The papers in this collection share a common interest in the empirical, theoretical and meta-theoretical aspects of the ‘internal-external’ (‘formal-functional’) debate in linguistic theory. The primary aim of this volume is to initiate cooperation between internationally renowned generative and variationist linguists with a view to developing an innovative and more cohesive approach to syntactic variation. The present volume contains treatments incorporating the analysis of external factors into accounts focusing on the internal linguistic conditioning of syntactic variation and change cross-linguistically. As such, it offers novel approaches to three key areas of current linguistic debate, viz. (1) Methodological practices, (2) Theoretical applications and (3) Modularity. The volume is, therefore, an important achievement for the progress of linguistic theory more generally and it is an even more crucial milestone in the coming-of-age of ‘Socio-Syntax’ as a discipline in its own right.
The possibility of expressing negation is a very basic property of human language. All natural languages possess it. However, there is a certain amount of variation in the linguistic means employed for this purpose. This variation is not only found between different languages but also between the various diachronic stages within one language.
This book offers an in-depth analysis of Modern English pronoun case. The author examines case trends in a wide range of syntactic constructions and concludes that case variation is confined to strong pronoun contexts. Data from a survey of 90 speakers provide new insights into the distributional differences between strong 1sg and non-1sg case forms and reveal systematic case variation within the speech of individuals as well as across speakers.
This volume explores connections between diachrony, dialectology and typological linguistics, focusing on the ways in which historical linguists and dialectologists may learn from insights offered by typology, and vice versa. As the title of the collection suggests, the underlying theme of the chapters is linguistic variation, and its implications for the research questions addressed.
Ways of Reading is a well-established core textbook that provides the reader with the tools to analyse and interpret the meanings of literary and non-literary texts.Six sections, split into self-contained units with their own activities and notes for further reading, cover: