Pekka Posio | Universiteit Gent (original) (raw)
Peer-reviewed journal papers by Pekka Posio
This paper examines the expression of first person singular subjects in different semantic roles ... more This paper examines the expression of first person singular subjects in different semantic roles of the subject in spoken Peninsular Spanish (PS) and European Portuguese (EP). It is shown that the frequency of expressed subjects is significantly higher in EP than in PS. In both of the languages under survey, subject expression is sensitive, among other factors such as same/switch reference, to the relative focusing of attention on different participants of the event. In addition, subject pronoun usage with the most frequent verb lexemes shows a tendency towards grammaticalization in both PS and EP. The different formulaic constructions account for part of the differences found between the two languages. In addition to examining the variable subject pronoun expression in PS and EP, the paper discusses the use of semantic roles in cross-linguistic analysis and the role of frequency and formulaicity in grammaticalization.
This article is a contribution to recent discussion on impersonality. The focus is on speakerincl... more This article is a contribution to recent discussion on impersonality. The focus is on speakerinclusive and speaker-exclusive interpretation of European Portuguese (EP) and Finnish impersonal constructions where the range of potential human referents is left open and, by default, construed as human and plural. These include reflexive-based se-impersonals and the pronoun a gente in EP, impersonal passive in Finnish, and impersonal third person plurals (3PL) in both languages. By investigating these constructions in non-standard data representing a comparable genre (dialectal interviews), we obtain a detailed picture of their functions in actual use and the division of labor of the different constructions. In addition, we point at some problems in their classification. Our data suggest that both languages manifest a division of labor between speaker-inclusive and speaker-exclusive impersonals. The distinction is more entrenched in EP than in Finnish, where the productivity of the speakerexclusive impersonal 3PL is, to a great extent, dependent on the dialect in question.
Peninsular Spanish (PS) and European Portuguese (EP) are null subject languages where subject per... more Peninsular Spanish (PS) and European Portuguese (EP) are null subject languages where subject person is expressed by verbal affixes and the use of subject pronouns is considered to be reserved e.g. for such purposes as the expression of contrast or emphasis. However, the use of pronominal subjects differs strikingly between the two languages. The present study examines the use of first person plural subject pronouns (PS nosotros and EP nós) in corpora of spoken language and connects it with the different referential properties of first person plural. It is shown that in PS the expression of the subject pronoun nosotros is rare -it occurs only in 4.5% of all clauses with first person plural subjects -and the reference of the pronoun is always hearer-exclusive in the data under survey. In EP, the expression of the first person plural subject pronoun nós is more frequent, occurring in 32.2% of the clauses with first person plural subjects. In EP, the use of the pronoun is not restricted to the hearer-exclusive reading but is also found in contexts where the reference is construed as hearer-inclusive or impersonal. A further difference between PS and EP is that the latter has developed, in addition to first person plural proper, another construction with first person plural reference consisting of the expression a gente (literally 'the people') and a verb in third person singular. In the data examined, the construction with a gente is favoured with certain non-agentive verb lexemes: this tendency is argued to be connected with the origin of a gente as an impersonalizing strategy. Using evidence from contrastive analysis of two closely related languages, the paper argues that null subject languages and grammatical persons are highly divergent with regard to the frequency of subject pronoun expression and the factors affecting it.
Please cite this article as Posio, Pekka. 2011. Spanish subject pronoun usage and verb semantics ... more Please cite this article as Posio, Pekka. 2011. Spanish subject pronoun usage and verb semantics revisite: First and second person singular subject pronouns and focusing of attention in spoken Peninsular Spanish. Journal of Pragmatics 43(3): 777-798.
Although both constituent order and variation in the expression of pronominal subjects are well-e... more Although both constituent order and variation in the expression of pronominal subjects are well-established research topics in Hispanic and Lusophone linguistics, the placement of pronominal subjects has received relatively little attention in previous research. The goal of the present study is to fill this gap by examining postverbal pronominal subjects in spoken Peninsular Spanish and European Portuguese using data from the Corpus del Español and Corpus do Português, taking into account such factors as verb semantics and transitivity. It is shown that the factors affecting the placement of pronominal subjects differ from those related to nominal subjects, as pronouns typically represent old information in discourse. Pronominal subjects are relatively uncommon in the postverbal position in both languages, but especially in European Portuguese where they appear mostly in grammaticalized constructions (e.g. quotatives). The postverbal placement of pronominal subjects is often related to non-topical status of the subject and serves a backgrounding function in discourse. It is most frequently associated with twoargument verbs characterized by low transitivity.
Peer-reviewed book chapters by Pekka Posio
Conference proceedings by Pekka Posio
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Dissertation by Pekka Posio
Papers by Pekka Posio
Tutkimuksen aihe on subjektipronominin ei-pakollinen käyttö finiittisten verbimuotojen yhteydessä... more Tutkimuksen aihe on subjektipronominin ei-pakollinen käyttö finiittisten verbimuotojen yhteydessä espanjan ja portugalin kielessä. Tutkimuskohteena ovat yksikön ensimmäisen persoonan verbimuodot Espanjassa ja Portugalissa kerätyissä puhekielen korpuksissa. Tutkimuksen tarkoitus on selvittää, mitkä semanttiset ja pragmaattiset tekijät vaikuttavat subjektipronominin ei-pakollisen käytön yleisyyteen ja mitä systemaattisia eroja subjektipronominin käytössä on espanjan ja portugalin välillä. Tutkimus kuuluu korpuslingvistiikan alaan ja ensisijaisena tutkimusmetodina on kvantitatiivinen vertailu. Tutkimus osoittaa, että yksikön ensimmäisen persoonan subjektipronominin ei-pakollinen käyttö on käytännössä kaikissa konteksteissa yleisempää portugalissa kuin espanjassa. Tätä eroa voidaan selittää kielten konstituenttirakenteen typologisella erilaisuudella. Subjektin semanttinen rooli on tutkimuksen perusteella sidoksissa subjektipronominin käyttöön enemmän espanjassa kuin portugalissa, mutta ...
This paper examines the expression of first person singular subjects in different semantic roles ... more This paper examines the expression of first person singular subjects in different semantic roles of the subject in spoken Peninsular Spanish (PS) and European Portuguese (EP). It is shown that the frequency of expressed subjects is significantly higher in EP than in PS. In both of the languages under survey, subject expression is sensitive, among other factors such as same/switch reference, to the relative focusing of attention on different participants of the event. In addition, subject pronoun usage with the most frequent verb lexemes shows a tendency towards grammaticalization in both PS and EP. The different formulaic constructions account for part of the differences found between the two languages. In addition to examining the variable subject pronoun expression in PS and EP, the paper discusses the use of semantic roles in cross-linguistic analysis and the role of frequency and formulaicity in grammaticalization.
This article is a contribution to recent discussion on impersonality. The focus is on speakerincl... more This article is a contribution to recent discussion on impersonality. The focus is on speakerinclusive and speaker-exclusive interpretation of European Portuguese (EP) and Finnish impersonal constructions where the range of potential human referents is left open and, by default, construed as human and plural. These include reflexive-based se-impersonals and the pronoun a gente in EP, impersonal passive in Finnish, and impersonal third person plurals (3PL) in both languages. By investigating these constructions in non-standard data representing a comparable genre (dialectal interviews), we obtain a detailed picture of their functions in actual use and the division of labor of the different constructions. In addition, we point at some problems in their classification. Our data suggest that both languages manifest a division of labor between speaker-inclusive and speaker-exclusive impersonals. The distinction is more entrenched in EP than in Finnish, where the productivity of the speakerexclusive impersonal 3PL is, to a great extent, dependent on the dialect in question.
Peninsular Spanish (PS) and European Portuguese (EP) are null subject languages where subject per... more Peninsular Spanish (PS) and European Portuguese (EP) are null subject languages where subject person is expressed by verbal affixes and the use of subject pronouns is considered to be reserved e.g. for such purposes as the expression of contrast or emphasis. However, the use of pronominal subjects differs strikingly between the two languages. The present study examines the use of first person plural subject pronouns (PS nosotros and EP nós) in corpora of spoken language and connects it with the different referential properties of first person plural. It is shown that in PS the expression of the subject pronoun nosotros is rare -it occurs only in 4.5% of all clauses with first person plural subjects -and the reference of the pronoun is always hearer-exclusive in the data under survey. In EP, the expression of the first person plural subject pronoun nós is more frequent, occurring in 32.2% of the clauses with first person plural subjects. In EP, the use of the pronoun is not restricted to the hearer-exclusive reading but is also found in contexts where the reference is construed as hearer-inclusive or impersonal. A further difference between PS and EP is that the latter has developed, in addition to first person plural proper, another construction with first person plural reference consisting of the expression a gente (literally 'the people') and a verb in third person singular. In the data examined, the construction with a gente is favoured with certain non-agentive verb lexemes: this tendency is argued to be connected with the origin of a gente as an impersonalizing strategy. Using evidence from contrastive analysis of two closely related languages, the paper argues that null subject languages and grammatical persons are highly divergent with regard to the frequency of subject pronoun expression and the factors affecting it.
Please cite this article as Posio, Pekka. 2011. Spanish subject pronoun usage and verb semantics ... more Please cite this article as Posio, Pekka. 2011. Spanish subject pronoun usage and verb semantics revisite: First and second person singular subject pronouns and focusing of attention in spoken Peninsular Spanish. Journal of Pragmatics 43(3): 777-798.
Although both constituent order and variation in the expression of pronominal subjects are well-e... more Although both constituent order and variation in the expression of pronominal subjects are well-established research topics in Hispanic and Lusophone linguistics, the placement of pronominal subjects has received relatively little attention in previous research. The goal of the present study is to fill this gap by examining postverbal pronominal subjects in spoken Peninsular Spanish and European Portuguese using data from the Corpus del Español and Corpus do Português, taking into account such factors as verb semantics and transitivity. It is shown that the factors affecting the placement of pronominal subjects differ from those related to nominal subjects, as pronouns typically represent old information in discourse. Pronominal subjects are relatively uncommon in the postverbal position in both languages, but especially in European Portuguese where they appear mostly in grammaticalized constructions (e.g. quotatives). The postverbal placement of pronominal subjects is often related to non-topical status of the subject and serves a backgrounding function in discourse. It is most frequently associated with twoargument verbs characterized by low transitivity.
Tutkimuksen aihe on subjektipronominin ei-pakollinen käyttö finiittisten verbimuotojen yhteydessä... more Tutkimuksen aihe on subjektipronominin ei-pakollinen käyttö finiittisten verbimuotojen yhteydessä espanjan ja portugalin kielessä. Tutkimuskohteena ovat yksikön ensimmäisen persoonan verbimuodot Espanjassa ja Portugalissa kerätyissä puhekielen korpuksissa. Tutkimuksen tarkoitus on selvittää, mitkä semanttiset ja pragmaattiset tekijät vaikuttavat subjektipronominin ei-pakollisen käytön yleisyyteen ja mitä systemaattisia eroja subjektipronominin käytössä on espanjan ja portugalin välillä. Tutkimus kuuluu korpuslingvistiikan alaan ja ensisijaisena tutkimusmetodina on kvantitatiivinen vertailu. Tutkimus osoittaa, että yksikön ensimmäisen persoonan subjektipronominin ei-pakollinen käyttö on käytännössä kaikissa konteksteissa yleisempää portugalissa kuin espanjassa. Tätä eroa voidaan selittää kielten konstituenttirakenteen typologisella erilaisuudella. Subjektin semanttinen rooli on tutkimuksen perusteella sidoksissa subjektipronominin käyttöön enemmän espanjassa kuin portugalissa, mutta ...