http://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz:8080 The ResearchArchive digital repository system captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and distributes digital research material. Fri, 17 May 2013 19:30:11 GMT 2013-05-17T19:30:11Z http://hdl.handle.net/10063/2768 Some new insights into the semantics of English N+N compounds Tarasova, Elizaveta This thesis focuses on English N+N compounds and the primary purpose of the study is to investigate the way in which compounded structures acquire their meaning and to check the way in which the semantics of each of the constituents contributes to the overall meaning of the structure. The way in which such contributions are made should be inferable from? the linguistic analysis of the structure and meaning of compounds. In order to do this, the thesis looks first at the morphological productivity of the constituents comprising a compound. The second aim is to identify whether the productivity of a compound constituent on the morphological level coincides with the productivity of the semantic relation realised in the constituent family. The discussion of the results obtained from a corpus study provides plausible explanations for the regularities noted in the course of the analysis by using some of the relevant principles from the complex of approaches including the Construction Grammar and Cognitive Grammar approaches. Examples of compounds were collected from the printed media (NZ broadsheets) and the BNC. The analysis of the data used both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative analysis of the data confirms two hypotheses: (1) that a constituent is more productive in just one of the positions (modifier or head)1, and (2) the more productive a constituent is, the more likely it is to realise a single semantic relation in a constituent family. The qualitative analysis involves consideration of the semantic content2 of the concepts in each constituent in order to see how this content is reflected in the semantic relations realised by a constituent. It is discovered that the semantic content of the head is a stronger predictor of the relation realised in a compound than that of the modifier. The study is important in order to better understand the factors that govern the formation of compounds and the patterns that speakers use in the process of coining complex lexical items. Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10063/2768 2013-05-17T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10063/2767 Issues of Dance Notation: Domenico da Piacenza's Dance Writing in Fifteenth-Century Italy Spedding, Chloe Dance is an art form that is traditionally taught through physical demonstration. Choreography is forgotten if it is not practised repetitively, as dancers must rely on physical memory without the help of a written score to remind them of the steps. So many great works have been lost over time as choreographers have neglected to preserve their routines in written form. To prevent this, multiple notation systems have been created but none of them have ever become as popular or standardised as music notation. Many of these systems involve symbols that can only be understood by those who have studied the system in depth and are therefore inaccessible to the everyday dancer or choreographer. The origins of dance notation in Western culture come from fifteenth-century Italy. Dance masters who served at the many courts of the country recognised the need for dance to be intellectually understood as well as performed. The popularity of manuals as a way to discuss art, music, philosophy and many other subjects that formed the education of the elite during the Renaissance led to the writing of dance manuals. Domenico da Piacenza (c.1400-1476) was the first to do this, and his treatise De arte saltandi et choreas ducendi (c.1455) is an eloquently written model text for all dance manuals that followed. Domenico does not notate his dances with symbols, but rather uses word descriptions to explain his choreography. His manual includes sixteen chapters which discuss the qualities one should aspire to achieve when dancing, the nature of the different misure (speeds) of the music, and how one should dance to each of these. This is followed by descriptions of eighteen of Domenico’s balli accompanied with his self-composed music, and five bassadanze. By examining closely three of Domenico’s balli, and attempting to reconstruct them, this thesis engages with issues regarding the preservation of dance and how effective the use of the written word is for doing so. Although there are several flaws in Domenico’s system, the idea of using the written word to notate dance still seems the most practical to date. The method created by Domenico in fifteenth-century Italy for his court dances is still the most common way for modern dance forms such as ballet and ballroom to be notated, transmitted to others and learned by dancers today. Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10063/2767 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10063/2766 Iris Hanika's Treffen Sich Zwei: Reception, Analysis and Interpretation Nitz, Kerry Alistair Iris Hanika’s commercially and critically successful novel Treffen sich zwei makes use of several techniques in the characterisation of its protagonists. Many of its reviews focus on the author’s deliberate placement of links to a wider literary context. Their interest extends from questions of genre-mixing through to the identification of direct quotes from other authors’ works. The critical preoccupation with intertexts demonstrates their importance for the readers’ response to the novel. More specifically, certain reviews highlight the important role intertexts play in the characterisation of the protagonists. This study catalogues the intertexts, metaphors and parodies in Treffen sich zwei and, by means of quantitative analysis, identifies high-level patterns in the use of these techniques. In particular, patterns are identified between, on the one hand, the different narrative functions of the intertexts and, on the other hand, the different ways in which they are interwoven in the text. The data also shows that distinct patterns are associated with each of the two protagonists and that certain patterns change in the course of the novel in parallel with the changes in the relationship between them. This quantitative evidence is supported by a more detailed, qualitative approach, which examines how specific intertexts or metaphors are used for the purposes of characterisation. In addition, variations in voice are used to distinguish the two main protagonists in a manner consistent with the intertexts and metaphors. It is thanks to the combination of these techniques that the theme of meeting encapsulated in the title, Treffen sich zwei, is woven into the textual fabric of the novel. Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10063/2766 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10063/2765 Narratives of Incorporation: An Anthropological Analysis of Same-Sex Civil Unions in New Zealand Steven, Dionne In this thesis I examine civil unions from the perspective of New Zealand-based same-sex couples who have chosen to formalise their relationship. My approach is qualitative and in-depth and focuses on interpreting participants' own meanings and beliefs while also recognising the need for broader contextual knowledge. Through participants’ narratives, I explore why it was important for couples to have a civil union, how they chose to mark or enact the occasion, and the meanings they attribute to their choices and actions. Rather than treating the civil union as an isolated event, my analysis situates the civil union within four longer processual trajectories: individual biographical narratives, partner interactions, close social relationships, and trajectories of a socio-political nature. I then explore the contours of participants’ civil union ceremonies in terms of scale, style, and symbolic content. Throughout the thesis, I argue that civil unions facilitate incorporation for same-sex couples on a number of levels: incorporation in terms of inclusion in an important ‘meaning-constitutive’ practice; familial incorporation; and incorporation into mainstream society more generally. The incorporating effects of civil unions owe much to the symbolic capacities of law, the meaning inscribed in the socially dominant cultural model of marriage, and the characteristics of ritual. The importance of ritual to the anthropological enterprise is reaffirmed through this study; not only do rituals provide an important lens through which to examine the normative values of society but also the origins of social revitalization. Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10063/2765 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z