Advances in Greek Generative Syntax

Advances in Greek Generative Syntax PDF Author: Melita Stavrou
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027294518
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
This collection of original research focuses on various lesser studied aspects of Greek syntax. The articles combine a sound empirical coverage within current developments of generative theory and cover a wide spectrum of areas. The syntax of sentential structure is dealt with by two articles, one is an extensive analysis of the distribution of goal and beneficiary dative DPs in Greek (and cross-linguistically) and the other addresses the relation agree in small clauses (and between adjectives and nouns). Two articles study the acquisition of the left periphery and of eventivity and one focuses on the historical evolution of participles in Greek, out of which gerunds emerged. The syntax and semantics of wh-clauses in DP positions and of the non-volitional verb θelo are the focus of two articles situated in the syntax–semantics interface. The DP domain is approached by two theoretical articles, one on a Greek possessive adjective and another on determiner heads. The final contribution studies the acquisition of the Greek definite article.

Advances in Greek Generative Syntax

Advances in Greek Generative Syntax PDF Author: Melita Stavrou
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027294518
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 376

Get Book Here

Book Description
This collection of original research focuses on various lesser studied aspects of Greek syntax. The articles combine a sound empirical coverage within current developments of generative theory and cover a wide spectrum of areas. The syntax of sentential structure is dealt with by two articles, one is an extensive analysis of the distribution of goal and beneficiary dative DPs in Greek (and cross-linguistically) and the other addresses the relation agree in small clauses (and between adjectives and nouns). Two articles study the acquisition of the left periphery and of eventivity and one focuses on the historical evolution of participles in Greek, out of which gerunds emerged. The syntax and semantics of wh-clauses in DP positions and of the non-volitional verb θelo are the focus of two articles situated in the syntax–semantics interface. The DP domain is approached by two theoretical articles, one on a Greek possessive adjective and another on determiner heads. The final contribution studies the acquisition of the Greek definite article.

Syntax Within the Word

Syntax Within the Word PDF Author: Daniel Siddiqi
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027255210
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
Syntax within the Word provides a multifaceted look into the syntactic framework of Distributed Morphology (DM) within the Minimalist program. For those unfamiliar with the theory, this monograph provides an overview of DM and argues its strengths. For those more familiar with DM, this monograph provides analyses of familiar data much of which has not been treated within the framework: argument selection, stem allomorphy and suppletion, nominal compounds in English (feet-first vs. *heads-first), and the structure of the verb phrase. This monograph also proposes a future for the theory in the form of revisions to DM including: the elimination of readjustment rules, a new economy constraint (Minimize Exponence) that triggers fusion of functional heads, and a feature blocking system.

Variation in the Input

Variation in the Input PDF Author: Merete Anderssen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9048192072
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
The topic of variation in language has received considerable attention in the field of general linguistics in recent years. This includes research on linguistic micro-variation that is dependent on fine distinctions in syntax and information structure. However, relatively little work has been done on how this variation is acquired. This book focuses on how different types of variation are expressed in the input and how this is acquired by young children. The collection of papers includes studies of the acquisition of variation in a number of different languages, including English, German, Greek, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Swiss German, Ukrainian, and American Sign Language. Different kinds of linguistic variation are considered, ranging from pure word order variation to optionally doubly filled COMPs and the resolution of scopal ambiguities. In addition, papers in the volume deal with the extreme case of variation found in bilingual acquisition.

Linguists of Tomorrow

Linguists of Tomorrow PDF Author: Kleanthes K. Grohmann
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443839426
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
This volume is a selection of papers presented at “Linguists of Tomorrow”, the 1st Cyprus Postgraduate Conference in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, held at the University of Cyprus on 7–8 May 2010. The collection includes nine chapters by postgraduate students of linguistics as well as two illustrious keynote papers by Prof. Barbara Lust and Prof. Thomas McFadden. The topics range from theoretical linguistics (syntax, semantics, morphology, and phonology) to psycholinguistics (first and second language acquisition, language impairments, and language processing) and applied linguistics (bilingualism, dictionaries, writing, and ethnolinguistics). As such, this collection of papers by established as well as up-and-coming researchers will appeal to a wide range of scholars, students and academics alike, interested in current issues in linguistics.

The Syntax of Nonsententials

The Syntax of Nonsententials PDF Author: Ljiljana Progovac
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027233578
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
This volume brings the data that many in formal linguistics have dismissed as peripheral straight into the core of syntactic theory. By bringing together experts from syntax, semantics, pragmatics, philosophy of language, language acquisition, aphasia, and pidgin and creole studies, the volume makes a multidisciplinary case for the existence of nonsententials, which are analyzed in various chapters as root phrases and small clauses (Me; Me First!; Him worry?!; Class in session), and whose distinguishing property is the absence of Tense, and, with it, any syntactic phenomena that rely on Tense, including structural Nominative Case. Arguably, the lack of Tense specification is also responsible for the dearth of indicative interpretations among nonsententials, as well as for their heavy reliance on pragmatic context. So pervasive is nonsentential speech across all groups, including normal adult speech, that a case can be made that continuity of grammar lies in nonsentential, rather than sentential speech.

Infinitival Syntax

Infinitival Syntax PDF Author: Tanja Schmid
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027294216
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
This monograph offers a new analysis of West Germanic ‘Infinitivus Pro Participio’ (IPP) constructions, within the framework of Optimality Theory. IPP constructions have long been problematic for syntactic theory, because a bare infinitive is preferred over the expected past participle. The book shows how the substitution of the past participle by the infinitive in IPP constructions can be captured straightforwardly if constraints are assumed to be violable. The basic idea is that IPP constructions are exceptional because they violate otherwise valid rules of the language. Thus, IPP is a ‘last resort’ or repair strategy, which is only visible in cases in which the past participle would be ‘even worse’ . Furthermore, as the choice of Optimality Theory naturally leads to a crosslinguistic account, the book systematically examines and compares infinitival constructions from seven West Germanic languages including Afrikaans, Dutch, German, West Flemish, and three Swiss German dialects.

Demonstratives and Definite Articles as Nominal Auxiliaries

Demonstratives and Definite Articles as Nominal Auxiliaries PDF Author: Dorian Roehrs
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027255237
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Written in the cartographic tradition, this monograph is concerned with the inner structure and derivation of noun phrases. It proposes that demonstratives and definite articles are similar to auxiliaries in the clause. Referencing mostly Germanic languages, the book argues that determiners are base generated below adjectives and subsequently move to the left periphery in a successive-cyclic fashion. Demonstrating that determiners are complex elements, it is proposed that languages vary with regard to when and what part of the determiner they move. This provides a novel account of the variation in the Scandinavian noun phrase. With various copies left behind by moving the determiner, the restrictive and non-restrictive readings of adjectives and relative clauses are suggested to follow from the interpretation of these different copies. The system is extended to the strong and weak adjective inflections in German. Proposing that determiners are auxiliaries in the nominal domain explains these apparently unrelated data in a uniform way.

The Acquisition of Word Order

The Acquisition of Word Order PDF Author: Marit Westergaard
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027289344
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
Within a new model of language acquisition, this book discusses verb second (V2) word order in situations where there is variation in the input. While traditional generative accounts consider V2 to be a parameter, this study shows that, in many languages, this word order is dependent on fine distinctions in syntax and information structure. Thus, within a split-CP model of clause structure, a number of micro-cues are formulated, taking into account the specific context for V2 vs. non-V2 (clause type, subcategory of the elements involved, etc.). The micro-cues are produced in children’s I-language grammars on exposure to the relevant input. Focusing on a dialect of Norwegian, the book shows that children generally produce target-consistent V2 and non-V2 from early on, indicating that they are sensitive to the micro-cues. This includes contexts where word order is dependent on information structure. The children’s occasional non-target-consistent behavior is accounted for by economy principles.

The Derivation of Anaphoric Relations

The Derivation of Anaphoric Relations PDF Author: Glyn Hicks
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027255229
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
The Derivation of Anaphoric Relations resolves a conspicuous problem for Minimalist theory, the apparently representational nature of the binding conditions. Hicks adduces a broad variety of evidence against the binding conditions applying at LF and builds upon the insights of recent proposals by Hornstein, Kayne, and Reuland by reducing them to the core narrow-syntactic operations (specifically, Agree and Merge). Several novel and independently motivated claims about syntactic features and phases are made, not only explaining the previously stipulated roles played by c-command, reference, and locality, but furnishing the dervational binding theory with sufficient flexibility to capture some long-problematic empirical phenomena: These include connectivity effects, 'picture-noun' reflexives in English, and anaphor/pronoun non-complementarity. Specific proposals are also made for extending the derivational approach to accommodate structured crosslinguistic variation in binding, with thorough expositions and analyses of the Dutch, Norwegian, and Icelandic pronominal systems.

The Structure of Stative Verbs

The Structure of Stative Verbs PDF Author: Antonia Rothmayr
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027289468
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
This book explores the nature of stative verbs, their eventuality structure, and the patterns of argument realization. The study shows that there is no single class of stative verbs. Rather, several distinct groups of verbs are found: Verbs that undergo a systematic stative/eventive ambiguity; verbs that allow for a stative reading only; and verbs that seem to have an intermediate status (verbs of position and verbs of internal causation). The study concludes that there is a discrete boundary between stative and eventive verbs, excluding any intermediate status. Stativity arises because the aspectual operators DO and BECOME are absent in the lexical-semantic structure. Eventivity arises if one of these is present. A minimalist view on argument realization and event structure completes the book: Theta features on the arguments are checked against the aspectual heads within the verb phrase.