A Grammar of Wandala

A Grammar of Wandala PDF Author: Zygmunt Frajzyngier
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110218410
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 736

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Book Description
Wandala is a hitherto undescribed Central Chadic language spoken in Northern Cameroon and Northeastern Nigeria. The Grammar of Wandala describes, in a non-aprioristic approach, phonology, morphology, syntax, and all functional domains grammaticalized in the language. The grammatical structure of Wandala is quite different from the structure of other Chadic languages described thus far in both the formal means and the functions that have been grammaticalized. The grammar provides proofs for the postulated hypotheses concerning forms and functions. The grammar is written in a style accessible to linguists working within different theoretical frameworks. The phonology is characterized by a rich consonantal system, a three vowel system, and a two tone system. The language has abundant vowel insertion rules and a vowel harmony system. Vowel deletion marks phrase-internal position, and vowel-insertion marks phrase-final position. The two rules allow the parsing of the clause into constituents. The language has three types of reduplication of verbs, two of which code aspectual and modal distinctions. The negative paradigms of verbs differ from affirmative paradigms in the coding of subject. The pronominal affixes and extensive system of verbal extensions code the grammatical and semantic relations within the clause. Wandala has unusual clausal structure, in that in a pragmatically neutral verbal clause, there is only one nominal argument, either the subject or the object. These arguments can follow a variety of constituents. The grammatical role of that argument is coded by inflectional markers on the verb and most interestingly, on whatever lexical or grammatical morpheme precedes the constituent. The markers of grammatical relations added to verbs are different for different classes of verbs.

A Grammar of Wandala

A Grammar of Wandala PDF Author: Zygmunt Frajzyngier
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110218410
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 736

Get Book Here

Book Description
Wandala is a hitherto undescribed Central Chadic language spoken in Northern Cameroon and Northeastern Nigeria. The Grammar of Wandala describes, in a non-aprioristic approach, phonology, morphology, syntax, and all functional domains grammaticalized in the language. The grammatical structure of Wandala is quite different from the structure of other Chadic languages described thus far in both the formal means and the functions that have been grammaticalized. The grammar provides proofs for the postulated hypotheses concerning forms and functions. The grammar is written in a style accessible to linguists working within different theoretical frameworks. The phonology is characterized by a rich consonantal system, a three vowel system, and a two tone system. The language has abundant vowel insertion rules and a vowel harmony system. Vowel deletion marks phrase-internal position, and vowel-insertion marks phrase-final position. The two rules allow the parsing of the clause into constituents. The language has three types of reduplication of verbs, two of which code aspectual and modal distinctions. The negative paradigms of verbs differ from affirmative paradigms in the coding of subject. The pronominal affixes and extensive system of verbal extensions code the grammatical and semantic relations within the clause. Wandala has unusual clausal structure, in that in a pragmatically neutral verbal clause, there is only one nominal argument, either the subject or the object. These arguments can follow a variety of constituents. The grammatical role of that argument is coded by inflectional markers on the verb and most interestingly, on whatever lexical or grammatical morpheme precedes the constituent. The markers of grammatical relations added to verbs are different for different classes of verbs.

A Grammar of Pévé

A Grammar of Pévé PDF Author: Erin Shay
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004410058
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
A Grammar of Pévé is the first full description of the Pévé language, a member of the Chadic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Pévé is spoken in parts of the southwestern area of the Republic of Chad and the Northern province of the Republic of Cameroon. The grammar will add to information and analyses concerning Afro-Asiatic languages and will help Pévé speakers preserve their language, history, cultural activities, and intercultural relations. The goal of the volume is to document and preserve the language for the benefit of generations to come and to make characteristics of the language available for further research in linguistics, history, anthropology, sociology and related fields.

A Grammar of Dazaga

A Grammar of Dazaga PDF Author: Josiah Walters
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004323910
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
In A Grammar of Dazaga, Josiah Walters provides the first detailed description and analysis of Dazaga (a Saharan language) in the past half-century. Based on a review of previous work on Dazaga, and with his own more recent data, the author describes the phonology, morphology, and syntax of Dazaga. He provides a new analysis of the categorization of verbs in to classes, demonstrating the prominence of light verb constructions in Dazaga. His analysis of the syntax brings to light several striking features of Dazaga, including optional ergative case marking, mixed alignment of objects, a variety of causative constructions, and verb serialization. Throughout the work, the author relates his findings to work on related languages and to recent typological studies.

A Grammar of Giziga

A Grammar of Giziga PDF Author: Erin Shay
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004445978
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 399

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Book Description
This is the first broad, detailed grammar of the Giziga language, which belongs to the Chadic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. The language is spoken in parts of the Far North Region of the Republic of Cameroon and can be divided into two dialects, Giziga and Northern Giziga, with about 80,000 native speakers in total. This volume describes the Giziga dialect, occasionally referring to the Northern variety, and aims to provide new information about this and other Afro-Asiatic languages for further research in linguistics, history, anthropology, sociology and related fields. The book will also be a tool helping Giziga speakers preserve their language, history and culture for future generations.

The Oxford Handbook of Grammaticalization

The Oxford Handbook of Grammaticalization PDF Author: Heiko Narrog
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191618055
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 948

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Book Description
This book presents the state of the art in research on grammaticalization, the process by which lexical items acquire grammatical function, grammatical items get additional functions, and grammars are created. Leading scholars from around the world introduce and discuss the core theoretical and methodological bases of grammaticalization, report on work in the field, and point to promising directions for new research. They represent every relevant theoretical perspective and approach. Research on grammaticalization and its role in linguistic change encompasses work on languages from every major linguistic family. Its results offer valuable insights for all theoretical frameworks, including generative, construction, and cognitive grammar, and relates to work in fields such as phonology, sociolinguistics, and language acquisition. The handbook provides a full, critical assessment of every aspect of this research. It is divided into five parts, of which the first two are devoted to theory and method, the third and fourth to work in linguistic domains, classes, and cateogories, and the fifth to case studies of grammaticalization in a range of languages. It will be an indispensable source of information and inspiration for all those who wish to know more about this fascinating and important field.

Elementary Predicates and Related Categories

Elementary Predicates and Related Categories PDF Author: Ludovico Franco
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027246629
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
This book offers a fresh perspective on how natural languages encode grammatical relations, by delving into the interplay between oblique cases, adpositions, serial verbs, and applicatives. This book reveals, through a series of case studies, the pervasive role of the 'inclusion' relator across diverse linguistic contexts. Departing from traditional views that obliques lack interpretive content, this work presents a unified conceptual framework of relations in grammar. Drawing on minimalist principles, the book posits a preeminence of the lexicon in syntactic projection, shedding light on the underlying ontology of language. By exploring cross-categorial variation and syncretism, it outlines an inventory of primitives shaping morpho-syntactic derivations.

The Oxford Handbook of Modality and Mood

The Oxford Handbook of Modality and Mood PDF Author: Jan Nuyts
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199591431
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 689

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Book Description
This handbook offers an in depth and comprehensive state of the art survey of the linguistic domains of modality and mood. An international team of experts in the field examine the full range of methodological and theoretical approaches to the many facets of the phenomena involved. Following an opening section that provides an introduction and historical background to the topic, the volume is divided into five parts. Parts 1 and 2 present the basic linguistic facts about the systems of modality and mood in the languages of the world, covering the semantics and the expression of different subtypes of modality and mood respectively. The authors also examine the interaction of modality and mood, mutually and with other semantic categories such as aspect, time, negation, and evidentiality. In Part 3, authors discuss the features of the modality and mood systems in five typologically different language groups, while chapters in Part 4 deal with wider perspectives on modality and mood: diachrony, areality, first language acquisition, and sign language. Finally, Part 5 looks at how modality and mood are handled in different theoretical approaches: formal syntax, functional linguistics, cognitive linguistics and construction grammar, and formal semantics.

Possession and Ownership

Possession and Ownership PDF Author: Aleksandra I︠U︡rʹevna Aĭkhenvalʹd
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199660220
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
Linguists and anthropologists explore the intriguing variety of possessive phrases denoting ownership of property, whole-part relations (such as body and plant parts), and blood and affinal kinship relations across a wide range of languages. Like others in the series this pioneering book will be equally valued in linguistics and anthropology.

Substrate and Adstrate

Substrate and Adstrate PDF Author: Micah Corum
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 1614514623
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
This volume provides a large-scale, in-depth analysis of locative structures in Nigerian Pidgin and Ghanaian Pidgin English and compares those structures to locatives in their lexifier, substrate, and adstrate languages. The work draws on new research methods for investigating substrate and adstrate influence in semantics and creole genesis.

Embodiment in Cross-Linguistic Studies

Embodiment in Cross-Linguistic Studies PDF Author: Iwona Kraska-Szlenk
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004392416
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
The ‘Head’ edited by Iwona Kraska-Szlenk offers cross-linguistic studies on the body part term ‘head’ investigated as a source domain in conceptualization. It focuses on the relationship between embodiment, cultural situatedness and universal tendencies of semantic change.