NP and the realization of the verbal argument when it does not. (Siewierska 2004:124). "[A] primary feature of personal pronouns is taken to be necessary referentiality and even definiteness. This is reflected in the fact that personal pronouns typically cannot occur with definite determiners, or indefinite articles, be construed as bound variables or receive a non-specific or generic interpretation. Person agreement markers, on the other hand, need not be so restricted." (Siewierska 2004:124).
‘A verb ... is a lexeme that can be used as the head of a predicate phrase only’ (Hengeveld, Rijkhoff & Siewierska 2004:530). A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action ("bring", "read"), occurrence ("to decompose" (itself), "to glitter"), or a state of being ("exist", "live", "soak", "stand").
Phonetic realization of a linguistic form.
A articulatory gesture creating a speech sound. A segment is any discrete unit or phone, produced by the vocal apparatus, or a representation of such a unit (Lass, 1984).
In the production of approximants the articulators are brought near each other but a large enough gap is left between them for air to escape without causing turbulence. (Katamba, 1989: 7). Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approximant).
Any approximant produced without the lateral release, see approximant.
An articulatory gesture distinguished by a degree of obstruction creating a speech sound. Consonantal sounds are produced with a drastic stricture along the centre-line of the vocal tract (Katamba 1989: 43).
In the production of an affricte first the articulators come together and completely cut of the flow of air just as they do in a stop, then they separate gradually. (Katamba 1989: 6). Comment: The gradual release of the articulators causes a turbulent release of air, which is frication. Basically, affricates are combinations of stops and fricatives.
Clicks are stops made with an ingressive velaric airstream mechanism. (Ladefoged 1982: 125). Clicks are stops produced with two articulatory closures in the oral cavity. The pocket of air enclosed between the two closures is rarefied by a "sucking" action of the tongue. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_consonant) (see also Rietveld & van Heuven 1997: 59).
Sounds produced with an incomplete constriction of the articulators which results in turbulent airflow causing audible hissing. (Saulwick & Goedemans). The articulators are brought very close together, leaving only a very narrow channel through which the air squeeses on its way out, producing turbulence in the process (Katamba, 1989: 7). The primary articulation in these fricatives is the close approximation of two articulators so that friction can be heard (Ladefoged 1982: ).
Nasals are produced with a complete constriction at some point in the oral cavity with air flowing freely through the nasal cavity.
The articulators come together and completely cut off the flow of air, characteristically pulmonic egressive, momentarily and then they separate abruptly. (Katamba 1989, 6). Comment: A characteristic of plosives is that the abrupt separation of the articulators causes an explosive release of air. (Goedemans and Saulwick).
Rhotic consonants, or "R"-like sounds, are non-lateral liquid consonants. This class of sounds is difficult to characterise phonetically, though most of them share some acoustic peculiarities, most notably a lowered third formant in their sound spectrum. However, "being r-like" is a strangely elusive feature, and the very same sounds that function as rhotics in some systems may pattern with fricatives, semivowels or even stops in others. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotic_consonant). The commonest of these sounds are: trills, taps, flaps, non-lateral approximants and some uvular and velar vibrating fricatives.
A speech sound characterized by the high degree of openness of the vocal tract. Prototypically, vowels are highly sonorous and function as syllabic nuclei. The sonority of a sound is its loudness with respect to other sounds with the same length, stress and pitch. The degree of jaw opening, position of the tongue and lip rounding are the most important articulatory gestures producing different types of vowels. Other important factors include phonation type, voicing and nasality. (Goedemans & Saulwick)
Diphtongs are sounds which involve a change in quality within the one vowel. As a matter of convenience, they can be described as movements from one vowel to another (Ladefoged 1982: 76).
Suprasegmental features or organization of phonological entities or constructs. “By prosody we mean the ensemble of [phonological or phonetic] properties of manifested language ... which cannot directly be derived from the properties of the mere sequence of smallest distinctive lingusitic units.” (van Heuven, Sluijter 1996:233).
Changes in fundamental frequency during the course of an utterance. Intonation carries information that is not provided by the stream of consonants and vowels. It might tell the listener whether the sentence is a question or a statement, or whether more will follow. Intonation may also signal differences in meaning or in attitude (Ackema, 2001).
Structural components of the syllable.
Information pertaining to the prosodic features pause, stress, tone.
Phonetically main stress is the syllable within a word which is most perceptually prominent (Goedemans). Phonetically secondary stresses are less perceptually prominent that main stress but more perceptually prominent than unstressed syllables (Goedemans). Phonologically main stress is the syllable within a word which is the head of the word as defined by metrical rules (Goedemans). Phonologically secondary stresses are the strong syllables in a rhythmic pattern (Goedemans). "Phonetically, 'articulatory force' involves a number of properties which the stressed syllable has to a grater degree relative to the unstressed sylables. For example, the stressed syllable is more precisely articulated, longer, louder and often higher pitched. Duration, loudness and pitch are all properties that all syllables have to some degree, but the stressed syllable has all of these to the greatest degree." (van der Hulst, to appear) Word accent (van der Hulst, to appear)
A particular style of speech (Siewierska 2004:4).
Subdomain of linguistic analysis focusing on the combination of words and phrases.
A grouping of linguistic entities on the basis of similar morphosyntactic behaviour which form part of the system of a language (Saulwick).
An inherent (morpho)syntactic constituent subcategorized for by a predicate. 'Arguments are those terms which are required by some predicate in order to form a complete nuclear predication. They are essential to the integrity of the SoA designated by the predicate frame. If we leave them out, the property/relation designated by the predicate is not fulfilled or satisfied.' (Dik, 1997:86f) An argument can be a controller in an agreement relation.
A linguistic unit that is part of a grammatical construction.
A syntactic clause is a grammatical unit that contains a predicate and an explicit or implied subject.
A coordinate clause is a clause belonging to a series of two or more clauses which are not syntactically dependent on one another, and are joined by means of a coordinate conjunction, a connective or parataxis. (http://www.sil.org/linguistics/glossaryoflinguisticterms/WhatIsACoordinateClause.htm).
Taxonomy of embedded constructions according to Dik (1997:143), which is claimed to have 'general cross-linguistic validity'.
An embedded construction which contains a finite verb form.
Dependent clauses (which are also sometimes referred to as subordinate clauses) cannot stand alone as sentences. They usually begin with subordinating conjunctions. A sentence with an independent clause and any number of dependent clauses is referred to as a complex sentence. One with two or more independent clauses and any number of dependent clauses is referred to as a compound-complex sentence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clause).
An embedded construction which contains a non-finite verb form.
A non-finite embedded construction which contains features with nominal properties.
A non-finite embedded construction which does not contain features with nominal properties.
An infinitive is the head of the embedded construction.
A participle is the head of the embedded construction.
A syntactic phrase consists of more than one word but does not have the subject-predicate order of a clause.
A superordinate category that includes language or linguistic properties such as linguistic functions, positioning information, and particular semantic, syntactic and phonetic properties of certain linguistic entities.
Attributes of language discussed cognizant of or irrespective of time-related factors, i.e. diachronic or synchronic perspectives.
Attributes of language discussed cognizant of time-related factors. From Saussure. One of the ‘two sciences of language.’ Also referred to as ‘evolutionary linguistics.’ Diachronic linguistics is concerned with the study of the change in terms over time in a given language. An example of diachronic analysis is the study of a word in relation with its historical derivative(s). (http://www.umass.edu/polsci725/Glossary.html).
The kind of syntactic class to which a feature belongs.
The property of being conditioned by some linguistic feature. There may be different independent types of conditioning: Phonological conditioning means that some grammatical element is conditioned in some way by a phonological form. For example, a phonological condition may specify the nature of an underlyingly underspecified segment, e.g. Turkish vowel harmony. Morphological conditioning means that some grammatical element is conditioned in some way by a morphological form. Syntactic conditioning means that some grammatical element is conditioned in some way by a syntactic form. Semantic conditioning means that some grammatical element is conditioned in some way by a semantic distinction, such as tense, aspect or mood. Pragmatic conditioning means that some grammatical element is conditioned in some way by a pragmatic distinction, such as discourse participants or contextual information.
Phonology conditions the form or occurrence of certain elements.
Word-level rules stating obligatory disagreement of vowels or consonants with respect to one or more features.
Word-level rules stating obligatory agreement of vowels or consonants with respect to one or more features.
Syntactic factors condition the form or occurrence of certain elements.
Conditions applicable to attested phenomena, such as a restriction on their distribution.
The occurence of an agreement marker is influenced by certain conditions.
Syntax is influenced by certain conditions.
Conditions on the (co)occurrence of phonetic and/or phonological segments (or segment clusters) in a word or syllable.
Declaration of linguistic functions irrespective of their form.
A relation functioning to connect two sentential, clausal or other constituents.
The function of markers of different linguistic types.
“[F]ormal manifestation of the agreement on the target ... will be called the agreement marker” (Siewierska, 2004:120).
A cover term for a marker (either bound or free) which references person values.
See subclasses for explanations.
Clause-internal pragmatic functions concern the informational status of constituents of the clause in relation to the wider communicative setting in which they are used; "communicative setting" can be understood in terms of the Speaker's estimate of the Addressee's pragmatic information at the moment of speaking. (Dik 1997:311).
Some means of signalling the discourse function of linguistic elements. Information structure is the encoding of the relative salience of the constituents of a clause, especially nominals, and is realized as choices among alternative syntactic arrangements. The information structure of a particular clause is determined by the larger sentence or discourse of which it is a part (i.e., its context). The communicative effect of the information structure is to foreground certain aspects of the message of the clause, but to background others. (Foley, 1996:200)
The status of information with respect to whether it is mentioned for the first time in the discourse context or whether it has already been mentioned in the preceding discourse.
The division of an utterance into the thing that is talked about (the topic) and what is said about it (the comment or focus).
'"Focality" (= characterizing the most important or salient parts of what we say about the topical things) (Dik 1997:310). Focality attaches to those pieces of information which are the most important or salient with respect to the modifications which S[peaker] wishes to effect in PA [the addressee's paragmatic information], and with respect to the further development of the discourse. The focality dimension concerns the "action" of the play. (Dik 1997:312). 'The pragmatic function of Focus pertains to the focality dimension of discourse. The focal information in a linguistic expression is that information which is relatively the most important or salient in the given communicative setting, and considered by S to be most essential for A to integrate into his pragmatic information.' (Dik 1997:326).
The analogue of corrective/substitutive focus. Example: John likes apples. - No he hates them. No he like pears. No he doesn't.
See subordinate categores for information.
A focus complete fills in a true gap in the knowledge of the addressee. It substitutes the variable in the open proposition. Example: what did he show you? - He showed me THE PICTURE OF HIS NEW GIRLFRIEND.
"Topicality" (= characterizing "the things we talk about") (Dik 1997:310)."Topicality concerns the status of those entities "about" which information is to be provided or requested in the discourse. The topicality dimension concerns the participants in the event structure of the discourse, the "players" in the play staged in the communicative interaction." (Dik 1997:310) A topic is a noun phrase that expresses what a sentence is about, and to which the rest of the sentence is related as a comment (Loos, 2004).
'If a discourse is to be about a certain D[iscourse]-Topic, that D-Topic will, at some point, have to be introduced for the first time. Such a first presentation of a D-Topic will be called a New Topic; once the entity in question has been introduced, it can then be considered as a Given Topic (GivTop). Sometimes, given a certain GivTop, we may go on to talk about another Topic related to it "as if" it had been introduced before. For example, once we have introduced a certain party as a D-Topic, we may go on to talk about 'the music' as if it were a GivTop...' (Dik 1997:314).
A functional categorization of stress.
The function of stress placement is word counting in some sense.
A process which may affect the phonological structure of a morpheme (e.g. when it is combined with another morpheme).
A collection of phonological processes.
A property of a morphological unit, see daughter nodes for further explanation.
Whether the morphosyntactic unit is bound or free.
Whether a form is monomorphemic or polymorphemic.
The expression of a linguistic feature through the use of morphology.
Whether a morpheme is realized overtly (by phonetic material) or not.
A collection of phonetic or phonological properties.
Opposition between long and short varieties of otherwise identical segments plays a role in the phonology of the language (Goedemans).
The length of a consonant.
The property of having phonologically relevant vowel length distinctions.
Certain properties of a vowel which warrant calling it ‘long’: The vowel is phonologically long, which means it occupies two segmental slots. For the purposes of stress assignment, if a language uses weight in the assignment of stress, then syllables with long vowels will be heavy.
The property of a phonological word.
The maximal and minimal number of syllables or moras constituting a phonological word.
Information pertaining to phonological segments.
Certain phonological features, see daughter nodes for further explanation.
The amount of closure during articulation.
The configuration in which a particular Dependency Phonology (DP) feature occurs determines its phonetic interpretion. In other words, the structural relationships a DP feature holds within a hierarchial segmental structure can affect the way it is realised. For instance, L may represent voicing, sonorancy nasalization or 'vowelness'.Note: DP features are defined in both articulatory and acoustic(-perceptual) terms. This allows for a degree of abstraction from the phonetic details. (Norval Smith) See [] for precise interpretation of these features. See Anderson, 1987, Botma, 2004, Smith, 2000 for further information on DP.
In Dependency Phonology manner features express both manners of articulation (such as stops, nasals, fricatives, etc.) and phonation distinctions (such as voicing, aspiration, glottalization, etc.). Note that the interpretation of a manner feature is dependent on its dominance and head-dependent relationship. (Norval Smith)
In Dependency Phonology place features express primary or secondary place of articulation. such as labiality in consonants. For instance as head U can be interpreted as backness in vowels, whereas a dependent U would represent rounding. Note that the interpretation of a place feature is dependent on its dominance and head-dependent relationship. (Norval Smith)
Concerning features that: 1. group segments differently from those of feature geometry of (Ladefoged, to appear).. 2. highlight different segmental properties from those of feature geometry of Ladefoged (to appear).
Based on a constrained hierarchical arrangement of articulatory features for specifying lexical contrasts. (Ladefoged, to appear). Also includes additional features not found in Ladefoged's analysis.
Feature Geometry node that indirectly dominates airstream features.
Feature Geometry node that dominates pulmonic airstream features.
Feature Geometry node that dominates velaric airstream features.
Feature Geometry node grouping features having to do with the location(s) in the vocal tract at which sounds can be said to be articulated (articulatory gestures).
Feature Geometry node that indirectly dominates all features having to do with coronal sounds.
The feature of producing sounds with the tip of the tongue.
The feature of producing sounds with the blade of the tongue.
Sub-apical sounds are made with the under side of the tip of the tongue.
Information pertaining to the shape of the tongue during articulation.
Feature Geometry node that dominates features of sounds that are articulated by raising the dorsum of the tongue.
Feature Geometry node dominating features having to do with articulation at the lips.
Feature Geometry node dominating features having to do with articulatory settings at the larynx.
Feature Geometry node dominating features having to do with articulation at the back of the mouth.
Feature geometry node relating to gestural types.
Feature Geometry node grouping features having to do with the degree of the constriction between the active and passive articulators in the production of consonants.
Information pertaining to the characteristics of taps and trills.
Feature Geometry node grouping features and other nodes having to do with the articulation of vowels.
Feature Geometry node that dominates the features defining the backness of the tongue during the production of sounds.
Feature Geometry node that dominates the features defining the height of the tongue during the production of vowels.
Feature Geometry node (UPSID specific) that dominates features regarding the shape of the lips during the production of vowels.
Feature Geometry node that groups features having to do with lip rounding in the articulation of speech sounds.
Information pertaining to the position of the tongue during the production of sounds.
Feature Geometry node indirectly dominating features that have to do with the glottalic properties of speech sounds.
Feature Geometry node dominating features that have to do with the glottal-timing properties of speech sounds.
Feature Geometry node dominating features having to do with the shape of the tongue during articulation. In lateral sounds the sides of the tongue are lowered allowing air to flow freely past them.
Feature Geometry node dominating features that determine whether the airflow used in the production of a speech sound passes through the nasal cavity or not.
The property of having a low level prosodic element at one of the word edges (usually the syllable) that may not be counted for the computation of stress position (relevant for both main and secondary stress). Possible exponents are: final consonant, vowel, mora, syllable or foot.
The property of having a prosodic unit prototypically consisting of a strong and a weak syllable (see ). In the derivation of secondary stress the foot type together with starting edge determines which of the syllables in a particular string will be strong.
The property of having (or not having) the position of stress specified in the lexicon.
Phenomena conditioning observable surface patterns of stress.
Types of main stress placement systems. Main stress placement concerns a set of rules determining the location(s) of primary stress.
Stress occurs in the same position in every word in a language. This is also sometimes called “quantity insensitive”. Quantity insensitive are systems “where the main stress is always found on a fixed syllable with reference to one of the edges of words, irrespective of the form of this syllable.” (Goedemans, et al 1996: 34).
The position of stress is variable within the stress domain. Sometimes also called quantity-sensitive systems (Goedemans, et al 1996:35).
Position of stress is not determined by marking in the lexeme but by metrical rules.
The window in which primary stress can occur is restricted to two syllables at one of the word edges.
Primary stress placement occurs at the left-hand word edge.
Primary stress placement occurs at the right-hand word edge.
Main stress can occur anywhere in the phonological word.
Secondary stress placement is the construction of a pattern of rhythmic beats or strong syllables complementary to main stress. The precise pattern is determined by a set of parameters. The application of an abstract algorithm that yields a particular rhythmic pattern is sometimes called 'footing'. Phonetically, the correlates of secondary stress are such that syllables carrying it are less salient than the one carrying main (or primary) stress. (Goedemans & Saulwick) ‘Secondary stress’ is also sometimes called ‘rhythm’.
The property of having a distinctive tone. In many, so-called tone languages, a difference in pitch is used to distinguish lexical items. In such languages tone is a distinctive feature (Ackema, 2001). Lexical tone is the distinctive pitch level carried by the syllable of a word which is an essential feature of the meaning of that word (Loos, 2004).
A collection of certain syllable properties.
The properties of syllable structure according to the onset, nucleus and coda view of the syllable (see daughter nodes for further explanation).
The property of having features concerning a syllable coda, e.g. a closing consonant.
The property of having features concerning a syllable onset.
Information which identifies the position of certain linguistic units.
The position of agreement markers.
The order of constituents.
The order of clauses.
Linear order of core constituents of a clause. Core constituents are S, O and V.
Order of basic words in a sentence (Greenberg 1966).
Three-way predicate-based word order typology according to Hengeveld, Rijkhoff & Siewierska (2004:542). This is a classification of ‘clausal word order in terms of the location of predicates, rather than of verbs, relative to their arguments’. This is based on the order obtaining in ‘main, positive, declarative clauses with two overt referential phrases’. ‘The major criterion for assigning a basic order is statistical frequency. In languages exhibiting considerable word order variation, we assign a unique basic order only if one of the word order patterns is at least twice as common as any other order, following Dryer (1997)’.
The order of noun and genetive marker.
Order of head and modifier.
Order of head and modifier within a predicate phrase.
Order of head and modifier within a referential phrase.
Whether the order is fixed or free.
The main stress domain defines the possible locations in which we may find main (or primary) stress in languages that have variable stress placement.
A specific ordering of morphemes.
Distance between morpheme and morphological head.
Conditions on the (co)occurrence of phonetic and/or phonological segments in a word or syllable.
Restrictions on the (co)occurrence of phonetic or phonological segments in specific syllabic positions.
Restrictions on the (co)occurrence of phonetic or phonological segments in specific positions in the word.
A collection of semantic properties.
A linguistic relation between two entities in which prototypically one is in control of, or (necessarily) associated with, the other. This relationship may be inherent (lexical) or composed (established through grammatical means).
Properties concerned with animacy, i.e. endowed with life, living, or being alive.
The assigning or ascribing of a character or quality as belonging or proper to any thing (OED). Noun: A quality or character considered to belong to or be inherent in a person or thing; a characteristic quality (OED). Verb: To ascribe as a quality or ‘attribute’ belonging, proper, or inherent (OED).
Basic types of events determined by predicate valency.
Whether the speaker includes the addressee or not in the domain of the first person.
The degree of definiteness or particularization specified when referring to one or more entities.
Whether a noun is a count noun or mass noun.
Specification of the count of participants in an event. Quantity of participants referenced in a situation.
Specification of which participants are or are not involved in the speech act.
Concerning the assertion of a negation or the absence of a negation.
A predicate is the portion of a clause, excluding the subject, that expresses something about the subject. (http://www.sil.org/linguistics/glossaryoflinguisticterms/whatisapredicate.htm).
A non-verbal predicate is a predicate which is not primarily used in predicative function. See Hengeveld (1992), Dik (1997). A non-verbal predication is a class of constructions containing a form (or equivalent) of the verb to be and containing no verb at all, see Hengeveld (1992:1).
The grammatical predicate is either a simple verb, or a verb of incomplete predication with its complement (OED).
'[T]he number of arguments that the predicate takes to form nuclear predications.' (Dik, 1997:79).
The degree of referentiality specified when referring to an entity.
Three kinds of semantic opposition Lyons (1968:460-470).
Sets of entities grouped according to certain (grammatical or semantic) criteria.
The classification of an entity according to its natural or inherent sexual features, i.e. the attribute of being either male or female.
The property of having membership of one of specific a number of noun classes.
The semantic role instantiated by a participant in an event. See Fillmore (1968) on "Deep Cases".
A superordinate semantic role (Foley & Van Valin, 1984), (Van Valin & LaPolla, 1997).
A superordinate semantic role (Foley & Van Valin, 1984), (Van Valin & LaPolla, 1997).
The degree of specificity stipulated when referring to an entity.
The State Of Affairs type is ... a compositional function of the semantic properties of both predicate and terms. (Dik, 1997:106). See also Lakoff (1966), Vendler (1967), Chafe (1970). A (nuclear) predication such as the representation "write (John)(a letter)" can be interpreted as designating a set of states of affairs (SoAs), where an SoA is "the conception of something that can be the case in some world". An SoA can be the case in both "reality" as in a "mental world". An SoA is something that can be said to occur, take place, or obtain in some world; it can be located in time and space; it can be said to take a certain time (having a certain duration); and it can be seen, heard or otherwise perceived. (Dik 1997 : 51) It is considered to be an alias of "Aktionsart", which is the lexical class to which a verb belongs by virtue of the process, state, etc. that it denotes. E.g. walking is an activity; therefore "walk" is an 'activity verb'. (Matthews 2005 :13)
A depiction or discussion of entities or situations in terms of their degree of 'time-stableness'.
A superordinate category containing information about tense, aspect and mood.
Perspective on the internal temporal extent of an event or state.
The imperfective aspects ... do not view the situation as bounded, but rather as ongoing in either a durative, continuative or habitual sense Bybee (1985:21).
The perfective aspects (inceptive, punctual and completive) view the situation as a bounded entity, and often put an emphasis on its beginning or end. Bybee (1985:21).
A superordinate category comprising a number of modality types (see daughter nodes for further clarification). Clause type or verb forms used with the expression of statements and questions (Crystal 1985). The most common categories are associated with the way sentences are used: indicative (statement), imperative (command), optative (wish), etc. Sometimes the distinction between declaratives (‘I go’) and interrogatives (‘Do I go?’) is considered one of mood (Ackema, 2001).
A grammatical feature or category expressing a temporal relation between the event described by the verb and the moment of utterance.
Absolute tense refers to a time in relation to the moment of utterance. (http://www.sil.org/linguistics/glossaryoflinguisticterms/whatisabsolutetense.htm).
Dixon's (1982) assertion of particular universal semantic types (see daughter nodes for explanation).
Universal semantic types of adjectives postulated by Dixon (1982:16).
Universal semantic types postulated by Dixon (1982:12) .
Information pertaining to the syntactic or morphosyntactic features of a construction.
The property of having an argument.
Type of case, i.e. grammatical or non-grammatical.
A system of linguistic marking used to signal the grammatical function of syntactic constituents.
A system of linguistic marking used to signal the peripheral or non-grammatical (such as local) function of syntactic constituents (Saulwick).
Directional case indicates a certain direction.
Case which does not pertain to location.
Spatial case typically marks the location of the referent of the noun it marks in space or time.
Information pertaining to the formal structure of a (morpho)syntactic unit.
Type of formal encoding, such as lexical or morphological or morphosyntactic.
Attribute or property is expressed morphologically, i.e. by morphological as opposed to lexical means.
Designates a lack of overt formal marking or encoding.
The voice of a verb describes the relationship between the action (or state) that the verb expresses and the participants identified by its arguments (subject, object, etc.).
The property of being headed. “[I]n each grouping of constituents one element has a special status; this element is called the head, the other element(s) being called dependent(s)” (van der Hulst, to appear).
Properties concerned with the concept of grammatical ‘markedness’ (see subclass nodes for further explanation).
The property of being a modifier.
Description of the morphological transitivity of the specific morphemes.
A superordinate category containing sets of linguistic relations: Relation: An abstraction belonging to, or characteristic of, two entities or parts together. Linguistic relation: A linguistic relation established by grammar
“[S]ome systematic covariance between a semantic or formal property of one element and a formal property of another” (Steel 1978:610).
A relational category used to map a linguistic form and a linguistic function to each other.
Alignment of “syntactic functions denotes how core syntactic functions are organized relative to each other” (Siewierska 2004:50).
Each element in a construction is called adnominal that modifies a nominal, such as, all types of attributives, such as adjectives, possessives, prepositional attributes and relative clauses, such as the beautiful house; the neighbour’s house, the house at the sea, the house, that I want.
The relation of the predication, i.e. whether it is verbal or non-verbal.
Information about the source of the data, such as bibliographic information or the identity of a language consultant or specialist.
The type of source.