Case, Referentiality and Phrase Structure

Case, Referentiality and Phrase Structure PDF Author: Balk?z Öztürk
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027294453
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
This book proposes that the two “independent” conditions on argumenthood, namely, case and referentiality, are strongly correlated and have to be associated with each other in syntax as syntactic features. It shows that languages exhibit variation in the way this association is implemented in their syntax, which presents an explanation for the differences observed in their phrase structure in terms of (non-)configurationality. Thus, this book not only presents an innovative overarching theory for case and referentiality, but also aims to bring a new look at the issues of (non-)configurationality. It specifically argues for parameterization of functional categories associated with case and referentiality, which has certain implications not only for the acquisition but also for the diachronic development of functional categories. Providing rich comparative data from typologically different languages such as Turkish, Chinese, Hungarian, English and Japanese, this book is of particular interest to typologists as well.

Case, Referentiality and Phrase Structure

Case, Referentiality and Phrase Structure PDF Author: Balk?z Öztürk
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027294453
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book proposes that the two “independent” conditions on argumenthood, namely, case and referentiality, are strongly correlated and have to be associated with each other in syntax as syntactic features. It shows that languages exhibit variation in the way this association is implemented in their syntax, which presents an explanation for the differences observed in their phrase structure in terms of (non-)configurationality. Thus, this book not only presents an innovative overarching theory for case and referentiality, but also aims to bring a new look at the issues of (non-)configurationality. It specifically argues for parameterization of functional categories associated with case and referentiality, which has certain implications not only for the acquisition but also for the diachronic development of functional categories. Providing rich comparative data from typologically different languages such as Turkish, Chinese, Hungarian, English and Japanese, this book is of particular interest to typologists as well.

Passivization and Typology

Passivization and Typology PDF Author: Werner Abraham
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027229805
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 566

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Book Description
Is the passive a unified universal phenomenon? The claim derived from this volume is that the passive, if not universal, has become unified according to function. Language as a means of communication needs the passive, or passive-like constructions, and sooner or later develops them based on other voices (impersonal active, middle, reflexive), specific semantic meanings such as adversativity, or tense-aspect categories (stative, perfect, preterit). Certain contributors review the passives in various languages and language groups, including languages rarely discussed. Another group of contributors takes a novel theoretical approach toward passivization within a broad typological perspective. Among the languages discussed are Vedic, Irish, Mandarin Chinese, Thai, Lithuanian, Mordvin, and Nganasan, next to almost all European languages. Various theoretical frameworks such as Optimality Theory, modern structuralist approaches, Role and Reference Grammar, cognitive semantics, Distributed Morphology, and case grammar have been applied by the different authors.

The Semantics of Case

The Semantics of Case PDF Author: Olga Kagan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110841642X
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
Based on data from a wide range of languages, the book discusses the ways in which case interacts with meaning.

Deriving Coordinate Symmetries

Deriving Coordinate Symmetries PDF Author: John R. te Velde
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027293724
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
This monograph proposes a minimalist, phase-based approach to the derivation of coordinate structures, utilizing the operations Copy and Match to account for both the symmetries and asymmetries of coordination. Data are drawn primarily from English, German and Dutch. The basic assumptions are that all coordinate structures are symmetric to some degree (in contrast to parasitic gap and many verb phrase ellipsis constructions), and these symmetries, especially with ellipsis, allow syntactic derivations to utilize Copy and Match in interface with active memory for economizing with gaps and assuring clarity of interpretation. With derivations operating at the feature level, troublesome properties of coordinate structures such as cross-categorial and non-constituent coordination, violations of the Coordinate Structure Constraint, as well as coordinate ellipsis (Gapping, RNR, Left-Edge Ellipsis) are accounted for without separate mechanisms or conditions applicable only to coordinate structures. The proposal provides support for central assumptions about the structure of West Germanic.

Semantic and syntactic aspects of impersonality

Semantic and syntactic aspects of impersonality PDF Author: Peter Herbeck
Publisher: Helmut Buske Verlag
ISBN: 3875489624
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description
Peter Herbeck, Bernhard Pöll & Anne C. Wolfsgruber: Foreword Hubert Haider: On expletive, semantically void, and absent subjects Janayna Carvalho: Incorporated subjects in Existential Impersonal Sentences in Brazilian Portuguese Thórhallur Eythórsson, Anton Karl Ingason & Einar Freyr Sigurðsson: Flavors of reflexive arguments in Icelandic impersonals Sigríður Sigurjónsdóttir & Joan Maling: From passive to active: diachronic change in impersonal constructions Anne C. Wolfsgruber: Impersonal interpretations of Medieval Romance se - tracing initial contexts Eduardo Amaral & Wiltrud Mihatsch: Incipient impersonal pronouns in colloquial Brazilian Portuguese based on pessoa, pessoal and povo

The Function of Function Words and Functional Categories

The Function of Function Words and Functional Categories PDF Author: Marcel den Dikken
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9789027228024
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
LC number: 2005048395

The Syntax-discourse Interface

The Syntax-discourse Interface PDF Author: Petra Burkhardt
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9789027228048
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
This book combines theoretical and experimental aspects of the establishment of dependency. It provides an account of dependency relations by focusing on the representation and interpretation of referentially dependent elements, particularly regular reflexives, logophors, and pronouns. First, the establishment of dependency is discussed within a model of syntax—discourse correspondences that predicts an economy-based dependency hierarchy contingent on the level of representation at which the dependency is formed as well as the internal structure of the dependent element and its antecedent. Secondly, the model's predictions are substantiated by a series of experimental studies (conducted in English and Dutch) providing evidence from three sources of online sentence comprehension: reaction time studies, Broca's aphasia patient studies, and event-related brain potential studies. The findings show that dependencies are established at distinct levels of linguistic encoding (i.e. syntax or discourse) determined by the presence or absence of coargumenthood and the representation of the dependency-forming elements.

The Rise of Agreement

The Rise of Agreement PDF Author: Eric Fuß
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027294143
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
This book investigates the historical paths leading from pronouns to markers of verbal agreement and proposes a unified formal account of this grammaticalization process. In opposition to beliefs widely held in the literature, it is argued that new agreement formatives can be coined in a multitude of syntactic environments. Still, the individual paths toward agreement are shown to exhibit a set of underlying similarities which are attributed to universal principles that govern the reanalysis of pronominal clitics as exponents of verbal agreement across languages. It is claimed that syntactic principles impose only a set of necessary conditions on the reanalysis in question, while its ultimate trigger is morphological in nature. More specifically, it is argued that the acquisition of inflectional morphology is governed by blocking effects which operate during language acquisition and promote the grammaticalization of new markers if this change serves to replace ‘worn-out’, underspecified forms with new, more specified candidates.

Studies on Agreement

Studies on Agreement PDF Author: João Costa
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027293732
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
The status of agreement is a core issue in current morphological and syntactic theory. The collection of papers in this volume focuses on important issues, such as the nature of the relation between syntax and morphology in determining agreement relations; whether and which syntactic configurations are relevant for determining agreement; the relevance of verbal agreement for the purposes of EPP; the inquiry into the existence of connections between verbal and DP-internal agreement; on the morphological and syntactic distinction of person, number and gender agreement; how and why AGREE and Spec,head relations trigger different agreement effects; and the type of relation that exists between head-movement and morphological agreement. The data collected come from a wide variety of languages and the studies presented discuss innovative and thought-provoking ideas for dealing with agreement phenomena.

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.