Modals, Pronouns and Complement Clauses

Modals, Pronouns and Complement Clauses PDF Author: Nuria Hernández
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110240297
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
This is the second volume of the multi-volume set A Contemporary Grammar of British English Dialects. The book again offers qualitative as well as corpus-based quantitative studies on grammatical variation in the British Isles. The three parts investigate complement clauses (Daniela Kolbe), personal pronouns (Nuria Hernández) and modals (Monika Edith Schulz). The volume is of interest to dialectologists, sociolinguists, typologists, historical linguists, grammarians, and anyone working on the structure of spontaneous spoken English.

The Modal System of Earlier Egyptian Complement Clauses

The Modal System of Earlier Egyptian Complement Clauses PDF Author: Sami Uljas
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004158316
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 445

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Book Description
This volume presents a novel analysis of complement clauses in Earlier Egyptian language. The grammar of these constructions is shown to be organised around a system for expressing Irrealis and Realis modality.

Modals in the Languages of Europe

Modals in the Languages of Europe PDF Author: Björn Hansen
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110219212
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 589

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Book Description
This book is the first comprehensive survey of modals and modal constructions in the languages of Europe. It is a collaborative effort between scholars from Europe and the United States, stemming from a workshop on Modals in the Languages of Europe in Valencia. The aim of this book is to describe the properties of modals and modal constructions in the European area and to compare the systems in individual languages or language families from an areal and genetic perspective. For the sake of contrast, the book also looks at the expression of modality in some languages just outside of Europe. The book consists of fourteen chapters on modal systems in individual languages or language families, written by experts in the respective languages, and an introductory and concluding chapter, written by the editors. The book gives both a description of the modals in the individual languages and an account of the nature and status of modals in general. It provides the reader with a theoretical account of how modals and modal constructions are grammaticalized. This theoretical account is informed by the parameters of grammaticalization of Christian Lehmann. These parameters were chosen because they are language-independent, as opposed to more language specific criteria (for instance, the NICE-criteria for English). The parameters themselves are examined as well for their suitability as part of any theory of grammaticalization. The book thus gives readers access to a collection of data on modality that surpasses most works in this field and also provides a fresh perspective on issues of grammaticalization and language contact. It is therefore of interest to scholars of modality, language contact and areal linguistics, grammaticalization theory and typology.

The Handbook of English Linguistics

The Handbook of English Linguistics PDF Author: Bas Aarts
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119540607
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 710

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Book Description
Second edition of this popular Handbook bringing together stimulating discussions of core English linguistics topics in a single, authoritative volume—includes numerous new and thoroughly updated chapters The second edition of the popular Handbook of English Linguistics brings together stimulating discussions of the core topics in English linguistics in a single, authoritative volume. Written by an international team of experts, the chapters cover syntax, methodology, phonetics and phonology, lexis and morphology, variation, stylistics, and discourse, and also provide discussions of theoretical and descriptive research in the field. The revised edition includes new and updated chapters on English Corpus Linguistics, experimental approaches, complements and adjuncts, English phonology and morphology, lexicography, and more. In-depth yet accessible chapters introduce key areas of English linguistics, discuss relevant research, and suggest future research directions. An important academic contribution to the field, this book: Presents thirty-two in-depth, yet accessible, chapters that discuss new research findings across the field, written by both established and emerging scholars from around the world Builds upon the very successful first edition, published in 2006 Incorporates new trends in English linguistics, including digital research methods and theoretical advances in all subfields Suggests future research directions The Handbook of English Linguistics, 2nd Edition is an essential reference work for researchers and students working in the field of English language and linguistics.

The Handbook of Dialectology

The Handbook of Dialectology PDF Author: Charles Boberg
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118827589
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 909

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Book Description
The Handbook of Dialectology provides an authoritative, up-to-date and unusually broad account of the study of dialect, in one volume. Each chapter reviews essential research, and offers a critical discussion of the past, present and future development of the area. The volume is based on state-of-the-art research in dialectology around the world, providing the most current work available with an unusually broad scope of topics Provides a practical guide to the many methodological and statistical issues surrounding the collection and analysis of dialect data Offers summaries of dialect variation in the world's most widely spoken and commonly studied languages, including several non-European languages that have traditionally received less attention in general discussions of dialectology Reviews the intellectual development of the field, including its main theoretical schools of thought and research traditions, both academic and applied The editors are well known and highly respected, with a deep knowledge of this vast field of inquiry

Semantics with Assignment Variables

Semantics with Assignment Variables PDF Author: Alex Silk
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108875173
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
This pioneering study combines insights from philosophy and linguistics to develop a novel framework for theorizing about linguistic meaning and the role of context in interpretation. A key innovation is to introduce explicit representations of context - assignment variables - in the syntax and semantics of natural language. The proposed theory systematizes a spectrum of 'shifting' phenomena in which the context relevant for interpreting certain expressions depends on features of the linguistic environment. Central applications include local and non-local contextual dependencies with quantifiers, attitude ascriptions, conditionals, questions, and relativization. The result is an innovative philosophically informed compositional semantics compatible with the truth-conditional paradigm. At the forefront of contemporary interdisciplinary research into meaning and communication, Semantics with Assignment Variables is essential reading for researchers and students in a diverse range of fields.

The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Approaches to Discourse Analysis

The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Approaches to Discourse Analysis PDF Author: Eric Friginal
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429535627
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 758

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Book Description
The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Approaches to Discourse Analysis highlights the diversity, breadth, and depth of corpus approaches to discourse analysis, compiling new and original research from notable scholars across the globe. Chapters showcase recent developments influenced by the exponential growth in linguistic computing, advances in corpus design and compilation, and the applications of sound quantitative and interpretive techniques in analyzing text and discourse patterns. Key discourse domains covered by 35 empirical chapters include: • Research contexts and methodological considerations; • Naturally occurring spoken, professional, and academic discourse; • Corpus approaches to conversational discourse, media discourse, and professional and academic writing. The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Approaches to Discourse Analysis is key reading for both experienced and novice researchers working at the intersection of corpus linguistics and discourse analysis, as well as anyone undertaking study in these areas, as well as anyone interested in related fields and adjacent research approaches.

The Acquisition of Complex Sentences

The Acquisition of Complex Sentences PDF Author: Holger Diessel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139454080
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This book presents a comprehensive study of how children acquire complex sentences. Drawing on observational data from English-speaking children aged 2 to 5, Holger Diessel investigates the acquisition of infinitival and participial complement clauses, finite complement clauses, finite and nonfinite relative clauses, adverbial clauses, and coordinate clauses. His investigation shows that the development of complex sentences originates from simple non-embedded sentences and that two different developmental pathways can be distinguished: complex sentences including complement and relative clauses evolve from simple sentences that are gradually expanded to multiple-clause constructions, and complex sentences including adverbial and coordinate clauses develop from simple sentences that are integrated in a specific biclausal unit. He argues that the acquisition process is determined by a variety of factors: the frequency of the various complex sentences in the ambient language, the semantic and syntactic complexity of the emerging constructions, the communicative functions of complex sentences, and the social-cognitive development of the child.

Modes of Modality

Modes of Modality PDF Author: Elisabeth Leiss
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027270791
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 519

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Book Description
The volume aims at a universal definition of modality or “illocutionary/speaker’s perspective force” that is strong enough to capture the entire range of different subtypes and varieties of modalities in different languages. The central idea is that modality is all-pervasive in language. This perspective on modality allows for the integration of covert modality as well as peripheral instances of modality in neglected domains such as the modality of insufficieny, of attitudinality, or neglected domains such as modality and illocutionary force in finite vs. nonfinite and factive vs. non-factive subordinated clauses. In most languages, modality encompasses modal verbs both in their root and epistemic meanings, at least where these languages have the principled distribution between root and epistemic modality in the first place (which is one fundamentally restricted, in its strict qualitative and quantitative sense, to the Germanic languages). In addition, this volume discusses one other intricate and partially highly mysterious class of modality triggers: modal particles as they are sported in the Germanic languages (except for English). It is argued in the contributions and the languages discussed in this volume how modal verbs and adverbials, next to modal particles, are expressed, how they are interlinked with contextual factors such as aspect, definiteness, person, verbal factivity, and assertivity as opposed to other attitudinal types. An essential concept used and argued for is perspectivization (a sub-concept of possible world semantics). Language groups covered in detail and compared are Slavic, Germanic, and South East Asian. The volume will interest researchers in theoretical and applied linguistics, typology, the semantics/pragmatics interface, and language philosophy as it is part of a larger project developing an alternative approach to Universal Grammar that is compatible with functionalist approaches.

The Jarawara Language of Southern Amazonia

The Jarawara Language of Southern Amazonia PDF Author: R.M.W. Dixon
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199270678
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 661

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Book Description
R. M. W. Dixon, author of acclaimed grammars of Australian Aboriginal languages and Fijian, here describes the hauntingly complex structure of Jarawara, spoken by just 170 Indians. Professor Dixon shared their daily lives, deep in the Amazonian jungle, during seven field trips. He explains how their unusual language reflects their environment and their mental attitudes: for example, when someone describes something that has happened the grammar obliges that person to state whether or not he or she saw it happen. His account brings to life the culture of this tribe of slash-and-burn agriculturalists.

Grammatical Complexity in Academic English

Grammatical Complexity in Academic English PDF Author: Douglas Biber
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316462404
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
Grammatical Complexity in Academic English uses corpus-based analyses to challenge a number of dominant stereotypes and assumptions within linguistics. Biber and Gray tackle the nature of grammatical complexity, demonstrating that embedded phrasal structures are as important as embedded dependent clauses. The authors also overturn ingrained assumptions about linguistic change, showing that grammatical change occurs in writing as well as speech. This work establishes that academic writing is structurally compressed (rather than elaborated); that it is often not explicit in the expression of meaning; and that scientific academic writing has been the locus of some of the most important grammatical changes in English over the past 200 years (rather than being conservative and resistant to change). Supported throughout with textual evidence, this work is essential reading for discourse analysts, sociolinguists, and applied linguists, as well as descriptive linguists and historical linguists.