Lexical and Syntactical Constructions and the Construction of Meaning

Lexical and Syntactical Constructions and the Construction of Meaning PDF Author: Marjolijn Verspoor
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027285594
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 474

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Book Description
The basic tenet of cognitive linguistics is that every linguistic expression is a construal relation. The first section of this volume focuses on issues of such construal and presentation of information, including figure-ground relations, image-schematic structures, and the role of syntactic constructions in information structure.In sections two and three papers are presented on cross-categorial polysemy between lexical and grammatical uses of a morpheme, and between different grammatical senses, and on the relationship between earlier lexical senses and later grammatical ones. The final section of the volume brings together studies which shed further light on transitivity and argument structure. The study of transitivity necessarily entails exploration of the relationship between syntactic constructions and the pragmatics and semantics conveyed by such constructions. As a whole, this collection of papers gives new evidence on the complexity and motivation of the mapping between linguistic form and function and offers a wealth of new directions for research on the construction of meaning at every level of the sentence.

Lexical and Syntactical Constructions and the Construction of Meaning

Lexical and Syntactical Constructions and the Construction of Meaning PDF Author: Marjolijn Verspoor
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027285594
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 474

Get Book Here

Book Description
The basic tenet of cognitive linguistics is that every linguistic expression is a construal relation. The first section of this volume focuses on issues of such construal and presentation of information, including figure-ground relations, image-schematic structures, and the role of syntactic constructions in information structure.In sections two and three papers are presented on cross-categorial polysemy between lexical and grammatical uses of a morpheme, and between different grammatical senses, and on the relationship between earlier lexical senses and later grammatical ones. The final section of the volume brings together studies which shed further light on transitivity and argument structure. The study of transitivity necessarily entails exploration of the relationship between syntactic constructions and the pragmatics and semantics conveyed by such constructions. As a whole, this collection of papers gives new evidence on the complexity and motivation of the mapping between linguistic form and function and offers a wealth of new directions for research on the construction of meaning at every level of the sentence.

Discourse Studies in Cognitive Linguistics

Discourse Studies in Cognitive Linguistics PDF Author: Karen Van Hoek
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027236828
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
This volume presents selected papers from the 5th International Cognitive Linguistics Conference within the area of discourse analysis. The topics addressed include pronominal anaphora in English and Russian narratives, the subtleties of the definite article in English and Spanish, the use of discourse particles in Dutch, and the function of prosody as a marker of text structure in spoken narratives. The papers illustrate the potential of the emerging cognitive linguistic paradigm to provide fresh, revealing insights in the study of discourse.

OHB HISTORICAL PHONOLOGY OHBK C

OHB HISTORICAL PHONOLOGY OHBK C PDF Author: Patrick Honeybone
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191643653
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 817

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Book Description
This book presents a comprehensive and critical overview of historical phonology as it stands today. Scholars from around the world consider and advance research in every aspect of the field. In doing so they demonstrate the continuing vitality and some continuing themes of one of the oldest sub-disciplines of linguistics. The book is divided into six parts. The first considers key current research questions, the early history of the field, and the structuralist context for work on segmental change. The second examines evidence and methods, including phonological reconstruction, typology, and computational and quantitative approaches. Part III looks at types of phonological change, including stress, tone, and morphophonological change. Part IV explores a series of controversial aspects within the field, including the effects of first language acquisition, the status of lexical diffusion and exceptionless change, and the role of individuals in innovation. Part V considers theoretical perspectives on phonological change, including those of evolutionary phonology and generative historical phonology. The final part examines sociolinguistic and exogenous factors in phonological change, including the study of change in real time, the role of second language acquisition, and loanword adaptation. The authors, who represent leading proponents of every theoretical perspective, consider phonological change over a wide range of the world's language families. The handbook is, in sum, a valuable resource for phonologists and historical linguists and a stimulating guide for their students.

Rethinking Parameters

Rethinking Parameters PDF Author: Luis Eguren
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190613807
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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Book Description
Parameters of linguistic variation were originally conceived, within the chomskyan Principles and Parameters Theory, as UG-determined options that were associated with grammatical principles and had a rich deductive structure. This characterization of parametric differences among languages has changed significantly over the years, especially so with the advent of Minimalism. This book collects a representative sample of current generative research on the status, origin and size of parameters. Often taking diverging views, the papers in the volume address some or all of the main debated topics in parametric syntax: i.e. are parameters provided by UG, or do they constitute emergent properties arising from points of underspecification?; in which component(s) of the language faculty are parameters to be found?; do clustering effects actually hold across languages?; do macroparameters exist alongside microparameters?; are there parameter hierarchies?; which is the origin and role of parameters in the process of language acquisition? The volume is organized into two parts. Part I ("The nature of variation and parameters") brings together studies whose main goal is to discuss general issues related to parameters (or variation more generally). Part II ("Parameters in the analysis of language variation: case studies") includes a number of works that deal with the empirical basis and proper formulation of well-known particular parameters: the Null Subject Parameter, the NP/DP Parameter, the Compounding Parameter, the Wh-Parameter and the Analyticity Parameter.

Advances in Language Acquisition

Advances in Language Acquisition PDF Author: Xenia Konstantinopoulou
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443869007
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
This book contains 51 chapters based on papers presented at the GALA (Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition) conference held in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 2011. It thus reflects the GALA 2011 scientific presentations and discussions and raises issues that are currently at the centre of language acquisition research. Such issues examined in this volume include first and second language acquisition and processing by children and adults; language acquisition by individuals with linguistic and/or cognitive impairment; and cross-linguistic comparisons in (a)typical language acquisition. As such, Advances in Language Acquisition constitutes a valuable reference guide for current work on the interdisciplinary research field of language acquisition.

Major Trends in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics 1

Major Trends in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics 1 PDF Author: Nikolaos Lavidas
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 311039927X
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 493

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Book Description
In the three volumes of Major Trends in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, the editors guide the reader through a well-selected compendium of works, presenting a fresh look at contemporary linguistics. Specialists will find chapters that contribute to their fields of interest, and the three-volume collection will provide useful reading for anyone interested in linguistics. The first volume explores theoretical issues dealing with phonetics-phonology and syntax-semantics-morphology. Volume two is organized into three main sections that examine interdisciplinary linguistics: discourse analysis, gender and lexicography; language acquisition, and language disorders. Finally, volume three focuses on applied linguistics - both language teaching/ learning and education.

Research on Old French: The State of the Art

Research on Old French: The State of the Art PDF Author: Deborah L Arteaga
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400747683
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 387

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Book Description
The present volume presents scholarly study into Old French as it is practiced today, in all of its forms, within a variety of theoretical frameworks, from Optimality Theory to Minimalism to Discourse Analysis. Many of the chapters are corpus-based, reflecting a new trend in the field, as more electronic corpora become available. The chapters contribute to our understanding of both the synchronic state and diachronic evolution, not only of Old French, but of language in general. Its breadth is extensive in that contributors pursue research on a wide variety of topics in Old French focusing on the various subsystems of language. All examples are carefully glossed and the relevant characteristics of Old French are clearly explained, which makes it uniquely accessible to non-specialists and linguists at all levels of training. ​

Interfaces and Domains of Contact-Driven Restructuring: Volume 168

Interfaces and Domains of Contact-Driven Restructuring: Volume 168 PDF Author: Sandro Sessarego
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108992668
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description
The Afro-Hispanic Languages of the Americas (AHLAs) present a number of grammatical similarities that have traditionally been ascribed to a previous creole stage. Approaching creole studies from contrasting standpoints, this groundbreaking book provides a new account of these phenomena. How did these features come about? What linguistic mechanisms can account for their parallel existence in several contact varieties? How can we formalize such mechanisms within a comprehensive theoretical framework? How can these new datasets help us test and refine current formal theories, which have primarily been based on standardized language data? In addressing these important questions, this book not only casts new light on the nature of the AHLAs, it also provides new theoretical and methodological perspectives for a more integrated approach to the study of contact-driven restructuring across language interfaces and linguistic domains.

A Companion to Chomsky

A Companion to Chomsky PDF Author: Nicholas Allott
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119598702
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 644

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Book Description
A COMPANION TO CHOMSKY Widely considered to be one of the most important public intellectuals of our time, Noam Chomsky has revolutionized modern linguistics. His thought has had a profound impact upon the philosophy of language, mind, and science, as well as the interdisciplinary field of cognitive science which his work helped to establish. Now, in this new Companion dedicated to his substantial body of work and the range of its influence, an international assembly of prominent linguists, philosophers, and cognitive scientists reflect upon the interdisciplinary reach of Chomsky's intellectual contributions. Balancing theoretical rigor with accessibility to the non-specialist, the Companion is organized into eight sections—including the historical development of Chomsky's theories and the current state of the art, comparison with rival usage-based approaches, and the relation of his generative approach to work on linguistic processing, acquisition, semantics, pragmatics, and philosophy of language. Later chapters address Chomsky's rationalist critique of behaviorism and related empiricist approaches to psychology, as well as his insistence upon a "Galilean" methodology in cognitive science. Following a brief discussion of the relation of his work in linguistics to his work on political issues, the book concludes with an essay written by Chomsky himself, reflecting on the history and character of his work in his own words. A significant contribution to the study of Chomsky's thought, A Companion to Chomsky is an indispensable resource for philosophers, linguists, psychologists, advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and general readers with interest in Noam Chomsky's intellectual legacy as one of the great thinkers of the twentieth century.

Parameter Theory and Linguistic Change

Parameter Theory and Linguistic Change PDF Author: Charlotte Galves
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191634093
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 405

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Book Description
This book focuses on some of the most important issues in historical syntax. In a series of close examinations of languages from old Egyptian to modern Afrikaans, leading scholars present new work on Afro-Asiatic, Latin and Romance, Germanic, Albanian, Celtic, Indo-Iranian, and Japanese. The book revolves around the linked themes of parametric theory and the dynamics of language change. The former is a key element in the search for explanatory adequacy in historical syntax: if the notion of imperfect learning, for example, explains a large element of grammatical change, it is vital to understand how parameters are set in language acquisition and how they might have been set differently in previous generations. The authors test particular hypotheses against data from different times and places with the aim of understanding the relationship between language variation and the dynamics of change. Is it possible, for example, to reconcile the unidirectionality of change predominantly expressed in the phenomenon of "grammaticalization", with the multidirectionality predicted by generativist approaches? In terms of the richness of the data it examines, the broad range of languages it discusses, and the use it makes of linguistic theory this is an outstanding book, not least in the contribution it makes to the understanding of language change.