Elke Hentschel | Bern University (original) (raw)

Papers by Elke Hentschel

Unnecessary rules This paper argues that among the rules used in foreign language teaching there ... more Unnecessary rules This paper argues that among the rules used in foreign language teaching there are often unnecessary ones. These rules offer detailed description of linguistic facts that probably could be learned easier without them. Although "explanatory rules" of this sort might be quite helpful when offered as additional explanations, they can hinder the language learning process when presented as rules to be learned and obeyed ("learning rules").

The following paper attempts a systematisation of the extended infinitive constructions in spoken... more The following paper attempts a systematisation of the extended infinitive constructions in spoken as well as in written German. There seem to be almost no limits to their extension. And while structures like Abendessen or Gefühlsleben can clearly be categorised as word formation, this is not the case with constructions like das Sich-nichts-anmerken-lassen, beim heimlich Pornos gucken or das „nichts gesehen haben wollen“. This type of construction can be found in abundance in internet communication (blogs, bulletins boards etc.), but also in written forms of communication like advice books, which are supposed to be more formal in style. I will propose the hypothesis that the constructions we are dealing with here fulfill the same function as converb constructions in languages like Turkish and can therefore be considered equivalent. 1 Fragestellung und Vorgehen Im folgenden Beitrag soll diskutiert werden, welchen Status Infinitive in Konstruktionen wie beim heimlich(en) Lauschen oder ...

Multilingua - Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 1987

The following paper deals with graffiti that have been written by women exclusively. Unlike those... more The following paper deals with graffiti that have been written by women exclusively. Unlike those usually to be found, these graffiti have their special topics including very personal questions and problems of their authon. Furthennore, they almost never remain without a comment; various other graffiti offer remarks, advice, or answers to the original one. This surprising communicative attitude is not restricted to commenting äs such, but finds its equivalent in linguistic style. The use of various devices of oral conversation is demonstrated by one typical example. Finally, a tentative explanation is offered for the fact that women choose the means ofan absolutely anonymous discourse in order to discuss their personal problems and exchange their private opinions. Empirical data and theoretical approach

Der Band bietet Studienanfänger*innen Grundlagenwissen zur Wortbildung des Deutschen. Die Kapitel... more Der Band bietet Studienanfänger*innen Grundlagenwissen zur Wortbildung des Deutschen. Die Kapitel zu den Wortarten sind nach den jeweils verwendeten Bildungsverfahren gegliedert und listen heimische sowie entlehnte Wortbildungsmorpheme alphabetisch auf. Leser*innen erhalten so einen schnellen Überblick über die grundsätzlichen Möglichkeiten, können bei Bedarf aber auch einzelne Morpheme nachschlagen. Der Band schließt mit einem Glossar der wichtigsten Fachbegriffe und einem Register der Wortbildungsmorpheme.

Germanistische Mitteilungen, 2013

Daran, dass die sog. Abtönungs-oder Modalpartikeln des Deutschen durchweg Ergebnisse von Grammati... more Daran, dass die sog. Abtönungs-oder Modalpartikeln des Deutschen durchweg Ergebnisse von Grammatikalisierungsprozessen sind, besteht schon lange kein Zweifel mehr (vgl. schon Hentschel 1986, in jüngerer Zeit z. B. Diewald 2009), und über die häufigsten Wege der Grammatikalisierung verschiedenster Wortarten und Kategorien kann man sich mittlerweile in Lexika wie dem von Heine/Kuteva (2002) informieren. Zwar lässt sich die schon vor einem halben Jahrhundert diskutierte Frage, was für eine Art von Kategorie sich eigentlich am Endpunkt 1 des Grammatikalisierungsprozesses befindet (vgl. z. B. Lyons 1968: 435-441),-mit anderen Worten: welche Kategorien als grammatisch anzusehen sind und wie sie sich von den als lexikalisch zu betrachtenden unterscheiden-nach wie vor nicht ohne Weiteres beantworten. Aber obwohl zumindest die formalen Kriterien für diese Unterscheidung nicht ganz so einfach zu etablieren sind, wie es vielleicht auf den ersten Blick erscheinen mag (vgl. hierzu ausführlicher z. B. Croft 2000), herrschen nicht wirklich Zweifel daran, dass eine solche Kategorisierung im Prinzip möglich ist. Dabei werden Partikeln regelmäßig als eine Realisierungsmöglichkeit für grammatische Kategorien genannt, die unter bestimmten Bedingungen als erwartbar anzusehen ist: "If phonological combination occurs before the semantic shift occurs, then compounding results. If the semantic shift occurs before phonological attachment does, then particles result." (ebd.: 262). Diese Partikeln nehmen einen eigenen Platz in der Liste der Wortarten ein, wenn Evans (2002: 710) den Standard-Wortschatz einer Sprache folgendermaßen beschreibt: "Typically a language will have three to four open classes-nouns, verbs, adjectives and maybe adverbs-and closed classes for pronouns, demonstratives, auxi

In German, non-finite forms of verbs that are traditionally labelled as “nominalized infinitives”... more In German, non-finite forms of verbs that are traditionally labelled as “nominalized infinitives”, but are better categorized as gerunds, can show very unusual features Although they carry a definitive article and therefore clearly seem to belong to the class of nouns, they still govern objects and adverbials in exactly the same way the verb does It is therefore argued that in spite of the determiners, these forms are essentially verbal in nature The syntactic functions they fulfil can be anything from subject or object to adverbial or attributive modifier, i e functions that are usually fulfilled by subordinate clauses Since this is the same kind of behavior that converbs in languages like Turkish show, this leads to the suggestion that they can indeed be considered as a functionally similar to converbs.

This study is part of a larger cross cultural research project on "parenting ethnotheories&q... more This study is part of a larger cross cultural research project on "parenting ethnotheories", where mothers of three months old infants were interviewed about their ideas on good parental care for small babies. They were confronted with picture cards, displaying different parenting behaviours from their own cultural community and were asked to comment on the appropriateness and inappropriateness of such behaviour. This paper addresses 40 of the German language interviews with a total 78,484 words. The central focus of this analysis is the frequency and distribution of modal particles as used in these interviews and as compared to two other corpora with a total of 60,000 words. The results indicate substantial differences with respect to the most frequently used particles, which can be explained by the attitudes of these women towards the particular topic being addressed in the interviews. The particle halt was used 17 times more often, whereas the usually very frequent doch...

This paper examines the verbal strategies used by speakers of German in Germany and Switzerland a... more This paper examines the verbal strategies used by speakers of German in Germany and Switzerland and speakers of Serbian in Serbia in order to voice a request. The participants in the study were asked what they would say in the following three situations: Asking for the way to the railway station in a strange city, asking their younger brother to pass the salt at the family dinner table, and buying a pretzel at the local bakery. Subsequently, the use of downtoners like 'please' or special particles was analysed, as well as the frequency of non-indicative verbal modes (subjunctive or conditional), the occurrence an equivalent of excuse me at the beginning of the request, and the use of greetings and address forms. The results show surprising differences between the three groups.

Linguistik Online

In many different languages, kinship terms can be used in order to address or refer to non-kin. T... more In many different languages, kinship terms can be used in order to address or refer to non-kin. These terms can be very polite, and in many languages this is the only meaning and function they have. However, in some languages terms with the same meaning can be very impolite. This article shows how these differences can be explained by the nature of the underlying cultural concepts. In addition, it explores the question why kinship terms are used at all, be it in a polite or impolite way, in order to talk to or about non-related people.

Handbuch der deutschen Grammatik, 2013

ABSTRACT

Unnecessary rules This paper argues that among the rules used in foreign language teaching there ... more Unnecessary rules This paper argues that among the rules used in foreign language teaching there are often unnecessary ones. These rules offer detailed description of linguistic facts that probably could be learned easier without them. Although "explanatory rules" of this sort might be quite helpful when offered as additional explanations, they can hinder the language learning process when presented as rules to be learned and obeyed ("learning rules").

The following paper attempts a systematisation of the extended infinitive constructions in spoken... more The following paper attempts a systematisation of the extended infinitive constructions in spoken as well as in written German. There seem to be almost no limits to their extension. And while structures like Abendessen or Gefühlsleben can clearly be categorised as word formation, this is not the case with constructions like das Sich-nichts-anmerken-lassen, beim heimlich Pornos gucken or das „nichts gesehen haben wollen“. This type of construction can be found in abundance in internet communication (blogs, bulletins boards etc.), but also in written forms of communication like advice books, which are supposed to be more formal in style. I will propose the hypothesis that the constructions we are dealing with here fulfill the same function as converb constructions in languages like Turkish and can therefore be considered equivalent. 1 Fragestellung und Vorgehen Im folgenden Beitrag soll diskutiert werden, welchen Status Infinitive in Konstruktionen wie beim heimlich(en) Lauschen oder ...

Multilingua - Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 1987

The following paper deals with graffiti that have been written by women exclusively. Unlike those... more The following paper deals with graffiti that have been written by women exclusively. Unlike those usually to be found, these graffiti have their special topics including very personal questions and problems of their authon. Furthennore, they almost never remain without a comment; various other graffiti offer remarks, advice, or answers to the original one. This surprising communicative attitude is not restricted to commenting äs such, but finds its equivalent in linguistic style. The use of various devices of oral conversation is demonstrated by one typical example. Finally, a tentative explanation is offered for the fact that women choose the means ofan absolutely anonymous discourse in order to discuss their personal problems and exchange their private opinions. Empirical data and theoretical approach

Der Band bietet Studienanfänger*innen Grundlagenwissen zur Wortbildung des Deutschen. Die Kapitel... more Der Band bietet Studienanfänger*innen Grundlagenwissen zur Wortbildung des Deutschen. Die Kapitel zu den Wortarten sind nach den jeweils verwendeten Bildungsverfahren gegliedert und listen heimische sowie entlehnte Wortbildungsmorpheme alphabetisch auf. Leser*innen erhalten so einen schnellen Überblick über die grundsätzlichen Möglichkeiten, können bei Bedarf aber auch einzelne Morpheme nachschlagen. Der Band schließt mit einem Glossar der wichtigsten Fachbegriffe und einem Register der Wortbildungsmorpheme.

Germanistische Mitteilungen, 2013

Daran, dass die sog. Abtönungs-oder Modalpartikeln des Deutschen durchweg Ergebnisse von Grammati... more Daran, dass die sog. Abtönungs-oder Modalpartikeln des Deutschen durchweg Ergebnisse von Grammatikalisierungsprozessen sind, besteht schon lange kein Zweifel mehr (vgl. schon Hentschel 1986, in jüngerer Zeit z. B. Diewald 2009), und über die häufigsten Wege der Grammatikalisierung verschiedenster Wortarten und Kategorien kann man sich mittlerweile in Lexika wie dem von Heine/Kuteva (2002) informieren. Zwar lässt sich die schon vor einem halben Jahrhundert diskutierte Frage, was für eine Art von Kategorie sich eigentlich am Endpunkt 1 des Grammatikalisierungsprozesses befindet (vgl. z. B. Lyons 1968: 435-441),-mit anderen Worten: welche Kategorien als grammatisch anzusehen sind und wie sie sich von den als lexikalisch zu betrachtenden unterscheiden-nach wie vor nicht ohne Weiteres beantworten. Aber obwohl zumindest die formalen Kriterien für diese Unterscheidung nicht ganz so einfach zu etablieren sind, wie es vielleicht auf den ersten Blick erscheinen mag (vgl. hierzu ausführlicher z. B. Croft 2000), herrschen nicht wirklich Zweifel daran, dass eine solche Kategorisierung im Prinzip möglich ist. Dabei werden Partikeln regelmäßig als eine Realisierungsmöglichkeit für grammatische Kategorien genannt, die unter bestimmten Bedingungen als erwartbar anzusehen ist: "If phonological combination occurs before the semantic shift occurs, then compounding results. If the semantic shift occurs before phonological attachment does, then particles result." (ebd.: 262). Diese Partikeln nehmen einen eigenen Platz in der Liste der Wortarten ein, wenn Evans (2002: 710) den Standard-Wortschatz einer Sprache folgendermaßen beschreibt: "Typically a language will have three to four open classes-nouns, verbs, adjectives and maybe adverbs-and closed classes for pronouns, demonstratives, auxi

In German, non-finite forms of verbs that are traditionally labelled as “nominalized infinitives”... more In German, non-finite forms of verbs that are traditionally labelled as “nominalized infinitives”, but are better categorized as gerunds, can show very unusual features Although they carry a definitive article and therefore clearly seem to belong to the class of nouns, they still govern objects and adverbials in exactly the same way the verb does It is therefore argued that in spite of the determiners, these forms are essentially verbal in nature The syntactic functions they fulfil can be anything from subject or object to adverbial or attributive modifier, i e functions that are usually fulfilled by subordinate clauses Since this is the same kind of behavior that converbs in languages like Turkish show, this leads to the suggestion that they can indeed be considered as a functionally similar to converbs.

This study is part of a larger cross cultural research project on "parenting ethnotheories&q... more This study is part of a larger cross cultural research project on "parenting ethnotheories", where mothers of three months old infants were interviewed about their ideas on good parental care for small babies. They were confronted with picture cards, displaying different parenting behaviours from their own cultural community and were asked to comment on the appropriateness and inappropriateness of such behaviour. This paper addresses 40 of the German language interviews with a total 78,484 words. The central focus of this analysis is the frequency and distribution of modal particles as used in these interviews and as compared to two other corpora with a total of 60,000 words. The results indicate substantial differences with respect to the most frequently used particles, which can be explained by the attitudes of these women towards the particular topic being addressed in the interviews. The particle halt was used 17 times more often, whereas the usually very frequent doch...

This paper examines the verbal strategies used by speakers of German in Germany and Switzerland a... more This paper examines the verbal strategies used by speakers of German in Germany and Switzerland and speakers of Serbian in Serbia in order to voice a request. The participants in the study were asked what they would say in the following three situations: Asking for the way to the railway station in a strange city, asking their younger brother to pass the salt at the family dinner table, and buying a pretzel at the local bakery. Subsequently, the use of downtoners like 'please' or special particles was analysed, as well as the frequency of non-indicative verbal modes (subjunctive or conditional), the occurrence an equivalent of excuse me at the beginning of the request, and the use of greetings and address forms. The results show surprising differences between the three groups.

Linguistik Online

In many different languages, kinship terms can be used in order to address or refer to non-kin. T... more In many different languages, kinship terms can be used in order to address or refer to non-kin. These terms can be very polite, and in many languages this is the only meaning and function they have. However, in some languages terms with the same meaning can be very impolite. This article shows how these differences can be explained by the nature of the underlying cultural concepts. In addition, it explores the question why kinship terms are used at all, be it in a polite or impolite way, in order to talk to or about non-related people.

Handbuch der deutschen Grammatik, 2013

ABSTRACT