The ‘Noun Phrase’ across Languages
The ‘Noun Phrase’ across Languages

Author: Tsuyoshi Ono

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2020-07-15

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 9027261512

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The ‘NP’ is one of the least controversial grammatical units that linguists work with. The NP is often assumed to be universal, and appears to be robust cross-linguistically (compared to ‘VP’ or even ‘clause’) in that it can be manipulated in argument positions in constructed examples. Furthermore, for any given language, its internal structure (order and type of modifiers) tends to be relatively fixed. Surprisingly, however, the empirical basis for ‘NP’ has never been established. The chapters in this volume examine the NP in everyday interactions from diverse languages, including little-studied languages as well as better-researched ones, in a variety of interactional settings. Together, these chapters show that cross-linguistically, the category NP is not as robust as has been assumed: in the context of temporally unfolding human interaction, its structural status is constantly negotiated in terms of participants’ evolving social agendas.

The Noun Phrase in Romance and Germanic
The Noun Phrase in Romance and Germanic

Author: Antonia Petronella Sleeman

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 9027255547

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

One of the recurrent questions in historical linguistics is to what extent languages can borrow grammar from other languages. It seems for instance hardly likely that each 'average European' language developed a definite article all by itself, without any influence from neighbouring languages. It is, on the other hand, by no means clear what exactly was borrowed, since the way in which definiteness is expressed differs greatly among the various Germanic and Romance languages and dialects. One of the main aims of this volume is to shed some light on the question of what is similar and what is different in the structure of the noun phrase of the various Romance and Germanic languages and dialects, and what causes this similarity or difference.

Crosslinguistic Studies on Noun Phrase Structure and Reference
Crosslinguistic Studies on Noun Phrase Structure and Reference

Author: Patricia Cabredo Hofherr

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2013-11-29

Total Pages: 413

ISBN-13: 9004261443

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Crosslinguistic Studies on Noun Phrase Structure and Reference contains 11 studies on the grammar of noun phrases. Part One explores NP-structure and the impact of information structure, countability and number marking on interpretation, using data from Russian, Armenian, Hebrew, Brazilian Portuguese, Karitiana, Turkish, English, Catalan and Danish. Part Two examines language specific definiteness marking strategies in spoken and signed languages—differentiated definiteness marking in Germanic, double definiteness in Greek, adnominal demonstratives in Japanese, ‘weak’ definiteness in Martiniké and the special referring options made avilable by signing. Part Three examines the second-language acquisition of genericity in English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. This volume will be of interest to researchers and students in syntax, formal semantics, and language acquisition. Contributors include: Željko Bošković, Patricia Cabredo Hofherr, Edit Doron, Nomi Erteschik Shir, Brigitte Garcia, Elaine Grolla, Tania Ionin, Loïc Jean-Louis, Makoto Kaneko, Marika Lekakou, Silvina Montrul, Ana Müller, Asya Pereltsvaig, Marie-Anne Sallandre, Helade Santos, Serkan Şener, Rebekka Studler, Kriszta Szendröi, Anne Zribi-Hertz.

The English Noun Phrase
The English Noun Phrase

Author: Evelien Keizer

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2007-08-09

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 1107320798

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

English has an interesting variety of noun phrases, which differ greatly in structure. Examples are 'binominal' (two-noun) phrases ('a beast of a party'); possessive constructions ('the author's opinion'); and discontinuous noun phrases ('the review [came out yesterday] of his book'). How are these different noun phrases structured? How do we produce and understand them? These questions are central to this study, which explores the interaction between the form of noun phrases, their meaning, and their use. It shows how, despite the need in linguistic analysis for strict categories, many linguistic constructions in fact defy straightforward classification - and concludes that in order to fully explain the internal structure of utterances, we must first consider the communicative, pragmatic and cognitive factors that come into play. Drawing on a range of authentic examples, this book sheds light not only on the noun phrase itself but also the nature of linguistic classification.

Noun-Modifying Clause Constructions in Languages of Eurasia
Noun-Modifying Clause Constructions in Languages of Eurasia

Author: Yoshiko Matsumoto

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2017-02-28

Total Pages: 389

ISBN-13: 9027266131

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume presents a cross-linguistic investigation of clausal noun-modifying constructions in genetically varied languages of Eurasia. Contrary to a common premise that, in any language, adnominal clauses that share some features of relative clauses constitute a structurally distinct construction, some languages of Eurasia exhibit a General Noun-Modifying Clause Construction (GNMCC) -- a single construction covering a wide range of semantic relations between the head noun and the clause. Through in-depth examination of naturally-occurring and elicited data from Ainu, languages of the Caucasus (e.g. Ingush, Georgian, Bezhta, Hinuq), Japanese, Korean, Marathi, Nenets, Sino-Tibetan languages (e.g. Cantonese, Mandarin, Rawang), and Turkic languages (e.g. Turkish, Sakha), the chapters discuss whether or not the language in question exhibits a GNMCC and the range of noun modification covered by such a construction. The findings afford us new facts, new theoretical perspectives and the first step toward a more global assessment of the possibilities for GNMCCs.

The 'Noun Phrase' Across Languages
The 'Noun Phrase' Across Languages

Author: Tsuyoshi Ono

Publisher:

Published: 2020-06-15

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 9789027204998

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The 'NP' is one of the least controversial grammatical units that linguists work with. The NP is often assumed to be universal, and appears to be robust cross-linguistically (compared to 'VP' or even 'clause') in that it can be manipulated in argument positions in constructed examples. Furthermore, for any given language, its internal structure (order and type of modifiers) tends to be relatively fixed. Surprisingly, however, the empirical basis for 'NP' has never been established. The chapters in this volume examine the NP in ordinary interactions from diverse languages, including little-studied languages as well as better-researched ones, in a variety of interactional settings. Together, these chapters show that cross-linguistically, the category NP is not as robust as has been assumed: it is realized only in temporally unfolding human interaction, its structural status thus constantly being negotiated in terms of participants' social agendas.

A Grammar of Mursi
A Grammar of Mursi

Author: Firew Girma Worku

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-03-08

Total Pages: 684

ISBN-13: 9004449914

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume contains 14 descriptive chapters and a collection of 4 transcribed texts in Mursi, a highly endangered language spoken in the Lower Omo Valley in Ethiopia.

Grammaticalization in the North
Grammaticalization in the North

Author: Östen Dahl

Publisher: Language Science Press

Published: 2015-06-10

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 3944675576

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book looks at some phenomena within the grammar of the noun phrase in a group of traditional North Germanic varieties mainly spoken in Sweden and Finland, usually seen as Swedish dialects, although the differences between them and Standard Swedish are often larger than between the latter and the other standard Mainland Scandinavian languages. In addition to being conservative in many respects – e.g. in preserving nominal cases and subject-verb agreement – these varieties also display many innovative features. These include extended uses of definite articles, incorporation of attributive adjectives, and a variety of possessive constructions. Although considerable attention has been given to these phenomena in earlier literature, this book is the first to put them in the perspective of typology and grammaticalization processes. It also looks for a plausible account of the historical origin of the changes involved, arguing that many of them spread from central Sweden, where they were later reverted due to the influence from prestige varieties coming from southern Scandinavia.

New Perspectives on Bare Noun Phrases in Romance and Beyond
New Perspectives on Bare Noun Phrases in Romance and Beyond

Author: Johannes Kabatek

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2013-11-15

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 9027271259

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book envisions the study of bare noun phrases as a field of research in its own right rather than an accessory matter in the wider domain of nominal determination. Combining insights from different theoretical backgrounds and extending the empirical coverage of bare noun phenomena, the ten contributions provide new perspectives on long-standing but still actively debated problems as well as investigations into previously ignored issues. The volume focuses on the wide range of bare noun phenomena in Romance languages, including Spanish, Catalan, Brazilian and European Portuguese, Italian and French; but also widens its inherently comparative perspective to languages such as Bulgarian and Modern Hebrew. The authors discuss the importance of cross-linguistic patterns in the modeling of the syntax and semantics of noun phrases and of common noun denotations, the role of information structure as well as that of discourse traditions and coordination.

A Grammar of Darma
A Grammar of Darma

Author: Christina Willis Oko

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2019-08-26

Total Pages: 592

ISBN-13: 9004409491

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A Grammar of Darma provides the first comprehensive description of this Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Uttarakhand, India. The analysis is informed by a functional-typological framework and draws on a corpus of data gathered through elicitation, observation and recordings of natural discourse. Every effort has been made to describe day-to-day language, so whenever possible, illustrative examples are taken from extemporaneous speech and contextualized. Sections of the grammar should appeal widely to scholars interested in South Asia’s languages and cultures, including discussions of the socio-cultural setting, the sound system, morphosyntactic, clause and discourse structure. The grammar’s interlinearized texts and glossary provide a trove of useful information for comparative linguists working on Tibeto-Burman languages and anyone interested in the world’s less-commonly spoken languages.