Regensburg Papers in Linguistics

Die Regensburg Papers in Linguistics werden in unregelmäßigen Abständen vom Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine und Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft herausgegeben. Sie stellen Einblicke in die aktuelle Forschung des Lehrstuhls dar und bieten einen Raum um exzellente Abschlussarbeiten des B.A. und M.A.-Studiengangs einer breiteren Öffentlichkeit zugänglich zu machen. Die Veröffentlichung erfolgt im Open Access-Format auf dem Publikationsserver der Universität Regensburg.

Aktueller Band 29

The impact and limitations of bilingualism as a generalized protective factor against neurodegenerative diseases on the basis of Alzheimer’s disease (Kampfl, Annabella)
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Abstract

The study examined the effect bilingualism on maintaining cognitive functioning and delaying the onset symptom not only of Alzheimer’s but also the following three most common neurodegenerative diseases to verify, whether bilingualism can be identified as a generalized protective factor. The strengthening of the neural networks, leading to cognitive reserve, increases the resistance of the brain against mental deterioration and eventual brain damage. In this case the linguistic capability stands in direct correlation with the progression of neurodegenerative diseases with the potential of changing its progression. The use of a second language correlates with the activity in key neural networks and allows better coping with damage before the onset of symptoms of the disease, although the varying efficiency along the bilingualism gradient must be considered. The stronger the cognitive reserve, the longer it could compensate for the cognitive decline caused by the initial onset symptoms, allowing a longer life period unaffected by the disease. Bilingualism has already been proven by previous studies to effectively delay onset symptoms of Alzheimer’s, which serves as a basis but this study attempts to expand its sphere of action to all neurodegenerative diseases in general. As aside from Alzheimer’s disease, also Huntington’s, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis have been studied regarding their connection with cognitive reserve, which strongly correlates with bilingualism. Therefore, to support the universal nature of bilingualism as a protective factor against neurodegeneration the respective underlying mechanisms was analysed as well. The result depicts the expected outcome by initially verifying the effectiveness of bilingualism against the onset of symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, as well Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. The mitigation of the progression rate could only be partially confirmed regarding multiple sclerosis in two of the six studies included. For a universal outcome, further long-term research is required.

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Der Text stellt eine überarbeitete Version der M.A.-Arbeit der Autorin dar, die sie 2023 an der Fakultät für Sprach-, Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaften der Universität Regensburg eingereicht hat.

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Aktueller Band 28

The shift from genitive to accusative government in Polish verbs - A synchronic corpus study on the change of transitivity marking (Perschke, Maja)

Abstract

The study provides synchronic corpus data supporting the observation of an incremental shift in case government of certain Polish verbs (e.g. chieć ‘to want’ and potrzebować ‘to need’) and aims to illuminate the phenomenon based on the notion of transitivity. Since the second half of the twentieth century, scholars have observed a growing tendency of the use of the accusative case instead of the genitive case for the marking of the O argument of several Polish verbs. On the basis of empirical data gathered from a web corpus from 2019, the current state of the progression is outlined, indicating which semantic and morphological groups of verbs are affected, and, if so, to which extent. As a theoretical foundation accounting for a semantic  contrast between the accusative and the genitive case, we rely on the notion of transitivity as described by Hopper and Thompson (1980) and refined by Tsunoda (1985). It is shown in this paper that, in the standard usage of Polish in accordance with prescriptive grammars, the O argument is marked in the genitive when its affectedness is low (i.e. in events low in transitivity), whereas it is marked in the accusative when its affectedness is high (i.e. in events exhibiting high transitivity). However, in colloquial Polish, this distinction is no longer indicated morphologically, and, in a process of analogical change, the use of the accusative as a structural case (i.e. mainly expressing the syntactic function of objecthood) becomes prevalent. The results of the corpus study suggest that only some groups of verbs governing the genitive case are affected by this shift, and that case government is also linked to the semantics of the O argument and the frequency of the collocation in the corpus.

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Der Text stellt eine überarbeitete Version der B.A.-Arbeit der Autorin dar, die sie 2023 an der Fakultät für Sprach-, Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaften der Universität Regensburg eingereicht hat.

Zum Download