Basic Structural Differences Within a Linguistic Comparison of English and German Grammar

Basic Structural Differences Within a Linguistic Comparison of English and German Grammar PDF Author: Theresa Schmidt
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3640552199
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 41

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Comparative Literature, grade: 1,7, http: //www.uni-jena.de/ (Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: HpS Contrastive Linguistics, language: English, abstract: Introduction Since German and English both belong to the same family of languages, i.e. West Germanic, they are - at least, from an historical point of view - closely related languages. By investigating their respective grammatical structures it is to be discussed whether the existing structural contrasts between English and German grammar are related as well. Within this paper the most general and basic of the occurring differences will be summarised and analysed by taking John Hawkins' A Comparative Typology of English and German. Unifying the Contrasts as a basic source. Hawkins argues that where German and English contrast the latter tends to show less correspondence between form and meaning. This is due to his central hypothesis which says that it is possible to establish general principles which unite the major contrasts between both languages (cf. 4). Hawkins assumes that the differences within the grammatical structures are not accidental ones; they are rather systematic and can be traced back to one "ultimate trigger " (5) in the history of the English language - phonological changes which caused all further structural differences as either direct or indirect consequences of this process (cf. 5-7). The attempt of this paper is to draw conclusions from this knowledge of the common historical background and apply it to the modern "versions" of the German and English language and the major patterns of variation. To get a descriptive and lucid image of the contrasts between the two languages, we first start on the level of individual words by considering their morphological structure, i.e. we will examine the inflection of the verb and the case marking of noun phrases. This will lead us directly to questi

Basic Structural Differences Within a Linguistic Comparison of English and German Grammar

Basic Structural Differences Within a Linguistic Comparison of English and German Grammar PDF Author: Theresa Schmidt
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3640552199
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 41

Get Book Here

Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Comparative Literature, grade: 1,7, http: //www.uni-jena.de/ (Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: HpS Contrastive Linguistics, language: English, abstract: Introduction Since German and English both belong to the same family of languages, i.e. West Germanic, they are - at least, from an historical point of view - closely related languages. By investigating their respective grammatical structures it is to be discussed whether the existing structural contrasts between English and German grammar are related as well. Within this paper the most general and basic of the occurring differences will be summarised and analysed by taking John Hawkins' A Comparative Typology of English and German. Unifying the Contrasts as a basic source. Hawkins argues that where German and English contrast the latter tends to show less correspondence between form and meaning. This is due to his central hypothesis which says that it is possible to establish general principles which unite the major contrasts between both languages (cf. 4). Hawkins assumes that the differences within the grammatical structures are not accidental ones; they are rather systematic and can be traced back to one "ultimate trigger " (5) in the history of the English language - phonological changes which caused all further structural differences as either direct or indirect consequences of this process (cf. 5-7). The attempt of this paper is to draw conclusions from this knowledge of the common historical background and apply it to the modern "versions" of the German and English language and the major patterns of variation. To get a descriptive and lucid image of the contrasts between the two languages, we first start on the level of individual words by considering their morphological structure, i.e. we will examine the inflection of the verb and the case marking of noun phrases. This will lead us directly to questi

English Linguistics

English Linguistics PDF Author: Bernd Kortmann
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3476056783
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
This is the completely revised, updated and enlarged 2nd edition of a classic textbook used in many English and linguistics departments in Germany for more than 20 years. It serves both as an introduction for beginners and as a companion for more advanced undergraduate and graduate students, familiarizing its readers with the major and distinctive properties of English (Standard English as well major national, regional and social varieties), including an in-depth structural comparison with German. Written in an accessible style and with many reader-friendly features (including checklists with key terms and concepts, basic and advanced exercises with solutions), the book offers a state-of-the-art-survey of the core terminology and issues of the central branches of linguistics, including an account of the major current research traditions and methodologies.

A Comparative Typology of English and German

A Comparative Typology of English and German PDF Author: John A. Hawkins
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317419723
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
First published in 1986, this book draws together analyses of English and German. It defines the contrasts and similarities between the two languages and, in particular, looks at the question of whether contrasts in one area of the grammar is systematically related to contrasts in another, and whether there is any ‘directionality’ or unity to contrast throughout grammar as a whole. It is suggested that there is, and that English and German can serve as a case study for a more general typology of languages than we now have. This volume will be of interest to a wide range of linguists, including students of Germanic languages; language typologists; generative grammarians attempting to ‘fix the parameters’ on language variation;’ historical linguists; and applied linguists.

Semantic Structure in English

Semantic Structure in English PDF Author: Jim Feist
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027266522
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
Syntax puts our meaning (“semantics”) into sentences, and phonology puts the sentences into the sounds that we hear and there must, surely, be a structure in the meaning that is expressed in the syntax and phonology. Some writers use the phrase “semantic structure”, but are referring to conceptual structure; since we can express our conceptual thought in many different linguistic ways, we cannot equate conceptual and semantic structures. The research reported in this book shows semantic structure to be in part hierarchic, fitting the syntax in which it is expressed, and partly a network, fitting the nature of the mind, from which it springs. It is complex enough to provide for the emotive and imaginative dimensions of language, and for shifts of standard meanings in context, and the “rules” that control them. Showing the full structure of English semantics requires attention to many currently topical issues, and since the underlying theory is fresh, there are fresh implications for them. The most important of those issues is information structure, which is given full treatment, showing its overall structure, and its relation to semantics and the whole grammar of English. As of October 2024, this e-book is Open Access under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

Tremontaine

Tremontaine PDF Author: Ellen Kushner
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 148148558X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 688

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Book Description
"A duchess's beauty matched only by her cunning; her husband's dangerous affair with a handsome scholar; a foreigner in a playground of swordplay and secrets; and a mathematical genius on the brink of revolution. Suddenly long-buried lies threaten to come to light and betrayal and treachery run rampant in this story of sparkling wit and political intrigue."--Amazon.com.

The Syntax of German

The Syntax of German PDF Author: Hubert Haider
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521865255
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 387

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Book Description
A broad coverage of German syntax, providing an in-depth look at object-verb sentence formation in comparison with other languages.

Aspects of Linguistic Variation

Aspects of Linguistic Variation PDF Author: Daniël Olmen
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110609878
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
Linguistic variation is a topic of ongoing interest to the field. Its description and its explanations continue to intrigue scholars from many different backgrounds. By taking a deliberately broad perspective on the matter, covering not only crosslinguistic and diachronic but also intralinguistic and interspeaker variation and examining phenomena ranging from negation over connectives to definite articles in well- and lesser-known languages, the volume furthers our understanding of variation in general. The papers offer new insights into, among other things, the theoretical notion of comparative concepts, the social or mental nature of language structure, the areal factor in lexical typology and the diachronic implications of semantic maps. The collection will thus be of relevance to typologists and historical linguists, as well as to people studying variation within the areas of cognitive and functional linguistics.

Comparative and Contrastive Studies of Information Structure

Comparative and Contrastive Studies of Information Structure PDF Author: Carsten Breul
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027287848
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
This volume presents original comparative and contrastive research into various aspects of information structure (topic, focus, contrastivity, givenness, anaphoricity) as well as into forms and structures whose realisation depends on information-structural factors (clefts, dislocations, reflexives, null subjects, prosodic features, interrogatives) in a number of different languages (Catalan, English, French, Georgian, German, Hebrew, Hungarian). Each contribution emphasises differences or commonalities between the languages under investigation with respect to the realisation of information structural categories or with respect to the information structural implications of a given form or structure. The specific comparative-contrastive perspective of the volume makes a substantial contribution towards a better understanding of language specific and universal aspects of information structure. It raises significant questions and provides solutions for the formal representation and the functional properties of information structural categories.

Contrastive Linguistics

Contrastive Linguistics PDF Author: Ping Ke
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9811313857
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
This book serves as an introduction to contrastive linguistics - the synchronic study of two or more languages, with the aim of discovering their differences and similarities, especially the former, and applying these discoveries to related areas of language study and practice. It discusses the principles and methods, and contrasts English, Chinese, German, and other languages at phonological, lexical, grammatical, textual, and pragmatic levels, focusing more on the useful insights contrastive analysis provides into real-world problems in fields such as applied linguistics, translation and translation studies, English or Chinese as a foreign language, and communication than on the discipline itself.

Insights in Germanic Linguistics: Methodology in transition

Insights in Germanic Linguistics: Methodology in transition PDF Author: Irmengard Rauch
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 9783110143591
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks, as well as studies that provide new insights by approaching language from an interdisciplinary perspective. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing. To discuss your book idea or submit a proposal, please contact Birgit Sievert.