Narrow Syntax and Phonological Form
Narrow Syntax and Phonological Form

Author: Gema Chocano

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 9789027233738

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'Scrambling', the kind of word order variation found in West Germanic languages, has been commonly treated as a phenomenon completely unrelated to North Germanic 'Object Shift'. This book questions this view and defends a unified analysis on the basis of strictly syntactic and phonological evidence. Given that its main conclusions are drawn from German data, it also sheds light on several problematic aspects of the grammar of this language, which have traditionally resisted a principled account. Prominent among these are: the inconsistent behaviour of German coherent infinitives with respect to extraction of their internal arguments; the existence of a less 'liberal' type of 'Scrambling' within topicalised VPs; the link between reordering possibilities and headfinalness; the asymmetry exhibited by monotransitive and ditransitive structures with respect to the interaction between 'Scrambling' and the unmarked word order, and, finally, certain anomalies in the reordering of the lower arguments of ditransitive predicates that assign inherent case.

Syntactic Structures
Syntactic Structures

Author: Noam Chomsky

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2020-05-18

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 3112316002

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No detailed description available for "Syntactic Structures".

Beginning Syntax
Beginning Syntax

Author: Ian Roberts

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2023-04-20

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1009021001

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A coherent introduction to generative syntax by a leader in the field, this textbook leads students through the theory from the very beginning, assuming no prior knowledge. Introducing the central concepts in a systematic and engaging way, it covers the goals of generative grammar, tacit native-speaker knowledge, categories and constituents, phrase structure, movement, binding, syntax beyond English, and the architecture of grammar. The theory is built slowly, showing in a step-by-step fashion how different versions of generative theory relate to one-another. Examples are carefully chosen to be easily understood, and a comprehensive glossary provides clear definitions of all the key terms introduced. With end of chapter exercises, broader discussion questions, and annotated further reading lists, 'Beginning Syntax' is the ideal resource for instructors and beginning undergraduate students of syntax alike. Two further textbooks by Ian Roberts, 'Continuing Syntax' and 'Comparing Syntax', will take students to intermediate and advanced level.

The Cambridge Handbook of Generative Syntax
The Cambridge Handbook of Generative Syntax

Author: Marcel den Dikken

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2013-07-25

Total Pages: 1412

ISBN-13: 1107354587

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Syntax – the study of sentence structure – has been at the centre of generative linguistics from its inception and has developed rapidly and in various directions. The Cambridge Handbook of Generative Syntax provides a historical context for what is happening in the field of generative syntax today, a survey of the various generative approaches to syntactic structure available in the literature and an overview of the state of the art in the principal modules of the theory and the interfaces with semantics, phonology, information structure and sentence processing, as well as linguistic variation and language acquisition. This indispensable resource for advanced students, professional linguists (generative and non-generative alike) and scholars in related fields of inquiry presents a comprehensive survey of the field of generative syntactic research in all its variety, written by leading experts and providing a proper sense of the range of syntactic theories calling themselves generative.

Sentential Form and Prosodic Structure of Catalan
Sentential Form and Prosodic Structure of Catalan

Author: Ingo Feldhausen

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 9027255512

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This monograph presents an experimental and theoretical inquiry into the role of sentential form and variation in the prosodic structure of Catalan. The empirical section examines intonational phrasing across sentence forms, including SVO structures with either nominal or sentential objects and structures involving clitic left- and right-dislocations. The results show variation in phrasing that depends on syntactic factors and non-syntactic factors such as topic-hood and prosodic binarity. The theoretical section uses Stochastic Optimality Theory to model the variation and frequency distributions associated with the observed prosodic patterns. Various syntactic and non-syntactic factors are represented by alignment constraints, which play a major role in Catalan, and by constraints that limit size and those that limit the overall amount of prosodic structure. This study represents a combined approach to prosody and syntax and is of particular relevance for theoretical and empirical linguists interested in the relationship between these domains both in Catalan and other languages.

The Evolution of the Slavic Dual
The Evolution of the Slavic Dual

Author: Tatyana G. Slobodchikoff

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-10-04

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 1498579256

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The dual number in Slavic has always puzzled linguists. While some Slavic languages, such as Slovenian, have three distinct categories of number--singular (1), dual (2), and plural (3 or more) –other Slavic languages, such as Russian, have no dual number. Considering that all Slavic languages have evolved from a common Proto Slavic language, it is puzzling that there is such a difference in the category of number. In The Evolution of the Slavic Dual: A Biolinguistic Perspective, with the aid of tools from biolinguistics, Tatyana G. Slobodchikoff develops a new theory of Morphosyntactic Feature Economy within the distributed morphology framework. Using newly digitized corpora of Old East Slavic, Old Slovenian, and Old Sorbian manuscripts spanning from the eleventh century through the present time, this book presents a thorough analysis of the evolution of dual number in Slavic languages.

Advances in Comparative Germanic Syntax
Advances in Comparative Germanic Syntax

Author: Artemis Alexiadou

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 9027255245

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The present volume contains a selection of papers presented at the 21st and 22nd Comparative Germanic Syntax Workshop held at the University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of Stuttgart. The contributions provide insightful discussions of several topics of current interest for syntactic theory on the basis of comparative data from a wide range of contemporary and historical Germanic languages. The theoretical issues explored include: the left periphery, with a number of contributions touching on the pros and contras of cartographic accounts; different aspects of word order and how it arises from movement and clause structure; the interplay of thematic relations and case theory with the realization of DPs; and the treatment of finiteness and modal structures. This book is of interest to syntacticians working in a comparative perspective and to advanced undergraduates.

Minimalist Essays on Brazilian Portuguese Syntax
Minimalist Essays on Brazilian Portuguese Syntax

Author: Jairo Nunes

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2009-04-15

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 9027289530

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This collection of papers discusses some of the major syntactic properties of Brazilian Portuguese from a minimalist perspective. The volume focuses on movement and empty category issues and brings new empirical material on a variety of topics (null subjects and finite control, possessive and existential constructions, factive constructions, relative clauses, null objects and stress shift, preposition duplication, VP topicalization, and ellipsis). The book is of interest to a wide spectrum of linguists working on theoretical and comparative syntax.

The Syntactic Nature of Inner Aspect
The Syntactic Nature of Inner Aspect

Author: Jonathan E. MacDonald

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 9027255164

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This book explores the syntactic nature of inner aspect from a minimalist perspective. It begins with the new observation that there are two independent properties at play in English inner aspect: the object-to-event mapping and event structure. From a discussion of English statives and Russian, it is concluded that the former property is variant and the latter universal; a minimalist conception of language variation arises naturally in this context. Additionally, an exploration of a lexical derivational approach to achievements leads to the expectation that there are no accomplishments in the lexicon. A detailed look at idioms suggests that this expectation is met. These results support the division of labor between an operative lexicon and narrow syntax in aspectual composition; this naturally poses a problem for (neo-)constructional approaches to inner aspect. Finally, one conclusion reached about the syntactic nature of inner aspect regards the object-to-event mapping: it is a purely syntactic phenomenon.

The Grammar of Repetition
The Grammar of Repetition

Author: Jason Kandybowicz

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 9027255199

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Displacement is a fundamental property of grammar. Typically, when an occurrence moves it is pronounced in only one environment. This was previously viewed as a primitive/irreducible property of grammar. Recent work, however, suggests that it follows from principled interactions between the syntactic and phonological components of grammar. As such, the phonetic character of movement chains can be seen as both a reflection of and probe into the syntax-phonology interface. This volume deals with repetition, an atypical outcome of movement operations in which displaced elements are pronounced multiple times. Although cross-linguistically rare, the phenomenon obtains robustly in Nupe, a Benue-Congo language of Nigeria. Repetition raises a tension of the descriptive-explanatory variety. In order to achieve both measures of adequacy, movement theory must be supplemented with an account of the conditions that drive and constrain multiple pronunciation. This book catalogs these conditions, bringing to light a number of undocumented aspects of Nupe grammar.