Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
2014-08-31T00:00:00Z
This thesis investigates the word order and adjectival agreement patterns in French- Dutch code switched DPs. It examines the predictions made by two theoretical frameworks: the Minimalist Program ...Show moreThis thesis investigates the word order and adjectival agreement patterns in French- Dutch code switched DPs. It examines the predictions made by two theoretical frameworks: the Minimalist Program (MP) (MacSwan 2009) and the Matrix Language Framework (MLF) (Myers-Scotton and Jake 2009) and compares these predictions to data gathered in an elicitation task and a grammaticality judgment task. This thesis is the first study investigating the adjectival agreement in code switched DPs. The results of the experiments show no unambiguous confirmation of the predictions of either framework. However, statistical analysis of the data collected in the grammaticality judgment task showed that the MP is a better predictor for the grammaticality judgments, as sentences predicted to be grammatical by the MP were rated higher than sentence predicted to be ungrammatical by the same model. This difference was statistically significant to the 5% level. There was no significant difference in rating for the predictions of the MLF. This results of the judgment task in combination with the results of previous research highlight the importance of an integration of data from both naturalistic and experimental settings. Furthermore, the lack of unambiguous results from the grammaticality judgment task argues for an integration of other experimental methodologies, such as psycho- and neurolinguistic ones.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
closed access
This thesis carries out a linguistic survey of the ANA epigraphic material from Tayma conventionally known as Taymanitc. The following will consist of three main parts. The first part will include...Show moreThis thesis carries out a linguistic survey of the ANA epigraphic material from Tayma conventionally known as Taymanitc. The following will consist of three main parts. The first part will include a general introduction to ANA and the development of our knowledge of Taymanitic; the issue of literacy in the society of Tayma and the significance of writing will be discussed, as well as some theoretical issues concerning phylogenetic linguistic classification. The second part will be a grammatical sketch based on all the attested linguistic features in the Taymanitic corpus. Following the grammatical sketch will be a discussion of the linguistic features of Taymanitic that are relevant to classification in order to establish Taymanitic’s position in the Semitic family tree and within the subgroup of ANA. To make the texts easily accessible and to give insight into the analysis underlying the grammatical sketch, an appendix will be added containing the philological commentaries on the longer narrative texts that formed the basis of the presented grammatical sketch.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
This thesis focuses on the proficiency in the English language of Hendrik Albert Schultens (1749–1793), a third-generation Dutch scholar in oriental languages of Leiden University who travelled to...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the proficiency in the English language of Hendrik Albert Schultens (1749–1793), a third-generation Dutch scholar in oriental languages of Leiden University who travelled to England in 1772 for scholarly purposes. I reconstructed Schultens's social network and investigated his proficiency in English on two points: his use and non-use of the auxiliary 'do' and his use of participial -ing clauses. The thesis contains an edition of thirty-eight eighteenth-century English letters, both received from Schultens's British acquaintances and sent by Schultens himself, the whole of which was transcribed to serve as the corpus of my thesis. I also reflected on the potential reason for Schultens to be interested in learning the English language when, in eighteenth-century Europe, French and Latin were still the two major languages in international contacts. I believe it to be due to the fact that there were so few scholars working in the field of oriental languages and that he wished to exchange information on an international level. In search of potential peers, he was not only prepared to look overseas, but also to immerse himself into the study of his peers’ language and culture for a better exchange of knowledge. When it comes to Schultens's English, he proved to have obtained the level of a near native when he left England. A remarkable achievement after only nine months. Of course he might have studied the English already in the Netherlands, potentially individually. From his first letter on he mastered the use op auxiliary 'do', despite the fact that a similar periphrastic construction does not exist in Dutch. On the other hand, his first two English letters contain errors in his use of participial -ing, or to be more exact: in his use of 'being'. In Dutch 'zijnde' (the Dutch equivalent of 'being') may be used in subordinate clauses to reduce relative clauses (i.e. to make sentences shorter). In English this type of usage of 'being' does not exist. In his first two letters, Schultens still had to figure this difference out. However, by staying long enough in the country of the goal language and leading an active social life among native speakers of English he evidently managed to get a grip on its right usage after all.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
The history of the Albanian present suffix -i/-ën is discussed, in terms of both form and function. This is done through the study of present dialects, Old Albanian texts, other Indo-European...Show moreThe history of the Albanian present suffix -i/-ën is discussed, in terms of both form and function. This is done through the study of present dialects, Old Albanian texts, other Indo-European languages, and typological parallels.Show less
