The Evolution of Negation - Beyond the Jespersen Cycle (Hardcover)

Why do grammars change? The cycle of negation proposed by Jespersen is crucially linked to the status of items and phrases. The definition of criteria establishing when a polarity item becomes a negative element, and the identification of the role of phrases for the evolution of negation are the two objectives pursued by the contributions to this volume. The contributions look at the emergence of negative items, and their relation within a given sentence, with particular reference to English and French. The comparative perspective supports the documentation of the fine-grained steps that shed light on the factors that (i) determine change and those that (ii) accompany actuation, which are considered through a dialogue between functionalist and formalist approaches. By looking at the place of negation in the architecture of the sentence, they take up the debate as to the relevance of phrasal projections and consider the role of features. Focusing on the make-up of individual items makes it possible to re-conceptualise the Jespersen cycle as the apparent result of the documented evolution patterns of individual (series of) items. This novel perspective is solidly grounded on an extensive use of the complete, up to date bibliography, and will contribute to shape future research.

General

Imprint:	de Gruyter Mouton
Country of origin:	Germany
Series:	Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs [TiLSM]
Release date:	December 2011
First published:	2012
Editors:	Pierre Larrivee • Richard Ingham
Dimensions:	230 x 155mm (L x W)
Format:	Hardcover - Cloth over boards
Pages:	356
ISBN-13:	978-3-11-023860-0
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > Grammar, syntax, linguistic structure > General Promotions
LSN:	3-11-023860-8
Barcode:	9783110238600

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!