The book takes a new look at the typological change of English from a synthetic towards an analytic language, focusing on the lexical domain. It presents empirical data that document a considerable decline in the use of synthetic structures in the history of English noun formation and relates them to other typological changes in English morphology, showing the global structural reorganization of the language.
Remember the third-grade teacher you learned never to hang prepositions from? Well, it turns out that some are now acceptable while others are not, and Takami, in a revised version of his 1990 doctoral dissertation for Tokyo Metropolitan University, explains some of the linguistic theories for which is which, and why. He considers preposition stranding in verb and noun phrases, pseudo- passives, tough-movement, the violin-sonata paradox, displaced prepositions, and analogies in Danish and Swedish. Among the linguists he reviews are Chomsky, Tuyn, Cureton, and Fodor. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Innovative, data-driven methods provide more rigorous and systematic evidence for the description and explanation of diachronic semantic processes. The volume systematises, reviews, and promotes a range of empirical research techniques and theoretical perspectives that currently inform work across the discipline of historical semantics. In addition to emphasising the use of new technology, the potential of current theoretical models (e.g. within variationist, sociolinguistic or cognitive frameworks) is explored along the way.
