Download or read book Word Meaning and Syntax written by Stephen Wechsler and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the nature of the interface between word meaning and syntax, one of the most controversial and elusive issues in contemporary linguistics. It approaches the interface from both sides of the relation, and surveys a range of views on the mapping between them, with an emphasis on lexical approaches to argument structure. Stephen Wechsler begins by analysing the fundamental problem of word meaning, with discussions of vagueness and polysemy, complemented with a look at the roles of world knowledge and normative aspects of word meaning. He then surveys the argument-taking properties of verbs and other predicators, and presents key theories of lexical semantic structure. Later chapters provide a description of formal theories and frameworks for capturing the mapping from word meaning to syntactic structure, as well as arguments in favour of a lexicalist approach to argument structure. The book will interest scholars of theoretical linguistics, particularly in the fields of syntax and lexical semantics, as well as those interested in psycholinguistics and philosophy of language.
Download or read book Word Meaning and Montague Grammar written by D. R. Dowty and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most general goal of this book is to propose and illustrate a program of research in word semantics that combines some of the methodology and results in linguistic semantics, primarily that of the generative semantics school, with the rigorously formalized syntactic and semantic framework for the analysis of natural languages developed by Richard Montague and his associates, a framework in which truth and denotation with respect to a model are taken as the fundamental semantic notions. I hope to show, both from the linguist's and the philosopher's point of view, not only why this synthesis can be undertaken but also why it will be useful to pursue it. On the one hand, the linguists' decompositions of word meanings into more primitive parts are by themselves inherently incomplete, in that they deal only in distinctions in meaning without providing an account of what mean ings really are. Not only can these analyses be made complete by a model theoretic semantics, but also such an account of these analyses renders them more exact and more readily testable than they could ever be otherwise.
Download or read book Syntax Within the Word written by Daniel Siddiqi and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Syntax within the Word provides a multifaceted look into the syntactic framework of Distributed Morphology (DM) within the Minimalist program. For those unfamiliar with the theory, this monograph provides an overview of DM and argues its strengths. For those more familiar with DM, this monograph provides analyses of familiar data much of which has not been treated within the framework: argument selection, stem allomorphy and suppletion, nominal compounds in English (feet-first vs. *heads-first), and the structure of the verb phrase. This monograph also proposes a future for the theory in the form of revisions to DM including: the elimination of readjustment rules, a new economy constraint (Minimize Exponence) that triggers fusion of functional heads, and a feature blocking system.
Download or read book Word Meaning and Syntax written by Stephen Wechsler and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the nature of the interface between word meaning and syntax, one of the most controversial and elusive issues in contemporary linguistics. It approaches the interface from both sides of the relation, and surveys a range of views on the mapping between them, with an emphasis on lexical approaches to argument structure. Stephen Wechsler begins by analysing the fundamental problem of word meaning, with discussions of vagueness and polysemy, complemented with a look at the roles of world knowledge and normative aspects of word meaning. He then surveys the argument-taking properties of verbs and other predicators, and presents key theories of lexical semantic structure. Later chapters provide a description of formal theories and frameworks for capturing the mapping from word meaning to syntactic structure, as well as arguments in favour of a lexicalist approach to argument structure. The book will interest scholars of theoretical linguistics, particularly in the fields of syntax and lexical semantics, as well as those interested in psycholinguistics and philosophy of language.
Download or read book An Introduction to Syntactic Analysis and Theory written by Dominique Sportiche and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-09-30 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Introduction to Syntactic Analysis and Theory offersbeginning students a comprehensive overview of and introduction toour current understanding of the rules and principles that governthe syntax of natural languages. Includes numerous pedagogical features such as‘practice’ boxes and sidebars, designed to facilitateunderstanding of both the ‘hows’ and the‘whys’ of sentence structure Guides readers through syntactic and morphological structuresin a progressive manner Takes the mystery out of one of the most crucial aspects of theworkings of language – the principles and processes behindthe structure of sentences Ideal for students with minimal knowledge of current syntacticresearch, it progresses in theoretical difficulty from basic ideasand theories to more complex and advanced, up to date concepts insyntactic theory
Download or read book Syntactic Structures written by Noam Chomsky and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2020-05-18 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No detailed description available for "Syntactic Structures".
Download or read book Definitions written by Annabel Cormack and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-11 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The answer to the question "How can we understand and use a definition?" provides new constraints on natural language and on the internal language in which meaning is mentally represented. Most syntax takes the sentence as the basic unit for well-formedness, but definitions force us to focus on words and phrases, and hence to focus on compositional syntax in parallel with compositional semantics. This study examines both dictionary definitions and definitions from textbooks, from the points of view of their syntax, semantics, and use for learning word meaning. The tools used throughout are Principles and Parameters syntax, Relevance theoretic pragmatics, Model theoretic semantics, and the formal theory of definitions. The analyses argue that because phrases can be understood in isolation, some standard syntactic analyses must be modified. 'NP movement' has to be reanalysed as transmission of theta roles. These ideas are then applied to a variety of adjectives which take propositional complements. The final chapter argues that for definitions to be understood, the syntax of the Language of Thought must be close to that of Natural Language in specifiable way.
Download or read book The Meaning of Syntax written by D. Connor Ferris and published by Routledge. This book was released on 1993 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book adopts a distinctively new approach to a major area of syntax - the way in which adjectives are bound together with other words in phrases or sentences. Connor Ferris argues first, that syntactic constructions do not exist simply as formal abstract grammatical structure, but directly reflect the speaker's cognitive system; second, that apart from the meanings attached to words, any phrase or sentence contains a quite different kind of meaning, virtually unexplored hitherto, which is directly tied to syntactic patterns in which words occur. The author proposes a set of basic pattern meanings, and states clearly how they are expressed in the various adjectival constructions of English. The book gives a comprehensive account of the semantic grammar of English adjectives and explains why these precisely form the set of adjective constructions that are found in English. Using numerous examples from contemporary language, it is shown how interaction between the relational meaning of a construction and the word meaning of an adjective which it contains can enable us to predict in some detail when a sentence will be grammatical and when not, and what sort of meaning it will bear. Written in a lively and readable style, this book will be essential reading for all students of English Language and Linguistics, both those with English as their first language, and those who are learning it as a foreign language.
Download or read book Modern Syntax written by Andrew Carnie and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-01-13 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This practical coursebook introduces all the basics of modern syntactic analysis in a simple step-by-step fashion. Each unit is constructed so that the reader discovers new ideas, formulates hypotheses and practises fundamentals. The reader is presented with short sections of explanation with examples, followed by practice exercises. Feedback and comment sections follow to enable students to monitor their progress. No previous background in syntax is assumed. Students move through all the key topics in the field including features, rules of combination and displacement, empty categories, and subcategorization. The theoretical perspective in this work is unique, drawing together the best ideas from three major syntactic frameworks (minimalism, HPSG and LFG). Students using this book will learn fundamentals in such a way that they can easily go on to pursue further study in any of these frameworks.
Download or read book Word Meaning and Montague Grammar written by D. R. Dowty and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1979-10-31 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most general goal of this book is to propose and illustrate a program of research in word semantics that combines some of the methodology and results in linguistic semantics, primarily that of the generative semantics school, with the rigorously formalized syntactic and semantic framework for the analysis of natural languages developed by Richard Montague and his associates, a framework in which truth and denotation with respect to a model are taken as the fundamental semantic notions. I hope to show, both from the linguist's and the philosopher's point of view, not only why this synthesis can be undertaken but also why it will be useful to pursue it. On the one hand, the linguists' decompositions of word meanings into more primitive parts are by themselves inherently incomplete, in that they deal only in distinctions in meaning without providing an account of what mean ings really are. Not only can these analyses be made complete by a model theoretic semantics, but also such an account of these analyses renders them more exact and more readily testable than they could ever be otherwise.
Download or read book Semantics of Complex Words written by Laurie Bauer and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-03-03 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume offers a valuable overview of recent research into the semantic aspects of complex words through different theoretical frameworks. Contributions by experts in the field, both morphologists and psycholinguists, identify crucial areas of research, present alternative and complementary approaches to their examination from the current level of knowledge, and indicate perspectives of research into the semantics of complex words by raising important questions that need to be investigated in order to get a more comprehensive picture of the field. Recent decades have seen both extensive and intensive development of various theories of word-formation, however, the semantic aspects of complex words have, with a few notable exceptions, been rather neglected. This volume fills that gap by offering articles written by leading experts in the field from various theoretical backgrounds.
Download or read book English Syntax written by Lynn M. Berk and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1999 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This clear and highly accessible descriptive grammar of English has a strong semantic and discourse/functional focus. It explains the basics of English syntax while providing readers with a comprehensive view of the richness and complexity of the system. Each structure is discussed in terms of its syntactic features, its meaning, and its uses in discourse.
Download or read book The Grammar of Words An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology written by Geert Booij and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2007-07-05 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Geert Booij's popular textbook examines how words are formed, compounded, and inflected in different languages. It shows how, when, and why to use methods of morphological analysis and explains how morphology relates to syntax, phonology, and semantics. The author considers the universal characteristics of morphology and how these are reflected in the workings of mind. The revised edition has been revised and updated throughout; it has a full glossary and a new chapter on the field's most notorious problem: the status of the word. 'The Grammar of Words by Geert Booij covers a broad range of topics from structural questions to psycholinguistic issues and problems of language change. This introduction to morphology is thorough and accessible and, like other works by this renowned author, especially strong at showing the significance of empirical facts for theoretical reasoning.' Ingo Plag, University of Siegen 'A book that is fully comprehensive in its coverage as well as exemplary in its clarity, written by one of the major scholars of contemporary lexical theory.' Sergio Scalise, University of Bologna
Download or read book Introducing Morphology written by Rochelle Lieber and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A lively introduction to the study of how words are put together.
Download or read book Word Meaning written by Richard Hudson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-09-02 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Word Meaning, Richard Hudson introduces readers to the techniques of lexical semantic analysis. Word Meaning: * is based on a problem-solving approach to language * introduces readers to the technical terminology and basic principles associated with the analysis of word meaning * shows students how to apply these terms and principles to English * includes suggestions for further work
Download or read book Minimal Words in a Minimal Syntax written by Gunlög Josefsson and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 1998-01-01 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Minimal Words in a Minimal Syntax the author combines a detailed description of the morphological structure of words in Swedish with a daring new approach to theoretical morphology, based on the Minimalist Program of Chomsky (1995) (as developed for syntactic structure). The X-bar theoretic approach to word structure of the Principles and Parameters framework is replaced by a rule free approach incorporating only Merge and Move as structure building devices. The author argues that stems have no word class features, which are provided inflectional affixes (including theme vowels etc.). Inflectional and derivational affixes differ only in the external syntactic requirement that inflectional affixes are associated with features that require checking in the functional domain. An important analysis of compounding is included, where binding elements are analyzed as a result of structural antisymmetry requirements a la Kayne (1994). Old chestnuts of morphological theory, such as the notion head of a word and the nature and structure of the lexicon, are succinctly discussed in the light of the theoretical proposals advanced here. On the empirical side, there are two lengthy chapters involving the semantic characterization of prefixes and suffixes in Swedish, explaining their distribution in terms of types of Aktionsarten imposed by the affix on its host.
Download or read book Analyzing Syntax written by Paul Kroeger and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2004-04-08 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Analyzing Syntax: A Lexical-Functional Approach is a comprehensive and accessible 2004 textbook on syntactic analysis, designed for students of linguistics at advanced undergraduate or graduate level. Working within the 'Lexical Functional Grammar' (LFG) approach, it provides students with a framework for analyzing and describing grammatical structure, using extensive examples from both European and non-European languages. Topics covered include: tests for constituency, passivization and other relation-changing processes, reflexive pronouns, the control relation, Topic and Focus, relative clauses and Wh-questions, causative constructions, serial verbs, 'quirky case', and ergativity. As well as building on what linguists have learned about language in general, particular attention is paid to the unique features of individual languages. While its primary focus is on syntactic structure, the book also deals with aspects of meaning, function and word-structure that are directly relevant to syntax. Clearly organised into topics, this textbook is ideal for one-semester courses in syntax and grammatical analysis.
