|
|
 E-mail this message to a friend
|
|
Title:
|
Presentative Constructions in English and Norwegian
|
|
Author:
|
Jarle Ebeling
|
|
Email:
|
click here to access email
|
|
Degree Awarded:
|
University of Oslo
, Department of British and American Studies
|
|
Degree Date:
|
2000
|
|
Linguistic Subfield(s):
|
Syntax
|
|
Subject Language(s):
|
English
Norwegian, Bokmål
|
|
Director(s):
|
Bengt Altenberg
Hilde Hasselgård
Helge Lødrup
|
|
|
Abstract:
|
|
|
Behind the contrastive approach taken in this thesis lies the conviction that a lot can be learned by comparing two or more languages. Pitting two language systems against each other reveals interesting differences and similarities between the two languages. Knowledge about these differences and similarities is particularly important in language teaching and translation. When extended to yet other languages such comparison may give us insight into what languages in general have in common, and hence how we as humans organise our thoughts. Presentative constructions are used to introduce new information to the addressee in the form of noun phrases, and they constitute subsets of the systems of the two languages. Examples of presentative constructions in English (1 - 3) and Norwegian (4 - 6) are (the noun phrases presenting new information are underlined): (1) there are white clouds on the horizon; (2) behind the counter stands a short man; (3) we have a long trip ahead; (4) det ster en lys greker i dxrepningen; (5) inntil bredden ligger en bet; (6) jeg har en presang til deg her. The thesis discusses to what extent the six constructions are similar on the levels of syntax and semantics, and how they differ in use. The empirical basis for the thesis is a corpus of English and Norwegian texts and their translations into the other language - a so-called parallel corpus. The analysis of the data shows that while the English there-construction (1) is virtually restricted to the verb be (there is/are/was/were etc.), the Norwegian det-construction (4) can include almost any intransitive verb, and also verbs in the passive (e.g. det ster/sitter/ligger/ble skutt etc.). To translate a Norwegian det-clause with a verb other than vfre or finnes, a there-clause with be can be chosen, or we can use a construction of type (2) without there. In either case, something from the original can be said to be lost in the translation. The six constructions are interchangeable in many contexts, but the constructions exemplified by (2) and (5) occur almost exclusively in written, often literary, texts, and they introduce something perceivable or concrete. In general, the study shows the usefulness of parallel corpora in contrastive studies, both as a testing ground for hypotheses and as a source of new insights.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page Updated: 29-Nov-2009
Please report any bad links or misclassified data
LINGUIST Homepage | Read
LINGUIST | Contact us
While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed
on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.
|
|
