Grammatical gaps: definition, typology and theory

Grammatical gaps: definition, typology and theory PDF

Author: Thomas Strobel

Publisher: Helmut Buske Verlag

Published: 2023-12-11

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 3967692914

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Grammatiken sind (metaphorisch gesprochen) Anweisungen zum richtigen Gebrauch einer Sprache. Interessanterweise zeigen Grammatiken offenbar Lücken, die dadurch entstehen, dass für bestimmte Bereiche Regeln (bzw. Formen) ganz fehlen oder dass sich einzelne Regeln widersprechen und der daraus resultierende Konflikt deren Anwendung verhindert. Grammatische Lücken, auf deren Relevanz für eine 'realistische' Grammatiktheorie wohl zuerst Marga Reis hingewiesen hat, sind in den letzten Jahren schon vereinzelt in den Fokus der Forschung geraten. Das Sonderheft versammelt Arbeiten zu verschiedenen Arten von Lücken und zeigt damit, wie ertragreich und wichtig die Erforschung grammatischer Lücken sein kann. Grammars are (metaphorically speaking) instructions for the correct use of languages. One might expect that grammars are complete, i.e., that they provide an appropriate solution for each utterance context. Interestingly, however, grammars seem to show gaps, which are caused by the fact that rules (or forms) in certain domains are missing completely or that individual rules contradict each other and that the resulting conflict prevents their application. Grammatical gaps, whose relevance for a 'realistic' theory of grammar was probably first pointed out by Marga Reis, have come into the focus of research in recent years. The present special issue collects papers on different kinds of gaps and shows how fruitful and important the investigation of grammatical gaps can prove to be. Inhalt: Introduction – Ralf Vogel: Grammatical gaps, grammatical invention and grammatical theory – André Meinunger: Unexpected finite verb forms in German – cases of grammatical illusion? – Patrick Mächler, Anja Hasse: Gaps of definiteness. Marking of (in)definiteness in Swiss German, Norwegian, Faroese and Elfdalian – Elisabeth Scherr: Attraction of the void. The lack of aspect in German and its effect on language change – Oliver Schallert: Morphological gaps in verbal diminutive formation: Some observations on Alemannic – Julia Bacskai-Atkari: Syntactic paradigms, markedness and similative markers in comparative and relative clauses – Fenna Bergsma: A typology of case competition in headless relatives – Ewa Trutkowski: How sex and gender shape agreement in German relative clauses – Tabea Reiner: What counts as a gap? The case of typological hierarchies

Gaps and Dummies

Gaps and Dummies PDF

Author: Hans Bennis

Publisher: Amsterdam University Press

Published: 2006-08

Total Pages: 351

ISBN-13: 905356859X

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Investigation of the syntactic properties of empty categories and dummy pronouns within the framework of Government- Binding theory.

Introduction to the Theory of Grammar

Introduction to the Theory of Grammar PDF

Author: Henk C. van Riemsdijk

Publisher: MIT Press (MA)

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13:

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Introduction to the Theory of Grammar makes available to teachers and students of syntax a comprehensive critical review of the main results of present day grammatical theory and shows how they were achieved.

Flexible Word Classes

Flexible Word Classes PDF

Author: Jan Rijkhoff

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013-08-29

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 0199668442

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This book is the first major cross-linguistic study of 'flexible words', i.e. words that cannot be classified in terms of the traditional lexical categories Verb, Noun, Adjective or Adverb. It includes new cross-linguistic studies of word class systems as well as original descriptive and theoretical contributions.

Phonological Word and Grammatical Word

Phonological Word and Grammatical Word PDF

Author: Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2020-11-05

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 0198865686

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This volume examines the concept of 'word' as a phonological unit and as an item with both meaning and grammatical function. The chapters explore how this concept can be applied to a range of typologically diverse languages, from Lao and Hmong in Southeast Asia to Yidiñ in northern Australia and Murui in the Amazonian jungle.

Flexible Word Classes

Flexible Word Classes PDF

Author: Jan Rijkhoff

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2013-08-29

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 0191645478

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This book is the first major cross-linguistic study of 'flexible words', i.e. words that cannot be classified in terms of the traditional lexical categories Verb, Noun, Adjective or Adverb. Flexible words can - without special morphosyntactic marking - serve in functions for which other languages must employ members of two or more of the four traditional, 'specialised' word classes. Thus, flexible words are underspecified for communicative functions like 'predicating' (verbal function), 'referring' (nominal function) or 'modifying' (a function typically associated with adjectives and e.g. manner adverbs). Even though linguists have been aware of flexible world classes for more than a century, the phenomenon has not played a role in the development of linguistic typology or modern grammatical theory. The current volume aims to address this gap by offering detailed studies on flexible word classes, investigating their properties and what it means for the grammar of a language to have such a word class. It includes new cross-linguistic studies of word class systems as well as original descriptive and theoretical contributions from authors with an expert knowledge of languages that have played - or should play - a role in the debate about flexible word classes, including Kharia, Riau Indonesian, Santali, Sri Lanka Malay, Lushootseed, Gooniyandi, and Late Archaic Chinese.

Logic as Grammar

Logic as Grammar PDF

Author: Norbert Hornstein

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1984

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9780262081375

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How is the meaning of natural language interpreted? Taking as its point of departure the logical problem of natural language acquisition, this book elaborates a theory of meaning based on syntactical rather than semantical processes. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Theory and Typology of Proper Names

Theory and Typology of Proper Names PDF

Author: Willy Van Langendonck

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2007-01-01

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 3110197855

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This book proposes a new synthesis of the functions of proper names, from a semantic, pragmatic and syntactic perspective. Proper names are approached constructionally, distinguishing prototypical uses from more marked ones such as those in which names are used as common nouns. Since what is traditionally regarded as 'the' class of names turns out to be only one possible function of name-forms (though a prototypical one), the notion of 'proprial lemma' is introduced as the concept behind both proprial and appellative uses of such categories as place names and personal names. New formal arguments are adduced to distinguish proper name function from common noun or pronoun function. The special status of proper names is captured in a unified pragmatic-semantic-syntactic theory: a proper name denotes a unique entity at the level of langue to make it psychosocially salient within a given basic level category. The meaning of the name, if any, does not determine its denotation. An important formal reflection of this characterization of names is their ability to appear in such close appositional constructions as the poet Burns or Fido the dog. The neurolinguistic finding that proper names constitute a separate category is introduced and interpreted within a general linguistic frame of reference. The different kinds of meanings associated with names (categorical, associative, emotive, and grammatical) are shown to be presuppositional in nature. In addition, the book proposes an entirely new classification of proper names as forming a continuum ranging from prototypical (personal and place names) to nonprototypical categories (brand and language names) to citations and autonyms, and a new diachronic classification of family names and nicknames. This book fills an important gap in the current literature, because the most recent linguistic book in English on name theory dates back to 1973. It is explicitly interdisciplinary, taking into account linguistic, philosophical, neurolinguistic, sociolinguistic and dialect geographical aspects of proper names.

Linguistic Diversity and Language Theories

Linguistic Diversity and Language Theories PDF

Author: Zygmunt Frajzyngier

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2005-01-01

Total Pages: 454

ISBN-13: 9789027230829

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From the refinement of general methodology, to new insights of synchronic and diachronic universals, to studies of specific phenomena, this collection demonstrates the crucial role that language data play in the evolution of useful, accurate linguistic theories. Issues addressed include the determination of meaning in typological studies; a refined understanding of diachronic processes by including intentional, social, statistical, and level-determined phenomena; the reconsideration of categories such as sentence, evidential or adposition, and structures such as compounds or polysynthesis; the tension between formal simplicity and functional clarity; the inclusion of unusual systems in theoretical debates; and fresh approaches to Chinese classifiers, possession in Oceanic languages, and English aspect. This is a careful selection of papers presented at the International Symposium on Linguistic Diversity and Language Theories in Boulder, Colorado. The purpose of the Symposium was to confront fundamental issues in language structure and change with the rich variation of forms and functions observed across languages.