LINGUIST List 17.1381
Fri May 05 2006
Diss: Cognitive Science: Vesterinen: 'Adverbial Subo...'
Editor for this issue: Meredith Valant
<meredithlinguistlist.org>
Directory
1. Rainer
Vesterinen,
Adverbial Subordination - A cognitive study on the infinitive, the clitic SE and finite verb forms in European Portuguese
Message 1: Adverbial Subordination - A cognitive study on the infinitive, the clitic SE and finite verb forms in European Portuguese
Date: 03-May-2006
From: Rainer Vesterinen <vesterinentelia.com>
Subject: Adverbial Subordination - A cognitive study on the infinitive, the clitic SE and finite verb forms in European Portuguese
Institution: Stockholm University
Program: Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2006
Author: Rainer Vesterinen
Dissertation Title: Adverbial Subordination - A cognitive study on the infinitive, the clitic SE and finite verb forms in European Portuguese
Dissertation URL: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-817
Linguistic Field(s):
Cognitive Science
Subject Language(s): Portuguese (por)
Dissertation Director:
Johan Falk
Lars Fant
Dissertation Abstract:
The aim of this study is to analyse the variation between infinitive andfinite verb adverbial clauses in European Portuguese. In order tounderstand this variation, three central questions are raised: (1) Whatdetermines the use of the uninflected vs. the inflected infinitive insame-subject adverbial clauses? (2) What does the pronoun SE signal inthese adverbial clauses? (3) What difference is there between the use ofthe inflected infinitives vs. finite verbs in different subject adverbialclauses?
Earlier investigations about these three questions are discussed. Oneconclusion of this review is that former research almost exclusively hasbeen conducted from a traditional or formalistic point of view that hasgiven priority to structural descriptions instead of semantic or conceptualexplanations. In contrast to this, the present study endeavours to examinethese issues from a cognitive linguistic perspective.
It is claimed that the use of the inflected infinitive in adverbialsame-subject clauses may be explained by contextual factors which create acognitive need to highlight the subject of the adverbial clause. Further,an analysis about how the grammatical micro-context can determine theinterpretation of the clitic pronoun SE as a marker for a generic trajectoris conducted. It is also argued that the difference between infinitive andfinite adverbial clauses can bee explained by means of theories ofsubjectification and mental spaces.
The conclusion is drawn that a cognitive approach to grammar can, indeed,shed light on the issues considered. In particular, it is shown thatdifferent adverbial constructions can express different conceptual meaning.In the light of this fact, other issues concerned with finite and infiniteverb forms are raised.
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