The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish

The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish PDF Author: Pádraig MacCoisdealbha
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110952661
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Old Irish is the language of Ireland in the period from the 8th to the 10th century AD, and is the oldest Celtic language well enough attested for adequate grammatical study. The book provides the only available detailed linguistic analysis of the syntactic structure of the Old Irish sentence. The basic form of the simple sentence, with the usual order of elements, verb-subject-object, is unproblematic from a synchronic viewpoint, but certain sentence types show more complex patterns of syntax, which have important implications for the typological, diachronic and comparative-historical analysis of Old Irish in particular, and Celtic and Indo-European languages in general. Sentence types which contain obligatory cataphoric pronouns referring to elements later in the same sentence are examined in detail, as well as constructions with marked initial topics, and the focussing construction of the cleft sentence. The approach is functional and typological, on the basis of a text corpus from the glosses on the Pauline epistles at Würzburg, with further material from Old Irish legal texts. The emphasis is on the communicative content and intent of the sentences of the corpus. The book is a newly edited version of MacCoisdealbha's Bochum dissertation of 1974, previously unpublished due to the author's death in 1976, and includes textual notes by the editor indicating progress, and indeed lack of progress, in the meantime, in areas covered by the book.

The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish

The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish PDF Author: Pádraig MacCoisdealbha
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110952661
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Get Book Here

Book Description
Old Irish is the language of Ireland in the period from the 8th to the 10th century AD, and is the oldest Celtic language well enough attested for adequate grammatical study. The book provides the only available detailed linguistic analysis of the syntactic structure of the Old Irish sentence. The basic form of the simple sentence, with the usual order of elements, verb-subject-object, is unproblematic from a synchronic viewpoint, but certain sentence types show more complex patterns of syntax, which have important implications for the typological, diachronic and comparative-historical analysis of Old Irish in particular, and Celtic and Indo-European languages in general. Sentence types which contain obligatory cataphoric pronouns referring to elements later in the same sentence are examined in detail, as well as constructions with marked initial topics, and the focussing construction of the cleft sentence. The approach is functional and typological, on the basis of a text corpus from the glosses on the Pauline epistles at Würzburg, with further material from Old Irish legal texts. The emphasis is on the communicative content and intent of the sentences of the corpus. The book is a newly edited version of MacCoisdealbha's Bochum dissertation of 1974, previously unpublished due to the author's death in 1976, and includes textual notes by the editor indicating progress, and indeed lack of progress, in the meantime, in areas covered by the book.

Clause Typing in the Old Irish Verbal Complex

Clause Typing in the Old Irish Verbal Complex PDF Author: Carlos García-Castillero
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110680327
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
Austin’s words on page 1 of his seminal work How to do things with words are valid for this study on clause typing in the Old Irish verbal complex: “The phenomenon to be discussed is very widespread and obvious, and it cannot fail to have been already noticed, at least here and there, by others. Yet I have not found attention paid to it specifically”. Old Irish, a regular V1 language, morphologically distinguishes six clause types, to wit, declarative, relative, wh- and polar interrogative, responsive and imperative clause types. After discussing the constituency of the Old Irish verbal complex and the pragmatically marked orders, i.e. cleft-sentence and left-dislocation, the form, function, paradigmatic consistency and syntax of those clause types are then analysed in detail. The other main issues of this study are the descriptively adequate paradigm of clause types and the interaction of clause typing with subordination and with non-verbal predication in Old Irish. This monograph offers a comprehensive view of clause typing, its morphological expression and related phenomena in the earliest Insular Celtic language, and may also contribute to the general consideration of these topics in both the typological and diachronic perspectives.

The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish

The Syntax of the Sentence in Old Irish PDF Author: Pádraig Mac Coisdealbha
Publisher: de Gruyter
ISBN:
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
Old Irish is the language of Ireland in the period from the 8th to the 10th century AD, and is the oldest Celtic language well enough attested for adequate grammatical study. The book provides the only available detailed linguistic analysis of the syntactic structure of the Old Irish sentence. The basic form of the simple sentence, with the usual order of elements, verb-subject-object, is unproblematic from a synchronic viewpoint, but certain sentence types show more complex patterns of syntax, which have important implications for the typological, diachronic and comparative-historical analysis of Old Irish in particular, and Celtic and Indo-European languages in general. Sentence types which contain obligatory cataphoric pronouns referring to elements later in the same sentence are examined in detail, as well as constructions with marked initial topics, and the focussing construction of the cleft sentence. The approach is functional and typological, on the basis of a text corpus from the glosses on the Pauline epistles at Würzburg, with further material from Old Irish legal texts. The emphasis is on the communicative content and intent of the sentences of the corpus. The book is a newly edited version of MacCoisdealbha's Bochum dissertation of 1974, previously unpublished due to the author's death in 1976, and includes textual notes by the editor indicating progress, and indeed lack of progress, in the meantime, in areas covered by the book.

The Syntax of the Simple Sentence in Proto-Germanic

The Syntax of the Simple Sentence in Proto-Germanic PDF Author: Paul J. Hopper
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110879085
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description


Sengoidelc

Sengoidelc PDF Author: David Stifter
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 9780815630722
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
David Stifter’s Sengoídelc (SHAN-goy-thelg) provides a comprehensive introduction to Old Irish grammar and metrics. As an introductory text to the Irish language spoken around the eighth century C.E., this essential volume, covering all aspects of the grammar in a clear and intuitive format, is ideally suited for use as a course book or as a guide for the independent learner. This handbook also will be an essential reference work for students of Indo-European philology and historical linguistics. Stifter leads the novice through the idiosyncrasies of the language, such as initial mutations and the double inflection of verbs. Filled with translation exercises based on selections from Old Irish texts, the book provides a practical introduction to the language and its rich history. Sengoídelc opens the door to the fascinating world of Old Irish literature, famous not only for the Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cúailnge) and its lyrical nature poetry but also as a major source for the political and legal history of Ireland. Stifter’s step-by-step approach and engaging style make his book an ideal tool for both the self taught individual and the classroom environment. It will be of interest to beginning students of Old and Middle Irish, to scholars of Irish history, Celtic culture, and comparative linguistics, and to readers of Irish literature.

Clause Typing in the Old Irish Verbal Complex

Clause Typing in the Old Irish Verbal Complex PDF Author: Carlos García-Castillero
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110680408
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
Austin’s words on page 1 of his seminal work How to do things with words are valid for this study on clause typing in the Old Irish verbal complex: “The phenomenon to be discussed is very widespread and obvious, and it cannot fail to have been already noticed, at least here and there, by others. Yet I have not found attention paid to it specifically”. Old Irish, a regular V1 language, morphologically distinguishes six clause types, to wit, declarative, relative, wh- and polar interrogative, responsive and imperative clause types. After discussing the constituency of the Old Irish verbal complex and the pragmatically marked orders, i.e. cleft-sentence and left-dislocation, the form, function, paradigmatic consistency and syntax of those clause types are then analysed in detail. The other main issues of this study are the descriptively adequate paradigm of clause types and the interaction of clause typing with subordination and with non-verbal predication in Old Irish. This monograph offers a comprehensive view of clause typing, its morphological expression and related phenomena in the earliest Insular Celtic language, and may also contribute to the general consideration of these topics in both the typological and diachronic perspectives.

The Syntax of Welsh

The Syntax of Welsh PDF Author: Robert D. Borsley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139467514
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 21

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Book Description
Welsh, like the other Celtic languages, is best known amongst linguists for its verb-initial word order and its use of initial consonant mutations. However it has many more characteristics which are of interest to syntacticians. This book, first published in 2007, provides a concise and accessible overview of the major syntactic phenomena of Welsh. A broad variety of topics are covered, including finite and infinitival clauses, noun phrases, agreement and tense, word order, clause structure, dialect variation, and the language's historical Celtic background. Drawing on work carried out in both Principles and Parameters theory and Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar, it takes contemporary colloquial Welsh as its starting point and draws contrasts with a range of literary and dialectal forms of the language, as well as earlier forms (Middle Welsh) were appropriate. An engaging guide to all that is interesting about Welsh syntax, this book will be welcomed by syntactic theorists, typologists, historical linguists and Celticists alike.

The Verb in the Book of Aneirin

The Verb in the Book of Aneirin PDF Author: Graham R. Isaac
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110962322
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 493

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Book Description
The "Book of Aneirin" is a thirteenth-century manuscript collection of Welsh praise-poetry. In comparison with other Welsh sources of similar date, the language of this text exhibits a number of features which have been interpreted as archaisms and taken as indications of great antiquity for the text. However, particularly in syntax, claims about the status of these 'archaisms' have not been discussed in the context of the grammatical organisation of the text as a whole. This book approaches various aspects of grammar against the background of a comprehensive edition of the finite verbal clauses of the text. Syntactic analysis of the data-base so established takes its point of departure from the relationship of the verb with its arguments in the clause, and is concentrated on two issues: 1. the type and status of basic word order in the text; 2. the interaction of the semantics of the predication with the pragmatics of communication of information. It is argued that, as would be expected for a Welsh text, the basic order is VSO, but also, and more importantly, that the text does not contain 'archaic' evidence of any earlier, different basic orders. Rather it is argued that word-order variation in the text can be rigorously analysed in terms of a model of functional syntax which is sensitive to both the pragmatics of the text and the semantics of the predications involved. In the light of these results, argumentation concerning historical syntax and especially reconstruction of syntax are evaluated, both in the field of Celtic and in wider cross-language perspective. Finally, the edition of the finite clauses of the text is followed by a number of notes discussing historical and synchronic aspects of the material presented, with particular emphasis on morphology and etymology.

Opening Windows on Texts and Discourses of the Past

Opening Windows on Texts and Discourses of the Past PDF Author: Janne Skaffari
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9789027253774
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 440

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Book Description
Some of these windows were opened by historical linguists who have acquired discourse perspectives, some by pragmaticians with historical interests, and others by literary scholars drawing from linguistic pragmatics."--BOOK JACKET.

Studies in Brythonic Word Order

Studies in Brythonic Word Order PDF Author: James Fife
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027277877
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
While Celtic languages are nominally VSO in basic word order, the languages of the Brythonic branch have exhibited striking synchronic and historical variations from the prototype. This volume comprises the very latest research in word order in Welsh, reton and Cornish from nine of the leading scholars in the field. The studies deal with historical, typological and descriptive issues from several approaches (including philological, functional and government and binding). The scope ranges over all the Brythonic languages, as well as the entire diachronic spectrum from the proto-language up to the most recent colloquial trends. The volume provides the expert with a collection of state-of-the-art research and the non-specialist with a comprehensive survey of the problems and debates in a language grouping fraught with intricate questions of word order and word order change.