Mojave Syntax

Mojave Syntax
Author: Pamela Munro
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2018-01-19
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1315447630

In this study the author not only comments on some of the important processes in the syntax of the Mojave language but also provides the reader with an introduction to a language whose grammar had, previous to the titles publication in 1976, never been described. This title will be of interest to students of language and linguistics.

Mojave Syntax

Mojave Syntax
Author: Pamela Munro
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2018-01-19
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1315447622

In this study the author not only comments on some of the important processes in the syntax of the Mojave language but also provides the reader with an introduction to a language whose grammar had, previous to the titles publication in 1976, never been described. This title will be of interest to students of language and linguistics.

Syntax

Syntax
Author: T. Givón
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2001-07-19
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027297924

This new edition of Syntax: A functional-typological introduction is at many points radically revised. In the previous edition (1984) the author deliberately chose to de-emphasize the more formal aspects of syntactic structure, in favor of a more comprehensive treatment of the semantic and pragmatic correlates of syntactic structure. With hindsight the author now finds the de-emphasis of the formal properties a somewhat regrettable choice, since it creates the false impression that one could somehow be a functionalist without being at the same time a structuralist. To redress the balance, explicit treatment is given to the core formal properties of syntactic constructions, such as constituency and hierarchy (phrase structure), grammatical relations and relational control, clause union, finiteness and governed constructions. At the same time, the cognitive and communicative underpinning of grammatical universals are further elucidated and underscored, and the interplay between grammar, cognition and neurology is outlined. Also the relevant typological database is expanded, now exploring in greater precision the bounds of syntactic diversity. Lastly, Syntax treats synchronic-typological diversity more explicitly as the dynamic by-product of diachronic development or grammaticalization. In so doing a parallel is drawn between linguistic diversity and diachrony on the one hand and biological diversity and evolution on the other. It is then suggested that — as in biology — synchronic universals of grammar are exercised and instantiated primarily as constraints on development, and are thus merely the apparent by-products of universal constraints on grammaticalization.

Canonical Morphology and Syntax

Canonical Morphology and Syntax
Author: Dunstan Brown
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2013
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0199604320

This is the first book to present Canonical Typology, a framework for comparing constructions and categories across languages. The canonical method takes the criteria used to define particular categories or phenomena (eg negation, finiteness, possession) to create a multidimensional space in which language-specific instances can be placed. In this way, the issue of fit becomes a matter of greater or lesser proximity to a canonical ideal. Drawing on the expertise of world class scholars in the field, the book addresses the issue of cross-linguistic comparability, illustrates the range of areas - from morphosyntactic features to reported speech - to which linguists are currently applying this methodology, and explores to what degree the approach succeeds in discovering the elusive canon of linguistic phenomena.

Switch-reference and Universal Grammar

Switch-reference and Universal Grammar
Author: John Haiman
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 359
Release: 1983-01-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027228663

Canonical switch-reference is an inflectional category of the verb, which indicates whether or not its subject is identical with the subject of some other verb. Switch-reference may be analyzed from a structural or a functional point of view. Functionally, switch-reference is a device for referential tracking. Formally, switch-reference is almost always a verbal category, similar to the familiar category of verbal concord. In most languages switch-reference marking is indicated by a verbal affix, however in some languages it may be marked by an independent morpheme. The contributions to this volume are concerned with questions of form, function, and genesis of canonical switch-reference systems.

The Syntax-Morphology Interface

The Syntax-Morphology Interface
Author: Matthew Baerman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2005-09-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1139445537

Syncretism - where a single form serves two or more morphosyntactic functions - is a persistent problem at the syntax-morphology interface. It results from a 'mismatch' whereby the syntax of a language makes a particular distinction but the morphology does not. This pioneering book provides a full-length study of inflectional syncretism, presenting a typology of its occurrence across a wide range of languages. The implications of syncretism for the syntax-morphology interface have long been recognised: it argues either for an enriched model of feature structure (thereby preserving a direct link between function and form), or for the independence of morphological structure from syntactic structure. This book presents a compelling argument for the autonomy of morphology and the resulting analysis is illustrated in a series of formal case studies within Network Morphology. It will be welcomed by all linguists interested in the relation between words and the larger units of which they are a part.

Describing Morphosyntax

Describing Morphosyntax
Author: Thomas E. Payne
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 434
Release: 1997-10-09
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780521588058

Of the 6000 languages now spoken throughout the world around 3000 may become extinct during the next century. This guide gives linguists the tools to describe them, syntactically and grammatically, for future reference.

Syntactic Heads and Word Formation

Syntactic Heads and Word Formation
Author: Marit Julien
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 420
Release: 2002
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780195149517

This title investigates the relationship between morphology and syntax. It examines the formation of morphologically complex words - that is, the mechanisms of grammar that may cause two or more of the simplest elements of language, or morphemes, to be combined into a single word.

Predicative Possession

Predicative Possession
Author: Leon Stassen
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 831
Release: 2009-05-07
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0199211655

This pioneering work draws on on data from over 400 languages from a wide range of language families to establish a typology of four basic types of predicative possession. It examines their interdependence with other typologies, and explores varieties of related grammaticalization processes.