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Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > Grammar, syntax, linguistic structure
Mini-set C: Language & Literature re-issues a century of publishing in 8 volumes originally published between 1896 and 1989 and covers phonetics, grammar and syntax of the Japanese language as well as some of its most iconic literature and drama. For institutional purchases for e-book sets please contact [email protected] (customers in the UK, Europe and Rest of World)
Impersonal constructions in the history of English form a puzzling category, in that there has been uncertainty as to why some verbs are attested in such constructions while others are not, even though they look almost synonymous. In this book, Ayumi Miura tackles this under-discussed question with special reference to verbs of emotion in Middle English. Through a careful study of the behaviour of impersonal and near-synonymous non-impersonal verbs, she identifies the factors that determined the presence, absence, and spread of impersonal usage with the verbs concerned. Miura utilizes modern linguistic approaches, including theories and methodologies adopted in the study of psych-verbs in modern languages, which bear close relevance to impersonal verbs of emotion but have traditionally been researched separately. She also draws on categorizations in the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary and harnesses the online Middle English Dictionary in a novel way, demonstrating that dictionary materials are in fact a valuable tool in the study of early English syntax and semantics. Miura concludes that a range of factors - such as causation, transitivity, animacy of the target of emotion, and duration of the emotion - influenced the choice of impersonal constructions with Middle English verbs of emotion. We can therefore make reasonable generalizations about when impersonal usage was licensed in these verbs. This careful analysis of the correlation between Middle English verbs of emotion and use or non-use in impersonal constructions represents a new empirical and theoretical contribution to the busy research area of impersonal constructions in the history of English.
This volume contains a collection of research papers centered around the concept of quantifier. Recently this concept has become the central point of research in logic. It is one of the important logical concepts whose exact domain and applications have so far been insufficiently explored, especially in the area of inferential and semantic properties of languages. It should thus remain the central point of research in the future. Moreover, during the last twenty years generalized quantifiers and logical technics based on them have proved their utility in various applications. The example of natu rallanguage semantics has been partcularly striking. For a long time it has been belived that elementary logic also called first-order logic was an ade quate theory of logical forms of natural language sentences. Recently it has been accepted that semantics of many natural language constructions can not be properly represented in elementary logic. It has turned out, however, that they can be described by means of generalized quantifiers. As far as computational applications oflogic are concerned, particulary interesting are semantics restricted to finite models. Under this restriction elementary logic looses several of its advantages such as axiomatizability and compactness. And for various purposes we can use equally well some semantically richer languages of which generalized quantifiers offer the most universal methods of describing extensions of elementary logic. Moreover we can look at generalized quantifiers as an explication of some specific mathematical concepts, e. g."
This book introduces a new linguistic reconstruction of the phonology, morphology, and lexicon of Old Chinese, the first Sino-Tibetan language to be reduced to writing. Old Chinese is the language of the earliest Chinese classical texts (1st millennium BCE) and the ancestor of later varieties of Chinese, including all modern Chinese dialects. William Baxter and Laurent Sagart's new reconstruction of Old Chinese moves beyond earlier reconstructions by taking into account important new evidence that has recently become available: better documentation of Chinese dialects that preserve archaic features, such as the Min and Waxiang dialects; better documentation of languages with very early loanwords from Chinese, such as the Hmong-Mien, Tai-Kadai and Vietnamese languages; and a flood of Chinese manuscripts from the first millennium BCE, excavated or discovered in the last several decades. Baxter and Sagart also incorporate recent advances in our understanding of the derivational processes that connect different words that have the same root. They expand our knowledge of Chinese etymology and identify, for the first time, phonological markers of pre-Han dialects, such as the development of *r to -j in a group of east coast dialects, but to -n elsewhere. The most up-to-date reconstruction available, Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction brings the methodology of Old Chinese reconstruction closer to that of comparative reconstructions that have been used successfully in other language families. It is critical reading for anyone seeking an advanced understanding of Old Chinese.
"An Introduction to Syntactic Analysis and Theory "offers beginning students a comprehensive overview of and introduction to our current understanding of the rules and principles that govern the syntax of natural languages.Includes numerous pedagogical features such as 'practice' boxes and sidebars, designed to facilitate understanding of both the 'hows' and the 'whys' of sentence structureGuides readers through syntactic and morphological structures in a progressive mannerTakes the mystery out of one of the most crucial aspects of the workings of language - the principles and processes behind the structure of sentencesIdeal for students with minimal knowledge of current syntactic research, it progresses in theoretical difficulty from basic ideas and theories to more complex and advanced, up to date concepts in syntactic theory
Quantifiers: Logics, Models and Computation is the first concentrated effort to give a systematic presentation of the main research results on the subject, since the modern concept was formulated in the late '50s and early '60s. The majority of the papers are in the nature of a handbook. All of them are self-contained, at various levels of difficulty. The Introduction surveys the main ideas and problems encountered in the logical investigation of quantifiers. The Prologue, written by Per Lindstrom, presents the early history of the concept of generalised quantifiers. The volume then continues with a series of papers surveying various research areas, particularly those that are of current interest. Together they provide introductions to the subject from the points of view of mathematics, linguistics, and theoretical computer science. The present volume has been prepared in parallel with Quantifiers: Logics, Models and Computation, Volume Two. Contributions, which contains a collection of research papers on the subject in areas that are too fresh to be summarised. The two volumes are complementary. For logicians, mathematicians, philosophers, linguists and computer scientists. Suitable as a text for advanced undergraduate and graduate specialised courses in logic. "
Many of the world's languages permit or require clause-initial positioning of the primary predicate, potentially alongside some or all of its dependents. While such predicate fronting (where "fronting" may or may not involve movement) is a widespread phenomenon, it is also subject to intricate and largely unexplained variation. In Parameters of Predicate Fronting, Vera Lee-Schoenfeld and Dennis Ott bring together leaders in the field of comparative syntax to explore the empirical manifestations and theoretical modelling of predicate fronting across languages. There exists by now a rich literature on predicate fronting, but few attempts have been made at synthesizing the resulting empirical observations and theoretical implementations. While individual phenomena have been described in some detail, we are currently far from a complete understanding of the uniformity and variation underlying the wider cross-linguistic picture. This volume takes steps towards this goal by showcasing the state of the art in research on predicate fronting and the parameters governing its realization in a range of diverse languages. Covering topics like prosody, VP-fronting, and predicate doubling across a wide arrange of languages, including English, German, Malagasy, Niuean, Ch'ol, Asante, Twi, Limbum, Krachi, Hebrew, and multiple sign languages, this collection enriches our understanding of the predicate fronting phenomenon.
claim is that such morphological processes can be learnt without symbolization and innate knowledge. See Rumelhart and McClelland (1986) for the original model of past tense acquisition, Plunkett and Marchman (1993), Nakisa, Plunkett and Hahn (1996) and Elman et al. (1996) for developments and extensions to other morphological processes, and Marcus et al. (1992) and Pinker and Prince (1988) for criticism. One line of investigation supporting the view of language as a genetic endowment is closely linked to traditional research on language acquisition and argues as follows: If language is innate there must be phenomena that should be accessible from birth in one form or the other. Thus it is clear that the language of children, especially young children and preferably babies should be investigated. As babies unfortunately don't talk, the abilities that are available from birth must be established in ways different from the usual linguistic analysis. Psycholinguistic research of the last few years has shown that at the age of 4 and 8 months and even during their first week of life children already have important language skills. From the fourth day, infants distinguish their mother tongue from other languages. From the first months children prefer the sound of speech to 'other noise'. At the age of 4 months, infants prefer pauses at syntactic boundaries to random pauses.
The genitive/accusative opposition in Slavic languages is a decades-old linguistic conundrum. Shedding new light on this perplexing object-case alternation in Russian, this volume analyzes two variants of genitive objects that alternate with accusative complements-the genitive of negation and the intensional genitive. The author contends that these variants are manifestations of the same phenomenon, and thus require an integrated analysis. Further, that the choice of case is sensitive to factors that fuse semantics and pragmatics, and that the genitive case is assigned to objects denoting properties at the same time as they lack commitment to existence. Kagan's subtle analysis accounts for the complex relations between case-marking and other properties, such as definiteness, specificity, number and aspect. It also reveals a correlation between the genitive case and the subjunctive mood, and relates her overarching subject matter to other instances of differential object-marking.
Chicano English in Context is the first modern, comprehensive study of Chicano English, a variety spoken by millions of Latinos in the U.S. It is also one of the first studies of ongoing sound change within an ethnic minority community. It briefly describes the phonology, syntax and semantics of this variety, and explores its crucial role in the construction of ethnic identity among young Latinos and Latinas. It also corrects misconceptions I how the general public views Chicano English.
Georgian: A Comprehensive Grammar constitutes a complete reference work addressing all major elements of Modern Georgian grammar and usage. It provides a systematic and accessible description of the language's phonology, orthography, morphology, and syntax. The focus is on contemporary spoken and written usage, with attention devoted throughout to differences of register and genre. Points are illustrated with examples drawn from a range of authentic written and recorded sources such as press, radio, and television. The grammar is designed for a wide readership including students of Georgian, particularly at the intermediate and advanced levels, as well as scholars of Georgian and theoretical linguistics.
Over half a century ago, J. L. Austin predicted developments in the discipline of grammar which, in properly establishing it as a science, would at the same time displace a large part of philosophy - philosophical logic, to be specific. With the boundary finally removed between what philosophers then called 'logical syntax' (essentially logical form) and what grammarians study as syntax, Austin believed that 'we shall have rid ourselves of one more part of philosophy ...in the only way we ever can get rid of philosophy, by kicking it upstairs'. It was a radical, almost heretical, vision - the study of logic, one of the original and fundamental planks of philosophy, subsumed under the science of grammar. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Victor Dudman developed an English grammar of the kind Austin had predicted. His work impressed many, but was ultimately misunderstood. Jean Curthoys' introduction explores the philosophical issues involved in those misunderstandings. Dudman's later, unfinished, but conceptually most complete, work is the second part of this book.
Cleft constructions occur across languages and are much analyzed in relation to syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Mika Kizu, working in a Principles and Parameters framework, with some consideration of the Minimalist Program, provides the first coherent account of cleft constructions in Japanese. She claims that the construction is analyzed on a par with topic constructions and some types of relative clause. One of the most interesting properties, the syntactice phenomenon of 'connectivity' is closely examined.
David Brazil's pioneering work on the grammar of spoken discourse ended at A Grammar Of Speech (1995) due to his untimely death. Gerard O'Grady picks up the baton in this book and teststhedescription of usedlanguageagainst a spoken corpus. He incorporates findings from the last decade of corpus linguistics study, notably concerning phrases and lexical items larger than single orthographic words and ellipsis. He demonstrates theadded communicative significance that the incorporation of two systems of intonation ('Key' and 'Termination') bring to the grammar. O'Grady reviews the literature andcovers the theorybefore moving on to a practical, analytic section. His final chapter reviews the arguments, maps the road ahead and lays out the practical applications of the grammar. The book will be of great interest to researchers in applied linguistics, discourse analysis and also EFL/ESL.
Verbal aspect is a significant element to be considered when interpreting a number of New Testament texts. This book surveys ways in which verbal aspect has been treated in the past century, and discusses what aspect is and how it functions in New Testament Greek. It provides a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of the aspects of present, aorist, and perfect in New Testament Greek, and pulls together the results of research from a wide variety of linguistic studies. In his study Dr Fanning analyses the specific ways in which the aspects combine with linguistic and contextual features to produce various secondary meanings. He cites extensive sections of New Testament Greek as illustrative evidence, thus presenting a new approach which is a significant improvement on previous treatments and which will prove invaluable to interpreters of New Testament texts.
V, ThemelPatients to the lowest specifier of V', and Agents to a position outside the minimal VP. Again, thematic information is encoded in terms of configurational properties. Addressing the issue of phrase structure in another domain, Margaret Speas investigates the status of null pronominal objects in Navajo. Following Rizzi (1986), she assumes that null pronouns must meet both a licensing and an identification condition. More specifically, she demonstrates that distributional restrictions on null pronominal objects in Navajo can be explained if it is assumed that null objects obey the identification condition expressed by the Generalized Control Rule of Huang (1984). Distinguishing three types of null objects, she argues that relevant licensing condition on two subtypes of null objects involves rich agreement. However, it appears that there are languages lacking rich agreement but with pro in object position. Speas accounts for these phenomena by a rule of economy of projection. A second series of papers is concerned with the way in which functional categories derive aspects of sentential interpretation. Three issues in this research program are investigated here: external arguments as arguments of functional projections (Kratzer), the specificity interpretation of clitics (Sportiche), and the interpretation of tense (Stowell). In all three cases, phrase structure is put to use to derive interpretive effects. Angelika Kratzer proposes that external arguments are not part of the verb.
..".this work represents a key case study in the study of the prosody and syntax interactions." (Pilar Prieto, Lingua 115, 2005)
This volume is about dislocation, i.e. the removal of phrases
from their canonical positions in a sentence to its left or right
edge. Dislocation encompasses a wide range of linguistic phenomena, related to nominal and adverbial expressions and to the information structuring notions of topic and focus; and takes intriguingly different forms across languages. This book reveals some of the empirical richness of dislocation and some key puzzles related to its syntactic, semantic, and discourse analysis.
Leading researchers in the field of spoken discourse and language teaching offer an empirically informed, issues-based discussion of the present state of research into spoken language. They address some of the complex and rewarding opportunities offered by these emerging insights for language education and, specifically, for TESOL. They ask whether new data and evidence that spoken discourse is a distinctive genre will challenge existing language theories and teaching. What could be the practical outcomes for curriculum, teaching approaches, materials and assessment? A stimulating resource for researchers and for professional and student language teachers.
The aim of this enterprise is to assemble together in one volume works on various syntactic aspects of Arabic and Hebrew, in the hope that it will spur further comparative work within the Semitic family at the level of richness achieved in other language families such as Germanic and Romance. Although a substantial amount of work on the syntax of Arabic and Hebrew already exists in various forms, volumes of the type we have attempted are still practically non-existent. Moreover, apart from some notable exceptions, existing studies rarely take a systematic within-family comparative stance towards the phenomena they discuss, although cross-references between studies on Arabic and Hebrew are not uncommon. Obviously, we would ideally have preferred the volume to include papers on numerous other Semitic languages, including the languages of the Ethio Semitic branch as well as numerous spoken varieties of Arabic that have yet to be explored. Unfortunately, this was not possible due to circumstances beyond our control. We very much hope that the existence of this volume will make more inclusive volumes on the syntax of the Semitic languages only a matter of time."
The papers in this volume address central issues in the study of Plurality and Quantification from three different perspectives: * Algebraic approaches to Plurals and Quantification * Distributivity and Collectivity: Theoretical Foundations * Distributivity and Collectivity: Empirical Investigations Algebraic approaches to the semantics of natural languages were in dependently introduced for the study of generalized quantification, pred ication, intensionality, mass terms and plurality. The most prominent modern advocate for an algebraic theory of plurality (and mass terms) is certainly Godehard Link. It is indicative of the Wirkungsgeschichte of Link's work that most of the contributions in this volume take the logic of plurals proposed by Godehard Link (Link 1983, 1987) as their foundation or, at the very least, as their point of reference. Link's own paper in this volume provides a concise summary of many of the central research issues that have engaged semanticists during the last decade. Link's paper also contains an extensive bibliography that provides an excellent resource for scholars interested in the semantics of plurals. Since we can refer readers to Link's paper for an excellent survey of the subject matter of this book, we will limit our attention in this in troduction to summarizing the individual contributions in this volume. The book is organized into three main sections; within each section the papers are ordered alphabetically. However, as in much of linguistic the orizing, there is an exception: for reasons pointed out above, Godehard Link's article appears as Chapter 1.
Future Times, Future Tenses examines how the future is expressed by means of tense, aspect, and modality across a wide range of languages, among them French, Polish, Basque, Turkish, and West Greenlandic. From the present point of view, the future is not fixed: while there is arguably only one past, the future is largely open and/or indeterminate. Reference to the future has thus become one of the most hotly-debated topics in contemporary linguistics: the interactions of future tense with future time, and of future tense with the semantics of possible worlds, are crucial to any satisfactory account of temporal linguistics. This book considers and seeks a resolution to outstanding issues in the field by uniting linguistic and philosophical perspectives on future reference in natural language. Scholars from different parts of the world approach these issues from a variety of theoretical perspectives, including those of linguistic typology, formal semantics, pragmatics, and philosophy of language. In the process they question the very validity of the traditional notion of a specific marker for future tense. The book shows the close connections between linguistic, logical, metaphysical, ontological, and epistemological issues concerning the future and reveals the value of linking linguistic considerations of tense and aspect to philosophical approaches to modality and time.
Aristotle's "On Interpretation", a centrepiece of his logic, studies the relationship between conflicting pairs of statements. The first eight chapters, studied here, explain what statements are; they start from their basic components, the words, and work up to the character of opposed affirmations and negations. The 15,000 pages of the ancient Greek commentators on Aristotle, written mainly between 200 and 500 AD, constitute the largest corpus of extant Greek philosophical writing not translated into English or other European languages. This new series of translations, planned in 60 volumes, fills an important gap in the history of European thought.
Recent years have seen a revival of interest in morphology. The Yearbook of Morphology series supports and enforces this upswing of morphological research and gives an overview of the current issues and debates at the heart of this revival. The Yearbook of Morphology 1994 focuses on prosodic morphology, i.e. the interaction between morphological and prosodic structure, on the semantics of word formation, and on a number of related issues in the realm of inflection: the structure of paradigms, the relation between inflection and word formation, and patterns of language change with respect to inflection. There is also discussion of the relevance of the notion level ordering' for morphological generalizations. All theoretical and historical linguists, morphologists, and phonologists will want to read this book. |
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