The Syntax of Norwegian Passive Constructions

The Syntax of Norwegian Passive Constructions
Author: Tor A. Åfarlí
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 191
Release: 1992-11-06
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027282447

This book provides an analysis of the passive phenomenon in general and of Norwegian passive constructions in particular. Related topics such as English passive constructions and Norwegian ergative constructions are also examined. The analysis is carried out within a Government and Binding framework. Chapter 1 contains a very brief introduction to GB syntax and a description of the passive phenomenon and its manifestation in Norwegian. The “orthodox analysis” of the passive as proposed in Chomsky's Lectures on Government and Binding is contrasted with the “new analysis”, which claims that “the passive morpheme” is an argument of the verb. The book sets out to show that a version of this “new analysis” successfully explains the basic properties of Norwegian passives. Chapters 2 and 3 examine properties of Norwegian passives, notably properties related to Theta-role assignment and Case assignment. Chapter 4 compares the Norwegian with the English passive and proposes a unified analysis of the two. Chapter 5 discusses various cases of passivization failure in Norwegian , while Chapter 6 focuses on the scope of movement in passive and ergative constructions in Norwegian and proposes a syntactic level “beneath” D-structure.

Grammar in Progress

Grammar in Progress
Author: Joan Mascaró
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 477
Release: 2010-10-06
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3110867842

The architecture of the human language faculty has been one of the main foci of the linguistic research of the last half century. This branch of linguistics, broadly known as Generative Grammar, is concerned with the formulation of explanatory formal accounts of linguistic phenomena with the ulterior goal of gaining insight into the properties of the 'language organ'. The series comprises high quality monographs and collected volumes that address such issues. The topics in this series range from phonology to semantics, from syntax to information structure, from mathematical linguistics to studies of the lexicon.

Passives and Middles in Mainland Scandinavian

Passives and Middles in Mainland Scandinavian
Author: Antonio Fábregas
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2020-03-23
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3110670917

This monograph explores the properties of passive and middle voice constructions in Norwegian and Swedish, concentrating on the linguistic variation related to these two constructions in Mainland Scandinavian. At an empirical level, we provide a detailed discussion of the morphosyntax and semantics of the two main types of passives in both languages, lexical (s-) and periphrasitic (bli-) passives. At a theoretical level, we propose an architecture of the language faculty where exponents play a central role. Exponents are selected to identify the structures generated by the grammar and provide a platform that make these units interpretable by the sensori-motor and conceptual-intentional interfaces. Exponents this play an essential role in determining the well-formedness of linguistic structures. We demonstrate how different syntactic structures identified and lexicalized by exponents in these two languages are capable of capturing the microvariation observed in the voice systems of these two languages in a straightforward way. The amount of linguistic information (i.e., aspect and mood) identified by each exponent in each language determines the types of complements and specifiers that can be integrated into and lexicalized by a given exponent. Although our approach shares certain affinities with other neo-constructionist approaches, a novel proposal we advance in this book is that exponents are housed in an intermediate level of structure that exists between the narrow syntax and its external interfaces. This exponency-level (Ʃ-structure) allows for a more parsimonious theoretical analysis that does not sacrifice descriptive adequacy.