Dravidian Syntax and Universal Grammar
Dravidian Syntax and Universal Grammar

Author: K.A. Jayaseelan

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017-07-13

Total Pages: 705

ISBN-13: 0190630256

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This volume comprises twenty eight papers selected from the widely known work of K.A. Jayaseelan and R. Amritavalli on Dravidian. Collectively, these papers cover the entire area of Dravidian syntax: they range from broad questions such as sentence structure and word order to more particular questions such as the morphological basis of anaphora, the genesis of lexical categories, the morpho-syntax of quantifiers, and the syntax and semantics of questions. Important universalist claims are embedded in these essays; for this reason, this volume will be of interest also to a student of the general theory of syntax. No future discussion of Dravidian (or South Asian) languages is possible without taking into account the insightful analyses set forth in these pages.

Rich Descriptions and Simple Explanations in Morphosyntax and Language Acquisition
Rich Descriptions and Simple Explanations in Morphosyntax and Language Acquisition

Author: Giuliano Bocci

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2024-06-27

Total Pages: 481

ISBN-13: 0198889488

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This volume offers new perspectives on the tension between the rich patterns of language variation that emerge from comparative studies and the quest for simple theoretical primitives. The chapters explore the debate between Cartography and Minimalism: on the one hand, the need for detailed and articulated descriptions of the clausal architecture, and on the other, the endeavor to reduce the theoretical apparatus to fundamental computational mechanisms. The first part of the book begins with a reflection on the goals of modern linguistic theory, and investigates the principles of human language, in an effort to subsume the regularities of particular grammars under a small set of morphosyntactic and semantic primitives. The second part examines the clausal structure - both the CP-layer and the IP-layer - from a comparative perspective, which directly relates to the fundamental questions of universality, linguistic variation, and learnability addressed in the first part of the book. With chapters written by world-leading linguists who analyze a wide range of old and new phenomena, the volume will be a valuable resource for researchers and students interested in theoretical linguistics and language development.

Language Studies in India
Language Studies in India

Author: Rajesh Kumar

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-04-24

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 9811952760

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This book addresses a wide range of aspects of the study of language in a variety of domains such as cognition, change, acquisition, structure, philosophy, politics, and education. It offers a renewed discussion on normative understanding of these concepts and opens up avenues for a fresh look at these concepts. Each contribution in this book captures a wide range of perspectives and underlines the vigorous role of language, which happens to be central to the arguments contained therein. The uniqueness of this book lies in the fact that it presents simplified perspective on various complex aspects of language. It addresses a wide range of audiences, who do not necessarily need to have a technical background in linguistics. It focuses on complex relations between language and cognition, politics, education to name a few with reference to cognition, change, and acquisition. This book is for researchers with an interest in the field of language studies, applied linguistics, and socio-linguistics.

Smuggling in Syntax
Smuggling in Syntax

Author: Adriana Belletti

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-11-06

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 0197509894

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One of the fundamental properties of human language is movement, where a constituent moves from one position in a sentence to another position. Syntactic theory has long been concerned with properties of movement, including locality restrictions. Smuggling in Syntax investigates how different movement operations interact with one another, focusing on the special case of smuggling. First introduced by volume editor Chris Collins in 2005, the term 'smuggling' refers to a specific type of movement interaction. The contributions in this volume each describe different areas where smuggling derivations play a role, including passives, causatives, adverb placement, the dative alternation, the placement of measure phrases, wh-in-situ, and word order in ergative languages. The volume also addresses issues like the freezing constraint on movement and the acquisition of smuggling derivations by children. In this work, Adriana Belletti and Chris Collins bring together leading syntacticians to present a range of contributions on different aspects of smuggling. Tackling fundamental theoretical questions with empirical consequences, this volume explores one of the least understood types of movement and points the way toward new research.

Questions of Syntax
Questions of Syntax

Author: Richard S. Kayne

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-03-22

Total Pages: 449

ISBN-13: 0190863609

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There are far more syntactically distinct languages than we might have thought; yet there are far fewer than there might have been. Questions of Syntax collects sixteen papers authored by Richard S. Kayne, a preeminent theoretical syntactician, who has sought over the course of his career to understand why both these facts are true. With a particular emphasis on comparative syntax, these chapters collectively consider how wide a range of questions the field of syntax can reasonably attempt to ask and then answer. At issue, among other topics, are the relation between syntax and (certain aspects of) semantics, the relation between syntax and what appear to be lexical questions, the relation between syntax and morphology, the relation between syntax and certain aspects of phonology (insofar as silent elements and their properties play a substantial role), and the extent to which comparative syntax can provide new and decisive evidence bearing on these different kinds of questions. To Kayne, comparative syntax can shed light on what may initially seem lexical questions, and antisymmetry on the evolution of human language itself. Taken as a whole, these essays elucidate the theoretical contributions of one the most influential scholars in linguistics.

Nominal Arguments and Language Variation
Nominal Arguments and Language Variation

Author: Li Julie Jiang

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-09-28

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0190084189

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Nominal Arguments in Language Variation investigates nominal arguments in classifier languages, refuting the long-held claim that classifier languages do not have overt article determiners. Li Julie Jiang brings the typologically unique Nuosu Yi, a classifier language that has an overt definite determiner (D), to the forefront of the theoretical investigation. By comparing nominal arguments in Nuosu Yi to those in Mandarin, a well-studied classifier language that has no overt evidence of an article determiner, Jiang provides new accounts of variation among classifier languages and extends the parameters to argument formation in general. In addition to paying particular attention to these two classifier languages, the discussion of nominal arguments also covers a wider range of classifier languages and number marking languages from Romance, Germanic, and Slavic to Hindi. Using a broad cross-linguistic perspective and detailed empirical analysis, Nominal Arguments in Language Variation is an important contribution to research on classifier languages and the fields of theoretical syntax, semantics, language variation, and linguistic typology.

The Grammar of Multiple Head-Movement
The Grammar of Multiple Head-Movement

Author: Phil Branigan

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2023-02-09

Total Pages: 373

ISBN-13: 0197677037

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Head-movement has played a central role in morpho-syntactic theory, but its nature has remained unclear. While it is widely accepted that the main grammatical constraint controlling head-movement is the Head Movement Constraint (HMC), this constraint is flouted in many of the linguistic structures examined in this book. More specifically, the strictures of the HMC turn out to be sometimes inactive for specific grammars allowing multiple head-movement to take place in particular syntactic contexts. In The Grammar of Multiple Head-Movement, Phil Branigan shows that multiple head-movement is far from rare, forming a part of the grammar in Finnish, in English, in Perenakan Javanese, in northern Norwegian and Swedish dialects, and generally in the Slavic and Algonquian language families. Basing his analysis on a new model of the grammatical parameters which control word formation in the human brain, Branigan shows how careful attention to the contexts in which multiple head-movement takes place allows new generalizations to be identified. And these, in turn, allow a new model to be formulated of how head-movement fits into the overall architecture of grammatical computation. Through careful comparative study, Branigan not only provides a better understanding of head-movement, but also provides new opportunities to address larger questions concerning the architecture of the grammatical system and the theory of linguistic parameters. A new account of how complex words are formed in languages as different as Russian or Innu-aimun, as well as in English, this study deepens our understanding of how languages vary and of the mental computational system of human grammars.

The Comparative Syntax of Korean and Japanese
The Comparative Syntax of Korean and Japanese

Author: Yutaka Sato

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2023-12-21

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 0198896530

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This book provides a detailed survey of Korean and Japanese syntax from a comparative perspective, based within a generative framework. Yukata Sato and Sungdai Cho demonstrate that while the two languages exhibit remarkably similar morphosyntactic features, they behave differently in specific types of construction, with the main differences observed in genitive marking, sentence negation, Negative Polarity Items, the formation of causatives, and passivization. The book also explores pragmatic and sociolinguistic issues in the two languages, and shows that they differ in the perception and realization of 'givenness' as a topic marker and in the influence of relationships of power and distance on the use of honorifics. The authors further offer additional context by exploring the typological relationship between Japanese and Korean and the surrounding languages such as Ainu, and the Chinese and Altaic languages, as well as providing socio-cultural and historical background.

The Syntactic Variation of Spanish Dialects
The Syntactic Variation of Spanish Dialects

Author: Ángel J. Gallego

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 0190634790

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This book offers a comprehensive overview of the syntactic variation of the dialects of Spanish. More precisely, it covers Spanish theoretical syntax that takes as its data source non-standard grammatical phenomena. Approaching the syntactic variation of Spanish dialects opens a door not only to the intricacies of the language, but also to a set of challenges of linguistic theory itself, including language variation, language contact, bilingualism, and diglossia. The volume is divided into two main sections, the first focusing on Iberian Spanish and the second on Latin American Spanish. Chapters cover a wide range of syntactic constructions and phenomena, such as clitics, agreement, subordination, differential object marking, expletives, predication, doubling, word order, and subjects. This volume constitutes a milestone in the study of syntactic variation, setting the stage for future work not only in vernacular Spanish, but all languages.

Sacred Serpent
Sacred Serpent

Author: AJ Carmichael

Publisher: AJ CARMICHAEL

Published: 2024-01-07

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13:

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This book frequently returns to the theme of duality, particularly in relation to the serpent and the sun. In addition to signifying danger, dishonesty, and death, the serpent also symbolizes rebirth, transformation, and healing. In a similar vein, the sun represents both harshness and destruction in addition to life, energy, and growth. The investigation of this duality implies that knowledge of these two facets is necessary to comprehend both the natural world and the human predicament. The distinction between mythology and historical truth is becoming increasingly hazy, demonstrating how actual occurrences and cultures have shaped myths and legends and how those have, in turn, influenced them. It is argued that myths are more than just fantastic stories; rather, they have deep roots in societal advancements and human experiences. This emphasizes how crucial mythology is to how we perceive the world and ourselves. The book explores the symbolic meanings of the sun and serpent in psychology. Based on Carl Jung's theories of archetypes and the collective unconscious it clarifies why these symbols are so universally recognizable and appealing. The symbols are believed to resonate with deeply ingrained psychological concepts and experiences that everyone shares, making them useful tools for reflection and understanding of behavior in others. Numerous studies conducted in a range of cultural contexts highlight the idea that human belief systems are both universal and diverse. The book provides examples of how various societies have integrated and understood the symbols of the sun and the serpent in ways that are particular to their own historical settings and cultural norms. This demonstrates the diversity of human expression in culture and the interdependence of human societies.