• Editorialen [59.82 kB - PDF]EPA-02403-00015-0010

• Katri Priiki :
  From Pronoun to Particle: Finnish tuo ‘that’ and tuota ‘well, erm’3-26en [332.69 kB - PDF]EPA-02403-00015-0020

  This article studies the continuum of referential, vaguely referential, and particle-like occurrences of the Finnish demonstrative pronoun tuo ‘that’. Tuo is peculiar among hesitator demonstratives, since it has pragmaticized to its partitive form tuota instead of its nominative form and it is not the same pronoun that is used in the function of a definite article (se). The article aims to shed light on the question of why this form in particular has pragmaticized to a hesitation particle. The results reveal that it is not only the partitive forms but also other case forms of the pronoun that may be used without a clear referent. The meaning features of the pronoun tuo imply that the referent is only just becoming the target of attention, and the partitive case is used with referents that are not fully individuated. When an abstract entity is referred to in partitive object role, the referentiality of a determiner or a placeholder may become unclear.

  Keywords: demonstrative pronoun, hesitation, discourse particle, pragmaticizing process, word search, Finnish

• Asta Laugalienė :
  Object Marking with Discrete Objects in Finnish and Lithuanian27-50en [255.89 kB - PDF]EPA-02403-00015-0030

  Abstract: The case of the direct object of transitive verbs in Finnish alternates between the accusative and the partitive. In Lithuanian, there is an alternation between the accusative and the partitive genitive. It was shown in previous research that some functions of the Finnish partitive and the Lithuanian partitive genitive in object marking are identical (i.e. partial affectedness of mass nouns) but there are some features that haven’t received enough attention in the literature, e.g., the Lithuanian partitive genitive with discrete nouns. This paper offers an overview of possible conditions for the use of partitive genitive in resultative constructions in modern and older Lithuanian in comparison with their counterparts in Finnish and Slavic.

  Keywords: irresultativity, partitivity, object marking, partitive, Finnish, Lithuanian

Forum

• Pauli Brattico :
  Computation and the Justification of Grammars51-74en [2.10 MB - PDF]EPA-02403-00015-0040

  Abstract: This methodological note revisits the original criteria proposed by Chomsky (1965) for the justification of grammars and suggests that modern computational methods could provide a useful tool for such purposes. Fully rigorous methods can help assessing observational, descriptive, explanatory and psycholinguistic adequacy of formally rigorous linguistic theories. The methodology is applied to the study of Finnish agreement.

  Keywords: agreement, computational linguistics, Finnish, linguistic theory, justification