Subjectivity in causal connectives: similarities and differences between Dutch and German

Ninke Stukker and Ted SandersUniversiteit Utrecht

Meaning and use of causal connectives:Cross-linguistic unity …?

Outline:• Cross-linguistic perspective on CC• Cognitive categorization hypothesis on CC• Pilot corpus analysis of:

Dus/ ?Also – Daarom/ ?Deshalb – Daardoor/ ?Dadurch

OB

J……

……

…SU

BJ

• Content causality: real world

a. Non-volitional: physical

b. Volitional: intentional• Epistemic: speaker’s knowledge of P causes

conclusion in Q• Speech act: P represents the cause of the speech

act in Q

Meaning and use of causal connectives:Cross-linguistic unity …?

(Cf. Pit, 2003; Pander Maat & Degand, 2001; Degand & Pander Maat, 2003; Pander Maat & Sanders, 1995; 2000; Frohning, 2007, Stukker, Sanders & Verhagen, 2008; Sanders, 2005)

Dutch French German

FW BW FW BW FW BW

OBJNVC

daardoor doordat ?de ce fait

Parce que ?Dadurchdaher

OBJVC

daarom omdat ?c’est pourquoi

? ?deshalb weil

SUBJEP

dus Want,aangezien

donc car, puisque

?also denn

What unity & diversity must we expect?

Findings from linguistic typology:• Grammatical patterns are essentially language-specific;• BUT variation is constrained by:

-function -processing -synchronic intra-linguistic variation -diachronic development -cognitive structure

Causal connectives & cognition

• Research Project Causality and subjectivity as cognitive principles of discourse representation: Converging evidence from language use (Sanders, 2005: NWO vici project)

• The linguistic project: evidence from language use“Connectives provide a window on human cognition”, BUT usage patterns vary across:…modalities…genres…languages

Causal connectives & cognition

• Categorization functionLexical category ≈ conceptual category (cf. Lakoff, 1987; Taylor, 1995; Geeraerts, 1997)

• Categorization hypothesis:When selecting one of the causal connectives available in a language, the language user assigns the causal coherence relation expressed to a specific conceptual type of causality

• Categorization in Dutch CC: subjectivity

Categorization in Dutch: subjectivity

• Subjectivity: the degree of speaker responsibility expressed in the causal relation (Pander Maat & Sanders, 2000; cf. Langacker, 1990; Traugott, 1989)

• Various dimensions of subjectivity. By way of illustration:

• Domains of use (Sweetser, 1990; relation to subjectivity by Pander Maat & Sanders, 2000; Pander Maat & Degand, 2001; Pit,2003)

OB

J……

……

…SU

BJ

• Content causality: real world

a. Non-volitional: physical

b. Volitional: intentional• Epistemic: speaker’s knowledge of P causes

conclusion in Q• Speech act: P represents the cause of the speech

act in Q

Why a cross-linguistic perspective?

• Aims:-Generalization over languages-Filter out language specific factors

• Current state of affairs:-Similarities-Differences…but what do they look like exactly? Where do they come from?

• In this talk exploration of:-Cognitive perspective on cross-ling ‘unity’-Empirical data

…Work in progress…!

Subjectivity cline = Conceptual space?

‘Cognitive typology’ (e.g. Heine, 1997; Croft, 2001; Kemmer, 2003)

• Aim: identify cognitive structure as basis for universals• Method: relate conceptual map with semantic map

Hypothesis Categories of subjectivity = conceptual space that cross-linguistically constrains meaning and use of causal connectives

• Cognitively plausible• Scalar concept (Pander Maat & Degand, 2001; Pit, 2003)

Semantic map of daardoor, daarom and dus

(news reports)

05

1015202530

Epist

Volit

Non

vol

Daardoor

Daarom

Dus

Dus Daarom Daardoor

SU

BJ…

……

....OB

J

Epist. X x -

C-vol x X x

C-nvol - x X

05

1015202530

Non-volit

Volit

Epist

SUBJ…………………………OBJ

Epist. Contentvolition

Content non-vol

Dus X x -

Daarom x x x

Daardoor - x X

Contrastive Corpus analysis Dutch-German

Dutch CC German CC equivalent according to Vandale groot woordenboek NE-DU, 2002 (freq in PCC)

Dus Also (18)Demnach (0)Folglich (1)

Daarom Darum (2)Deshalb (23)Deswegen (1)

Daardoor Dadurch (3)Daher (3)Demzufolge (0)

Contrastive corpus analysis Dutch-German

• Dus, daarom, daardoor vs. Also, deshalb, dadurch

• Subjectivity: domains of use

• Method of analysis: paraphrase test (Sanders, 1997)

Domain: Paraphrase:

Content non-volitional

P leads to the following situation: Q

Content volitional P leads to the following intentional act: Q

Epistemic P leads to the following conclusion: Q

Contrastive corpus analysis Dutch-German

• Analytical perspectives:-Onomasiological: naming-Semasiological: meaning (cf. Geeraerts, 1997)

• Corpora:-pilot D-Coi, commentaries and opinion pieces (74.415 wds; Oostdijk, 2006)-Potsdam Commentary Corpus (33.209 wds; Stede, 2004)

• Statistical analysis: typical and less typical patterns established with contrast analysis (Van den Bergh, 1989)

Semantic map of dus, daarom and daardoor (opinion pieces)

05

101520253035404550

Epist

Volit

Non

vol

Daardoor

Daarom

Dus

05

101520253035404550

Dus

Daaro

m

Daard

oor

Non-volit

Volit

Epist

SUBJ…………………………OBJ

Epist. Contentvolition

Content non-vol

Dus X - -

Daarom x x x

Daardoor - - X

Dus Daarom Daardoor

SU

BJ…

……

....OB

J Epist. x x -

C-vol - X -

C-nvol - x X

Semantic map of also, deshalb and dadurch (Commentaries)

05

1015202530

Dadurch

Deshalb

Also

Also Deshalb Dadurch

SU

BJ…

……

....OB

J

Epist. x x -

C-vol - X -

C-nvol - x x

05

1015202530

Non-volit

Volit

Epist

SUBJ…………………………OBJ

Epist. Contentvolition

Content non-vol

Also X - -

Deshalb X x x

Dadurch - - X

Unity and diversity in Dutch and German: semasiological perspective

• Unity-Daarom/ deshalb have general function-Dus / also strongly specialize in SUBJ Epistemic-Daardoor / dadurch strongly specialize in OBJ Non-volitional

• Diversity-Frequency Also, dadurch < dus, daardoor-Deshalb is more subjective than daarom

SUBJ…………………………OBJ

Epist. Contentvolition

Content non-vol

Dus X - -

Daarom x x x

Daardoor - - X

SUBJ…………………………OBJ

Epist. Contentvolition

Content non-vol

Also X - -

Deshalb X x x

Dadurch - - X

Unity and diversity in Dutch and German: onomasiological perspective

• Unity-Content volitional expressed with daarom / deshalb-No specific ‘name’ for subjective causality

• Diversity-Dutch has a specific ‘name’ for non-vol caus; Geman doesn’t

Dus Daarom Daardoor

SU

BJ…

……

....OB

J

Epist. x x -

C-vol - X -

C-nvol - x X

Also Deshalb Dadurch

SU

BJ…

……

....OB

J

Epist. x x -

C-vol - X -

C-nvol - x x

Discussion

(If our small samples may be generalized)

• Cognitive perspective: Conceptual space/ semantic map

• Usage-based methodology: Frequency of use, distribution from onomas/semas perspective

specify ‘unity and diversity’ between Dutch-German…

BUT many questions remain…

Further research

• Impact of communicative context? (Intra-language variation)

• Subdistinctions of subjectivity (volitionality, but also: accessibility, attention –Frohning, 2007)

• Meaning differences between typically and non-typically marked causal contexts (Stukker, Sanders & Verhagen, 2008)

• More languages• More dimensions of subjectivity

THANK YOU!

AcknowledgementThis study was enabled by The Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research, NWO, through NWO Vici-grant 277-70 003, awarded to Ted Sanders.

References

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