Comparative Studies in Germanic Syntax - From Afrikaans to Zurich German
This selection of papers presented at the 20th Comparative Germanic Syntax Workshop brings together contributions that address issues in syntactic predication and studies in the nominal system, as well as papers on data from the history of English and German. Showing a strong comparative commitment, the contributions include studies on previously neglected data on case and predicative structures in Icelandic and other Germanic languages, on the (non-)syntactic distinction of predicative vs. argument NP/DPs...
The Lakota language is estimated to be spoken by 20,000 people mainly in the states of North and South Dakota. It is reckoned to be the second largest native language in the US after Navaho. This dictionary of 12,000 entries aims to preserve Indian culture and at all points illustrate the use of words in examples, especially syntactic words, whose usage cannot be captured purely by giving an English equivalent. It provides depth as regards the usage of frequently occurring items and especially in the use of syntactic elements and usage in context.
Genitives in Early English - Typology and Evidence
This book examines the evidence for the development of adnominal genitives (the knight's sword, the nun's priest's tale, etc.) in English. During the Middle English period the genitive inflection -es developed into the more clitic-like 's, but how, when, why, and over how long a time are unclear, and have been subject to considerable research and discussion. Cynthia L. Allen draws together her own and others' findings in areas such as case marking, the nature of syntactic and morphological change, and the role of processing and pragmatics in the construction of grammars and grammatical change.
Like other recent work in the field of generative-transformational grammar, this book developed from a realization that many problems in linguistics involve semantics too deeply to be solved insightfully within the syntactic theory of Noam Chomsky's Aspect of the Theory of Syntax. Dr Jackendoff has attempted to take a broader view of semantics, studying the important contribution it makes to the syntactic patterns of English.
Complex hierarchic syntax is considered one of the hallmarks of human language. The highest level of syntactic complexity, recursive-embedded clauses, has been singled out by some for a special status as the apex of the uniquely-human language faculty–evolutionary but somehow immune to adaptive selection. This volume, coming out of a symposium held at Rice University in March 2008, tackles syntactic complexity from multiple developmental perspectives. We take it for granted that grammar is an adaptive instrument of communication, assembled upon the pre-existing platform of pre-linguistic cognition.
