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Title: Aspects of Switch Reference in Marubo, a Panoan Language of Western Amazonia
Contributor: C. Sean Smith (author), Sean D. Allison (thesis supervisor), Steve M. Nicolle (second reader), Pilar M. Valenzuela (third reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: This thesis is a description of the switch reference system in Marubo (ISO 693-3 [mzr]), an underdescribed Panoan language of western Amazonia. Marubo has a fascinating switch reference system which carries a high functional load in the grammar. This complex system, comprised of nine markers, tracks referents across clauses, often displaying sensitivity to an argument’s grammatical role; temporal and logical relations are also encoded as extended functions of the markers. Of particular typological interest is the cross-referencing of O arguments with other S, A, or O arguments. Switch reference markers may occur in clause chains where they target either adjacent or non-adjacent clauses. In certain cases, the standard order of clauses may be reversed, often producing a reading which elaborates on the preceding information. In addition, non-coreferential clauses may be interposed in clause chains for brief alternations of topic. Lastly, areas which deserve more study are presented, such as the flexible use of switch reference to mark discontinuities related to time, weather and events. All data and analysis come from four years of immersion-based fieldwork by the author, with abundant examples from a variety of Marubo discourse genres.
Publication Year: 2021

Title: Comparative tense and aspect in the Mara Bantu languages : towards a linguistic history
Contributor: John B. Walker (author), Jamin Pelkey (thesis supervisor), Sean Allison (second reader), Oliver Stegen (third reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: Through the elicitation of 91 Swahili sentences and the collection of one oral text, this research compares the TAM systems of several Mara Bantu languages (Tanzania/Kenya) with the aim of finding any shared "individual-identifying" innovations (Nichols 1996) that can either affirm Mara as a coherent genetic linguistic sub-group (Schoenbrun 1990) or point toward a different historical scenario. A secondary goal is to provide a preliminary linguistic description of the TAM systems of five Mara languages: Ikizu (JE402, [ikz]), Ikoma (JE45, [ntk]), Kabwa (JE405, [cwa]), Simbiti (JE431, [ssc]), and Zanaki (JE44, [zak]). The research concludes that there is sufficient "individual-identifying" evidence from TAM systems to validate both a North Mara and a South Mara subgroup (Schoenbrun 1990). There is not, on the other hand, a sufficient base of shared "individual-identifying" innovations to propose a unique proto-Mara TAM system uniting North Mara and South Mara at a post-proto-Great Lakes phase of development.
Publication Year: 2013

Title: Constructions and result: English phrasal verbs as analysed in construction grammar
Contributor: Anna Olson (author), Emma Pavey (thesis supervisor), Sean Allison (second reader), David Weber (external examiner), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: This thesis explores the difference between separable and non-separable transitive English phrasal verbs, focusing on finding a reason for the non-separable verbs’ lack of compatibility with the word order alternation which is present with the separable phrasal verbs. The analysis is formed from a synthesis of ideas based on the work of Bolinger (1971) and Gorlach (2004). A simplified version of Cognitive Construction Grammar is used to analyse and categorize the phrasal verb constructions. The results indicate that separable and non-separable transitive English phrasal verbs are similar but different constructions with specific syntactic reasons for the incompatibility of the word order alternation with the non-separable verbs.
Publication Year: 2013

Title: The Determiner in Makary Kotoko Narrative Discourse: Attention Guidance and Salience
Contributor: Hannah C Olney (author), Steve Nicolle (thesis supervisor), Sean Allison (second reader), Joseph Lovestrand (third reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: The Makary Kotoko [Chadic] determiner is not a grammatically obligatory marker. Although constrained by the identifiability of the referent, speakers are not required to use the determiner in any particular instance. In narrative texts, the distribution of the determiner can be understood through the principles of attention guidance and salience. The primary pattern of distribution is “salience tracking”, where referents receive determiner marking any time they are directly involved in the narrative. Exceptions to this pattern still contribute to the narrator’s overall goal of attention guidance. In addition, two of the nine texts analyzed displayed a different distribution pattern, “salience flagging”, where the determiner occurred less frequently but still for the purpose of attention guidance. Finally, I propose that the difference between these two patterns may be a result of the process of determiner grammaticalization.
Publication Year: 2021

Title: Dividing to Connect: An Ethnography of Canal Zone Americans
Contributor: Marilee R Brewer (author), Jamin R Pelkey (thesis supervisor), Edgar D Trick (second reader), Lori P Gardner (third reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: This thesis is a linguistic ethnography of the Americans who moved from the Panama Canal Zone to the U.S. when the Canal was sold to Panama. Theirs was a society of authoritarian socialism, lived beneath the Zone’s official motto: “The Land Divided, The World United.” Close-knit, but wary of outsiders, they called themselves “Zonians.” Using Thomas More’s Utopia as a gestalt for the utopian experience, this study compares the features of More’s Utopia with the Panama Canal Zone. In particular, it examines the utopian gesture of dividing from the old to connect to the new, arguing that the image-schematic metaphor of dividing in order to connect is constitutive of Zonian culture at multiple semiotic levels, from the physical transformation of the earth, to the social construction of group identity to everyday practices involving intercultural relations.
Publication Year: 2018

Title: Language Variation in Western Amman
Contributor: Haya E Fadda (author), Hassan Abdel-Jawad (second reader), Dave Jeffery (third reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution), Sean Allison (thesis supervisor)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: The present study investigates two forms of language variation in Ammani Arabic: Qaf variation and Arabic-English code-switching. After discussing the formation of the dialect of Amman and identifying the input dialects, I address the following questions related to the first form of language variation- Qaf variation: (a) whether a change from the traditional Jordanian [g] to the urban Palestinian [ʔ] is taking place in the city and is on its way to completion in the speech of both genders; (b) what the uses of [q] are and (c) why there is an increase in its use as a variable. As for the second form of language variation- code-switching, I investigate the functions of code-switching in the speech of millennials in Amman and their frequencies based on gender.
Publication Year: 2019

Title: Negation Patterns in the Kwa Language Group
Contributor: Lauren E Schneider (author), Sean Allison (thesis supervisor), Steve Nicolle (second reader), Roderic Casali (third reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution), Keith Snider (second reader)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: There is extensive literature written on negation but only recently have studies begun to expand outside of the scope of Indo-European languages. Linguists are finding that certain patterns thought to be cross-linguistic are largely unattested outside this most heavily studied language family. The intent of this thesis is to survey the negation strategies in a collection of Kwa (Niger-Congo) languages to contribute to the literature on negation. Commonly cited patterns such as Jespersen’s cycle (Jespersen 1917) are almost entirely unattested in Kwa. There is a consistent pattern of marking negation in Akan, Ewe, and the North Guang languages involving the use of a preverbal nasal morpheme. Interestingly three South Guang languages utilize instead a verbal prefix bÉ-. The Ga-Dangme languages stand out in their use of verbal suffixes rather than prefixes. The Ghana-Togo Mountain subgroup of the Kwa language group also does not rely on preverbal nasal negation marking.
Publication Year: 2017

Title: Non-spatial setting in white Hmong
Contributor: Nathan M. White (author), Sean Allison (thesis supervisor), Kenneth Gregersen (second reader), Ken Manson (third reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: Dixon (2010a,b, 2012) presents an excellent introduction to a framework for documenting a language's grammar. One portion of this is Non-spatial Setting, i.e., the grammatical marking of time, aspect, and other material. The aim of this thesis is to apply this portion of Dixon's framework to White Hmong (Hmong-Mien, Laos). The thesis first looks at typologically similar languages from the region, considers the nature of grammaticalization, and then discusses the Non-spatial Setting system of White Hmong itself. It is found that White Hmong possesses a system that includes Lexical Time Words, positive and negative Irrealis intertwined with a system of Modality, Degree of Certainty markers, and a group of Phase of Activity-marking verbs. There are five Completion morphemes--three Perfect and two Imperfect--and two Completion-marking strategies. Finally, there is one Speed morpheme that marks slowness. Some implications for Non-spatial Setting in general are also briefly discussed.
Publication Year: 2014

Title: Phonology of Mosiye
Contributor: Erika Harlow (author), Roderick Casali (thesis supervisor), Keith Snider (second reader), Andreas Joswig (external examiner), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: This thesis is a description of the phonology of Mositacha, a Lowland East Cushitic language of the Afro-Asiatic family, based on original field research. Mositacha is spoken by 6,000 people who live in the North Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region in Ethiopia. Very little has been written on Mositacha. With the exception of Wondwosen‘s recent grammar (2015), which identifies the consonant and vowel phonemes, notes consonant gemination and vowel length, and briefly comments on tone, there has been no systematic study on the Mositatcha phonology. This thesis offers a more comprehensive study on the phonology of Mositacha. It examines consonant and vowel phonemes, syllable structure, phonotactics, phonological processes and tone. Of particular interest are marginal consonant phonemes which may be attributed to ongoing language shift, phonemic vowel length, consonant sequences and gemination, and a description of pitch patterns in words in isolation.
Publication Year: 2016

Title: A phonology of Stau
Contributor: A. Chantel Vanderveen (author), Roderic F. Casali (thesis supervisor), Keith Snider (second reader), Jamin Pelkey (external examiner), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: This thesis is a description of the phonology of Stau, a Rgyalrongic language of the Tibeto-Burman family, based on original field research. Stau is spoken by approximately 23,000 people in the west of Sichuan province, China. It is an almost unstudied language. Apart from a sketch of the phonology and grammar by Huang (1991), which provides a phonetic (rather than phonemic) analysis of Stau sounds, lists attested onsets and rhymes, and discusses tone, there has been virtually no systematic study of the phonology of language. This thesis provides a more extensive study of Stau phonology, covering segmental phonology, acoustic analysis of stops and of vowels, syllable structure, phonotactics, phonological processes, and pitch phenomena. Of particular interest in this phonology are Stau’s large phonemic inventory of forty-two consonants and eight vowels, its large syllable canon, phonotactic constraints among its consonant clusters, and vowel changes in reduplication.
Publication Year: 2015

Title: Relevance Theory and Proverbs: Exploring Context through Explicatures and Implicatures
Contributor: Nicholas T Toews (author), Steve Nicolle (thesis supervisor), Sean Allison (second reader), Peter Unseth (third reader), Trinity Western University GSTS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: Relevance Theory (Sperber & Wilson 1986/1995) is a theory of communication which states that the human brain is geared towards processing relevant stimuli for little effort. While proponents of Relevance Theory have endeavored to explain various linguistic phenomena such as metaphor, irony, sarcasm, and idioms, there has been little work done on the proverb. The current thesis fills in this gap within Relevance Theory by applying Relevance-Theoretic principles to the interpretation of proverbs in context. This study explains how proverb meaning carries both a base meaning as well as an implicated meaning in context, with the use of Relevance Theory’s explicatures and implicatures. In addition, this thesis makes use of ad hoc concept formation (Wilson & Carston 2007) to account for meaning modulation and contrasts the analysis of proverbs under Relevance Theory with Vega-Moreno’s (2003) analysis of idioms under Relevance Theory.
Publication Year: 2019

Title: A semiotic perspective on the positive transfer of L1 structure in second language instruction
Contributor: Rachael Caunce (author), William Acton (thesis supervisor), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: Language educators are re-examining the benefits of positive transfer. As the usage of the term language interference is misleading, the benefits of positive transfer have not been fully recognized until recently. When considered from a semiotic perspective with reference to language acquisition, neurolinguistic and applied linguistic theories, language interference can be perceived as a symptom of equivocal signs. It is proposed that student's learner errors may be attributed to a phenomenon called `semiotic confusion', which is a specific state of disorientation caused by a misinterpretation of signs. Consequently, language interference is redefined as a symptom of `semiotic confusion'. A hypothetical model, the Personal Semiotic Cultural Consciousness/ Semiotic Cultural Consciousness (PSCC/SCC), which is composed of two competing states of consciousness that correspond with synthetic and analytic brain functioning provides instructors with insights about the importance of activating their students' internal and external semiotic cultural consciousness through somatosensory signs such as colour.
Publication Year: 2013

Title: Swahili conditional constructions in embodied Frames of Reference: Modeling semantics, pragmatics, and context-sensitivity in UML mental spaces
Contributor: Roderick D. Fish (author), Steve Nicolle (thesis supervisor), Bruce Wiebe (second reader), Jamin Pelkey (third reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: Studies of several languages, including Swahili [swa], suggest that realis (actual, realizable) and irrealis (unlikely, counterfactual) meanings vary along a scale (e.g., 0.0–1.0). T-values (True, False) and P-values (probability) account for this pattern. However, logic cannot describe or explain (a) epistemic stances toward beliefs, (b) deontic and dynamic stances toward states-of-being and actions, and (c) context-sensitivity in conditional interpretations. (a)–(b) are deictic properties (positions, distance) of ‘embodied’ Frames of Reference (FoRs)—space-time loci in which agents perceive and from which they contextually act (Rohrer 2007a, b). I argue that the embodied FoR describes and explains (a)–(c) better than T-values and P-values alone. In this cognitive-functional-descriptive study, I represent these embodied FoRs using Unified Modeling LanguageTM (UML) mental spaces in analyzing Swahili conditional constructions to show how necessary, sufficient, and contributing conditions obtain on the embodied FoR networks level.
Publication Year: 2020

Title: Vowel Phenomena of Guang Languages
Contributor: Lauren Tideman (author), Roderic Casali (thesis supervisor), Keith Snider (second reader), William Gardner (third reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: The Guang language family of Ghana has received a fair amount of study over the past several decades. Snider’s (1990b) work is the most extensive study on Guang phonology. The aim of this thesis will be to cite new information and build upon Snider’s work to gain a better understanding of Guang phonology, specifically in relation to vowel systems and phenomena. Some of the most prominent phonological processes in Guang involving vowels include ATR and rounding harmony, and hiatus resolution. This study examines the consistencies and differences among Guang languages with regard to vowel phenomena. While some interesting variation does exist across the Guang language family, examination of available resources and data, along with some acoustic analysis, show that Guang vowel phenomena are generally consistent. The most important aspect that is consistent across Guang languages, despite differing analyses and descriptions, is that all exhibit nine-vowel systems.
Publication Year: 2019

Title: Written and spoken register differences in Baghdadi colloquial Arabic dramatic discourse
Contributor: Hazel Twele (author), Richard Gravina (second reader), Steve Nicolle (third reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution), Sean Allison (thesis supervisor)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to describe linguistic differences between written scripts and the oral performances of those scripts in Baghdadi Colloquial Arabic dramatic discourse. The data involves 10 Biblical narratives written in a dramatized format with the intent of being performed. The scriptwriters’ goal was to create texts that were as similar to natural speech as possible. However, in spite of this goal, certain changes occurred throughout the stories when performed by mother tongue Baghdadi Arabic speakers. Although this study records all deletions, additions and substitutions in each of the ten stories, it will highlight three types of changes: the deletion of the connective wa ‘and’, the addition of repeated words and phrases, and diglossically motivated substitutions. These changes represent involvement strategies employed by the actors to accommodate the increased need for textual and interpersonal cohesion in the speaker-hearer dimension when changing the mode from writing to speaking.
Publication Year: 2016

Title: A Description of Pimbwe (Bantu, Tanzania) : Phonology, Grammar, and Discourse
Contributor: Jonathan W Weiss (author), Steve Nicolle (thesis supervisor), Sean Allison (second reader), Lotta Aunio (third reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics and Translation
Abstract: The present study is the first formal description of Pimbwe, a Bantu language (in the M.11 group) spoken in western Tanzania. After situating the Pimbwe language within the wider linguistic context, I describe Pimbwe phonology, tone, and grammar, with particular emphasis on the structure of the verb. Finally, natural language use in extended discourse is described based on two running commentaries of the Pear Story film.
Publication Year: 2020

Title: Hellenistic Greek Middle Voice: Semantic Event Structure and Voice Typology
Contributor: Rachel E. Aubrey (author), Steven E. Runge (thesis supervisor), David J. Sigrist (second reader), Richard A. Rhodes (third reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics and Translation
Abstract: This thesis advocates a semantic approach to Hellenistic Greek middle voice, endeavoring to capture a variety of middle expressions and their internal semantic relations. Various event types that receive middle expression in Greek form a continuum; they adopt the scale of semantic transitivity as a conceptual foundation for middle phenomena, among middle systems cross-linguistically and in Ancient Greek (Kemmer 1993). Historical traditions in voice analysis point to syntactic relationships, with alternations framed as choices in clausal subject. Such narrow definitions do not capture the semantic behavior of the Greek middle. Neglecting differences in semantic event structure overlooks fundamental aspects of the Greek voice system. The present analysis describes Greek voice in terms of meaning-oriented distinctions in event structure, as they pertain to shifts in both the type of action and attentional focus regarding facets of an event frame, engaging semantic and pragmatic motivations in voice (Langacker 2006, Shibatani 2006).
Publication Year: 2020

Title: TRANSLATING LINGUISTIC TABOOS IN THE BIBLE
Contributor: Lindsey A. Holt (author), Douglas Trick (thesis supervisor), Kathleen Sackett (second reader), Janet Allen (third reader), Trinity Western University GSTS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Linguistics and Translation
Abstract: The process of translating linguistic taboos in the Bible needs to evaluate the impact the taboo had on the audience of the source language (SL) text, and the impact that a proposed translation will have on the audience of the receptor language (RL) culture. This thesis proposes an approach with a focus on questions and considerations for translators to utilize through the translation process. A concept may be taboo in both the source and receptor languages, or it may be taboo in either the source or receptor language. In order to provide an accurate, clear, natural, and appropriate translation for the community, translators need to analyze the linguistic taboo expressions used in the SL text with a focus on emotional impact of the expression on the SL audience. This impact needs to be considered as a factor when translating for a RL and checking the translation in the RL community.
Publication Year: 2023

Title: Centered fuller communication : sensus plenior, relevance theory, and a balanced hermeneutic
Contributor: Benjamin J. Wukasch (author), Steve Nicolle (thesis supervisor), Ken Radant (second reader), Allan Effa (third reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Applied Linguistics and Exegesis
Abstract: This thesis will suggest a centered approach to biblical hermeneutics, proposing a balance in the function of the hemispheres of the human mind, left and right. It will examine how `ordinary readers' are doing hermeneutics both in Africa and the West, and join these contributions to the insights of scholars who use the historical-grammatical hermeneutic, and laypeople who use a personal-devotional hermeneutic. The insights of Gadamer will be employed on the topic of horizons of authors and readers. The interpretive practices of ordinary readers will be justified through the theological concept of sensus plenior. The communication that takes place through Scripture will be analyzed in the framework of a linguistic theory of communication, Relevance Theory, which will explain why ordinary readers interpret in a personal-devotional way. After proposing a balanced hermeneutic, constraints are proposed for its outworking, looking at the significance of this thesis for the church and Bible translation.
Publication Year: 2014

Title: Drawn by the Father: A Lexicological and Exegetical Study of John 6:44
Contributor: Fernando A Miranda (author), Jonathan Numada (thesis supervisor), Brian M Rapske (second reader), Joshua Coutts (external examiner), Trinity Western University GSTS (Degree granting institution)
Discipline/Stream: Applied Linguistics and Exegesis
Abstract: The meaning of the drawing of the Father in John 6:44 has been debated among scholars in biblical commentaries and lexicons. Most interpretations of the use of ἕλκω (draw) in John 6:44 have focused more on current systematic theological debates as the framework to define the idea of the drawing of the Father. Although there has been valuable work on it, an accurate lexicological study of the word ἕλκω in connection with an exegetical study that focuses on the literary context of the gospel of John is still missing. This thesis applies lexicological methodologies such as diachronic and synchronic approaches to get a valid definition of the drawing of the Father which would lead to a better understanding, not only of this divine action, but also of an important mechanism that unites the ministry Jesus and the revelation of the Father in the law of Moses.
Publication Year: 2022