English Lexicogenesis
English Lexicogenesis

Author: D. Gary Miller

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2014-02-20

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 0191004200

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

English Lexicogenesis investigates the processes by which novel words are coined in English, and how they are variously discarded or adopted, and frequently then adapted. Gary Miller looks at the roles of affixation, compounding, clipping, and blending in the history of lexicogenesis, including processes taking place right now. The first four chapters consider English morphology and the recent types of word formation in English: the first introduces the morphological terminology used in the work and the book's theoretical perspectives; chapter 2 discusses productivity and constraints on derivations; chapter 3 describes the basic typology of English compounds; and chapter 4 considers the role of particles in word formation and recent construct types specific to English. Chapters 5 and 6 focus respectively on analogical and imaginative aspects of neologistic creation and the roles of metaphor and metonymy. In chapters 7 and 8 the author considers the influence of folk etymology and tabu, and the cycle of loss of expressivity and its renewal. After outlining the phonological structure of words and its role in word abridgements, he examines the acoustic and perceptual motivation of word forms. He then devotes four chapters to aspects and functions of truncation and to reduplicative and conjunctive formations. In the final chapter he looks at the relationship between core and expressive morphology and the role of punning and other forms of language play, before summarizing his arguments and findings and setting out avenues for future research.

Semantic Structure in English
Semantic Structure in English

Author: Jim Feist

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2016-09-07

Total Pages: 470

ISBN-13: 9027266522

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Syntax puts our meaning (“semantics”) into sentences, and phonology puts the sentences into the sounds that we hear and there must, surely, be a structure in the meaning that is expressed in the syntax and phonology. Some writers use the phrase “semantic structure”, but are referring to conceptual structure; since we can express our conceptual thought in many different linguistic ways, we cannot equate conceptual and semantic structures. The research reported in this book shows semantic structure to be in part hierarchic, fitting the syntax in which it is expressed, and partly a network, fitting the nature of the mind, from which it springs. It is complex enough to provide for the emotive and imaginative dimensions of language, and for shifts of standard meanings in context, and the “rules” that control them. Showing the full structure of English semantics requires attention to many currently topical issues, and since the underlying theory is fresh, there are fresh implications for them. The most important of those issues is information structure, which is given full treatment, showing its overall structure, and its relation to semantics and the whole grammar of English. As of October 2024, this e-book is Open Access under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Creativity
The Routledge Handbook of Language and Creativity

Author: Rodney H. Jones

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-09-08

Total Pages: 557

ISBN-13: 1317439961

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Creativity provides an introduction to and survey of a wide range of perspectives on the relationship between language and creativity. Defining this complex and multifaceted field, this book introduces a conceptual framework through which the various definitions of language and creativity can be explored. Divided into four parts, it covers: different aspects of language and creativity, including dialogue, metaphor and humour literary creativity, including narrative and poetry multimodal and multimedia creativity, in areas such as music, graffiti and the internet creativity in language teaching and learning. With over 30 chapters written by a group of leading academics from around the world, The Routledge Handbook of Language and Creativity will serve as an important reference for students and scholars in the fields of English language studies, applied linguistics, education, and communication studies.

Analogy in Word-formation
Analogy in Word-formation

Author: Elisa Mattiello

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2017-05-22

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 3110551411

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book fills a gap in lexical morphology, especially with reference to analogy in English word-formation. Many studies have focused their interest on the role played by analogy within English inflectional morphology. However, the analogical mechanism also deserves investigation on account of its relevance to neology in English. This volume provides in-depth qualitative analyses and stimulating quantitative findings in this realm.

Expressive Morphology in the Languages of South Asia
Expressive Morphology in the Languages of South Asia

Author: Jeffrey P. Williams

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-08-30

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 135196772X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Expressive Morphology in the Languages of South Asia explores the intricacies of the grammars of several of the languages of the South Asian subcontinent. Specifically, the contributors to this volume examine grammatical resources for shaping elaborative, rhyming, and alliterative expressions, conveying the emotions, states, conditions and perceptions of speakers. These forms, often referred to expressives, remain relatively undocumented, until now. It is clear from the evidence on contextualized language use that the grammatically artistic usage of these forms enriches and enlivens both every day and ritualized genres of discourse. The contributors to this volume provide grammatical and sociolinguistic documentation through a typological introduction to the diversity of expressive forms in the languages of South Asia. This book is suitable for students and researchers in South Asian Languages, and language families of the following; Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Sino-Tibetan and Austro-Asiatic.

Wordplay and Metalinguistic / Metadiscursive Reflection
Wordplay and Metalinguistic / Metadiscursive Reflection

Author: Angelika Zirker

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2015-10-16

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 3110406845

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Wordplay can be seen as a genuine interface phenomenon. It can be found both in everyday communication and in literary texts, and it can fulfil a range of functions – it may be entertaining and comical, it may be used to conceal taboo, and it may influence the way in which the speaker’s character is perceived. Moreover, wordplay also reflects on language and communication: it reveals surprising alternative readings, and emphasizes the phonetic similarity of linguistic signs that also points towards relations on the level of content. Wordplay unravels characteristics of literary language in everyday communication and opens up the possibility to analyze literary texts from a linguistic perspective. The first two volumes of the series The Dynamics of Wordplay therefore aim at bringing together contributions from linguistics and literary studies, focusing on theoretical issues such as basic techniques of wordplay, and its relationship to genres and discourse traditions. These issues are complemented by a series of case studies on the use of wordplay in individual authors and specific historical contexts. The contributions offer a fresh look on the multifaceted dynamics of wordplay in different communicative settings.

Transitional Morphology
Transitional Morphology

Author: Elisa Mattiello

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2022-12-08

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 1009197932

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Combining Forms (CFs) are a major morphological phenomenon in Modern English, yet while they have been discussed in some morphological literature, no full-length study has been devoted to this topic so far. This pioneering book addresses that gap by providing a framework in which CFs are marked as distinct from their neighbouring categories such as abbreviations and blending. It splits CFs into four distinct categories – neoclassical (e.g. bio-therapy, zoo-logy), abbreviated (e.g. e-reader, econo-politics), secreted (e.g. oil-gate, computer-holic) and splinters (e.g. docu- from documentary in docudrama). It shows that the notion of CF spans a wide spectrum of processes, from regular composition to abbreviation, from blending to analogy, and schema. Modern and emerging English CFs are analysed by adopting a corpus-based approach, and measuring their realised, expanding, and potential productivity. Comprehensive yet accessible, it is essential reading for researchers and advanced students of morphology, English historical linguistics, corpus linguistics, and lexicography.

Studies in Gothic
Studies in Gothic

Author: Jared S. Klein

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2024-07-30

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 0198896697

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume investigates a wide range of topics in the study of Gothic, the oldest Germanic language to be attested in any substantial texts, some three centuries before the earliest Old English. It covers issues in sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, phonology, derivational morphology, verbal syntax, and discourse structure. Individual chapters examine Gothic-Latin bilingualism in sixth-century Italy, some hitherto undiscovered aspects of the production of the first edition of the Codex Argenteus associated with England, and the translations of Greek nominal compounds in the Gospels. Phonological and morphological topics covered include vowel lowering ("breaking"), the distinction between abstract nouns in -ei and -iþa, the shape of the 'yon'-word in Proto-Germanic, and the morphology and derivational history of the word fidur-dogs 'four-days-old'. The syntactic studies explore the development of verb + particle constructions in Gothic and Old Saxon, attempt to discern the order of noun plus adnominal possessive, and analyse the complex and in part cross-linguistically unparalleled markers of Gothic relative clauses. The volume concludes with two chapters that explore discourse structure: the first studies the particles nu and þan in their dual roles as anaphoric elements ('now' and 'then') and as discourse particles, while the second examines the system of discourse articulation as a whole in the Gothic Gospels.

The Oxford Gothic Grammar
The Oxford Gothic Grammar

Author: D. Gary Miller

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-04-24

Total Pages: 512

ISBN-13: 0192543091

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume provides a comprehensive reference grammar of Gothic, the earliest attested language of the Germanic family (apart from runic inscriptions), dating to the fourth century. The bulk of the extant Gothic corpus is a translation of the Bible, of which only a portion remains, and which has been the focus of most previous works. This book is the first in English to also draw on the recently discovered Bologna fragment and Crimean graffiti, original Gothic texts that provide more insights into the language. Following an overview of the history of the Goths and the origin of the Gothic language, Gary Miller explores all the major topics in Gothic grammar, beginning with the alphabet and phonology, and proceeding through subjects such as case functions, prepositions and particles, compounding, derivation, and verbal and sentential syntax. He also presents a selection of Gothic texts with notes and vocabulary, and ends with a chapter on linearization, including an overview of Gothic in its Germanic context. The Oxford Gothic Grammar will be an invaluable reference for all Indo-Europeanists, Germanic scholars, and historical linguists, from advanced undergraduate level upwards.