Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
Discussions concerning syntactic aspects of code-switching (CS) phenomena are currently ongoing. This thesis looks at two such phenomena, nominal ellipsis (NPE) and linear adjacency, and shows how...Show moreDiscussions concerning syntactic aspects of code-switching (CS) phenomena are currently ongoing. This thesis looks at two such phenomena, nominal ellipsis (NPE) and linear adjacency, and shows how empirical investigation of CS contexts helps inform linguistic theory. This was accomplished by presenting 23 Belgian Dutch/French (BD/FR) bilinguals with a two-alternative forced choice judgment task and comparing their choices through t-tests to check for significance. Experiment 1 examines whether the choice of grammatical gender on adnominal ellipsis remnants reveals a morphosyntactic link between a FR elided noun with a BD antecedent. The results show that no such link can be observed for NPE in this language pair; this is contra González-Vilbazo and Ramos (2015), Merchant (2015) and Nee (2012), who have found evidence of a such a link between elided elements and antecedent in code-switched clausal and VP-ellipsis, as well as general evidence against structural theories of ellipsis (e.g., Merchant, 2001; 2004). Experiment 2 explores the Matrix Language Framework (MLF) (Myers-Scotton, 1993; 1995), a popular model that predicts that the determiner language will match the matrix language (ML) in code-switched DPs. However, effects of linear adjacency between the determiner and the inflection on the main verb (which determines the ML) have not yet been considered within the MLF. The DP was given as a post-verbal complement (adjacent), and as a post-verbal adjunct and a pre-verbal complement (non-adjacent). The results show that linear adjacency has no effect on determiner language. Moreover, the results also do not fit into the MLF. This thesis is the first empirical study to examine NPE theory in a code-switched environment, as well as the first to investigate linear adjacency effects on code-switched DPs. This work also provides insight into CS patterns in the BD/FR language pair, a relatively understudied bilingual population that frequently employs CS but is not a close-knit community. Taken together, these findings show that gathering empirical CS data from distinct bilingual populations is crucial, adding new and contrary insights and aiding the construction of linguistic theory.Show less
This thesis aims to shed light on legal practice of the nineteenth century in France and The Netherlands and contrast it with legal theory and current historiography. In both older and newer French...Show moreThis thesis aims to shed light on legal practice of the nineteenth century in France and The Netherlands and contrast it with legal theory and current historiography. In both older and newer French and Dutch historiography, the nineteenth century is described as the century of legalism, also referred to as exegetical thinking. This exegetical school of law considers the codified law to be the highest and practically the only source of law on which the judge and legal scholar must rely. This historiography is mainly based on the development of legal theory as practised at universities. Implicitly or sometimes even explicitly, legal practice is equated with this legal theory. This fallacy obscures the practice of law, which did not take place in the university or the chambers of scholars, but in the courtroom. To address this lacuna, the following question was answered: To what extent was legalism in the Netherlands and the exegetical school in France really the dominant approach in legal practice and how can possible differences between both countries be explained? In order to know the practice of law and to assess whether judges, like legal theorists, were under the spell of exegetical thinking, judgments of courts were analysed. These can be found in case law journals that emerged in the nineteenth century. This study looked specifically at the judges' references to case law; the work of colleagues. The reference to case law is contrary to the doctrine of the exegetical school which accepts codification as the sole source of law. Referral to sources of law outside the codification by the courts, either implicit or explicit, imply a freer attitude towards the codification than legal scholars of the nineteenth century and current historiography would have us believe. Analysis of approximately two thousand Dutch and French judgments throughout the nineteenth century showed a difference in the quantity and nature of the references between both countries. In France, judges themselves referred explicitly to specific case law or to case law in general, whereas in the Netherlands judges did not refer to case law themselves, but relied on the arguments of the litigants and the Advocate-General, who did explicitly invoke case law. My research gives cause to adjust the image of nineteenth century legal history. The nineteenth-century judge was a child of his time, but not a puppet of legal theory. Lex semper dabit remedium: The law always provides a remedy; this was the starting point, but case law often supplemented it. The demonstrated difference between legal theory and legal practice fits within a broader development in current historiography, emphasising continuity of politics, culture, and in this case legal practices, in the wake of the French Revolution.Show less
The French Language has several past tenses, including the passé composé and the imparfait. These tenses are at first sight similar to two past tenses in Dutch, the voltooid tegenwoordige tijd and...Show moreThe French Language has several past tenses, including the passé composé and the imparfait. These tenses are at first sight similar to two past tenses in Dutch, the voltooid tegenwoordige tijd and the onvoltooid verleden tijd. For Dutch learners of the French language, it may seem that you use the French passé composé, when you have to use the voltooid tegenwoordige tijd in Dutch, because both the passé composé as the voltooid tegenwoordige tijd are composed of an auxiliary and a past participle. However, there is a difference with regard to the use of these tenses in Dutch and in French. The mother tongue, in this case Dutch, can interfere with the acquisition of the French tenses by Dutch learners. It is possible that there is a negative transfer of Dutch to French. The Dutch education could help learners to acquire the correct use. This thesis examines the transfer of Dutch to French concerning the past tenses and it examines the role that plays education in the process of transfer. In the thesis, we will discuss the past tenses that are used in French and in Dutch and we will examine the role of the mother tongue (Dutch), specially the process of transfer. Furthermore we will discuss the role of de education in this transfer. In which way the education can improve the acquirement of these tenses? With the help of a forced choise task, we will try to specify the role of the transfer of Dutch to French concerning the past tenses and we will try to examine the role of education in this acquisition.Show less
This BA thesis talks about online fanship and language usage on the online forums of the footballclubs Wydad and Raja, Casablanca. It argues that different languages are being used depending on the...Show moreThis BA thesis talks about online fanship and language usage on the online forums of the footballclubs Wydad and Raja, Casablanca. It argues that different languages are being used depending on the content of the message.Show less
Over the years, English interrogative tags (isn’t it? wouldn’t they? right?) have received quite some scholarly attention. However, the same cannot be said of their French counterparts: oui? non? n...Show moreOver the years, English interrogative tags (isn’t it? wouldn’t they? right?) have received quite some scholarly attention. However, the same cannot be said of their French counterparts: oui? non? n’est-ce pas? and hein?. In order to find the interpretative differences between those four tags, we decided to examine the matrix sentences they could combine with. We argued that the incompatibilities of these tags with certain matrix sentences were caused by their intrinsic differences. With that in mind, we used various tests to determine those differences. We found that the polarity distribution within the tag question played an important part in their interpretation. That is, tag questions with reversed polarity (positive matrix, negative tag or vice-versa) clearly conveyed a meaning of doubt on the speaker’s part, whereas those with constant polarity hardly showed any uncertainty at all. We claimed that oui?, a tag that only occurs in constant polarity questions, expresses the dominance of the speaker over the hearer, by means of orders, rhetorical questions and questions that are strongly biased towards a positive answer. Furthermore, we hypothesized that hein? expresses neither doubt nor dominance, which distinguishes it from the other tags we discussed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Au fil des années, les tags interrogatifs en anglais (isn’t it ? wouldn’t they ? right ?) ont reçu beaucoup d’attention dans la littérature scientifique. Cependant, cela n’est pas vrai pour les tags interrogatifs en français : oui ?, non ?, n’est-ce pas ?, et hein ?. Afin de mieux cerner les différences interprétatives entre ces tags, nous avons examiné les matrices avec lesquelles ils se combinaient. Nous avons avancé que les différences intrinsèques entre les tags provoquent leurs différences de compatibilité. Aussi avons-nous employé différents tests dans l’objectif de mieux comprendre ces différences. Nous avons trouvé que la distribution de polarité dans la question-reprise joue un rôle important dans son interprétation. C’est-à-dire, les questions-reprise de polarité inversée (une matrice positive, un tag négatif ou vice-versa) indiquent un certain degré de doute de la part du locuteur, tandis que celles de polarité constante n’expriment aucun sentiment de doute. Nous avons proposé que oui ?, qui ne figure que dans les contextes de polarité constante, exprime la domination du locuteur par rapport à son interlocuteur. Cette domination se manifeste par des injonctions, des questions rhétoriques et des questions présuppositionnelles. Finalement, nous avons formulé l’hypothèse que hein ? n’exprime ni le doute ni la domination, ce qui le distingue des autres tags que nous avons discutés.Show less
The French anti-nuclear movement finds itself in a difficult position. With a government that is known to be one of the most pro-nuclear governments in the world and a debate on nuclear energy that...Show moreThe French anti-nuclear movement finds itself in a difficult position. With a government that is known to be one of the most pro-nuclear governments in the world and a debate on nuclear energy that is greatly avoided by politicians from both right and left, anti-nuclear activist have to work hard to reach their goals. Meanwhile, Europeanization seems to offer social movements a new stage for activities. Social movements that are not successful ‘at home’ can attempt to bypass the national level by influencing the sub-national organization that is the European Union. Such a tactic is also referred to as the boomerang effect. This method requires an open political opportunity structure at the EU level, to offer receptivity to social movements’ claims. The political opportunity structure of the EU regarding nuclear energy, however, is determined as closed and thus gives no space for anti-nuclear movements. A study of the French anti-nuclear movement Sortir du Nucléaire offers insight in the adaptation of a movement to a combined closed opportunity structure from both the national government, France, and the sub-national government, the European Union. Using Tarrow’s theory of processes enhancing transnationalism in social movements, it shall be attempted to determine whether the French anti-nuclear movement has experienced the process of scale shift, which would indicate a transistion towards a more transnational focus. A qualitative research of the yearly reports of Sortir du Nucléaire will show that the movement has indeed shifted its attention for a great deal across the border and put much effort into creating new foreign contacts. Although Europeanization might indicate a shift towards EU-partners, a more global focus is also very much present.Show less
