Download or read book Experiential Constructions in Yucatec Maya written by Elisabeth Verhoeven and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book combines a fieldwork-based language-specific analysis with a typological investigation. It offers a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the form and semantics of experiencer constructions in Yucatec, the Mayan language of the Yucatecan peninsula in Mexico. Since the linguistic expression of experience is not restricted to a specific grammatical area the study touches a great variety of grammatical fields in the language such as argument structure, grammatical relations, possessive constructions, subordinate constructions, etc. The empirical analysis of the Yucatec data is preceded by a thorough examination of the functional domain and the cross-linguistic coding of experience which until now could not be found in the literature. This study will be of interest to scholars working in the fields of typology and Native American linguistics, and especially to those interested in argument structure and the syntax-semantics interface.

Download or read book Ten Lectures on Event Structure in a Network Theory of Language written by Nikolas Gisborne and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-08-31 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Ten Lectures on Event Structure in a Network Theory of Language, Nikolas Gisborne offers an account of verb meaning from the perspective of a model that treats language structure as part of the wider cognitive network.

Download or read book Semantic Role Universals and Argument Linking written by Ina Bornkessel and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2009-09-24 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The concept of semantic roles has been central to linguistic theory for many decades. More specifically, the assumption of such representations as mediators in the correspondence between a linguistic form and its associated meaning has helped to address a number of critical issues related to grammatical phenomena. Furthermore, in addition to featuring in all major theories of grammar, semantic (or 'thematic') roles have been referred to extensively within a wide range of other linguistic subdisciplines, including language typology and psycho-/neurolinguistics. This volume brings together insights from these different perspectives and thereby, for the first time, seeks to build upon the obvious potential for cross-fertilisation between hitherto autonomous approaches to a common theme. To this end, a view on semantic roles is adopted that goes beyond the mere assumption of generalised roles, but also focuses on their hierarchical organisation. The book is thus centred around the interdisciplinary examination of how these hierarchical dependencies subserve argument linking - both in terms of linguistic theory and with respect to real-time language processing - and how they interact with other information types in this process. Furthermore, the contributions examine the interaction between the role hierarchy and the conceptual content of (generalised) semantic roles and investigate their cross-linguistic applicability and psychological reality, as well as their explanatory potential in accounting for phenomena in the domain of language disorders. In bridging the gap between different disciplines, the book provides a valuable overview of current thought on semantic roles and argument linking, and may further serve as a point of departure for future interdisciplinary research in this area. As such, it will be of interest to scientists and advanced students in all domains of linguistics and cognitive science.

Download or read book Case Semantic Roles and Grammatical Relations written by Petra Campe and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 1994-07-01 with total page 655 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first of a series of 6 books dealing with case phenomena in different languages, both Indo- and non-Indo-European, resulting from work by a team of 20 specialists at the University of Leuven. It is the first time such a large-scale investigation into case has been undertaken, and a remarkable feature of the project is the use of computer corpora of authentic material. This bibliography presents the many dimensions involved in research into case and case-related phenomena. This includes not only morphological case markers, but also the crossconstituent (semantic and grammatical) relations expressed by morphological case or by its various counterparts; morpho-syntactic processes such as transitivity and passivization; and pragmatic and textual considerations. In addition, the bibliography reflects the implications of case research for other disciplines, such as foreign language teaching and artificial intelligence. More than 6000 publications are listed. An extensive Subject Index provides easy access to all the topics and major concepts covered. A Language Index and a Guide to Languages/Language Families conclude the book. The other volumes in the series include The Dative (2 vols), The Genitive, The Nominative and Accusative, and Non-nuclear Cases.

Download or read book Understanding English Grammar written by Thomas E. Payne and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 453 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlike other textbooks, it helps students to understand grammar rather than see it as a set of facts and rules.

Download or read book A Grammar of Udihe written by Irina Nikolaeva and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2011-05-12 with total page 1008 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The series builds an extensive collection of high quality descriptions of languages around the world. Each volume offers a comprehensive grammatical description of a single language together with fully analyzed sample texts and, if appropriate, a word list and other relevant information which is available on the language in question. There are no restrictions as to language family or area, and although special attention is paid to hitherto undescribed languages, new and valuable treatments of better known languages are also included. No theoretical model is imposed on the authors; the only criterion is a high standard of scientific quality. To discuss your book idea or submit a proposal, please contact Birgit Sievert.

Download or read book Advances in Research on Semantic Roles written by Seppo Kittilä and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2016-06-29 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Especially in functional-typological linguistics, semantic roles have been studied thoroughly, because they constitute a good starting point for any study on argument marking due to their semantically defined nature. However, the very concept of semantic roles is far from being without problems, and there is still no consensus on how the roles are best defined. In this volume, the notion will be discussed from novel perspectives with the aim of providing new insights into our understanding of semantic roles. Two of the papers deal with semantic role clusters, one with semantic roles in verbless constructions, one with diachrony of semantic roles and two with individual semantic roles that have not been studied in too much detail in previous studies. The book may not offer answers to all questions the readers may have, but at least it raises interesting further questions relevant to arriving at a better understanding of semantic roles. Originally published in Studies in Language Vol. 38:3 (2014).

Download or read book Thematic Relations written by Mário A. Perini and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-10-23 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a proposal to better define thematic relations by exploring the relation between language and cognition. It analyzes the relation between grammatically defined roles such as agent and patient (semantic roles), and elaborate thematic relations (ETRs) actually accessible to language users. It shows that many phenomena previously analyzed as grammatical can be described in a more simple and convenient way by postulating direct connection between syntactic complements and cognitive relations present in the schema evoked by the verb. The volume focuses on a topic which has been the object of much discussion in the recent literature, namely the definition and delimitation of semantic roles, proposing new solutions to some important theoretical and practical problems in the description of the lexicogrammatical structure of languages, and in particular of verb valency. It shows that in many cases a direct relation can be established between morphosyntactic units and functions, on one hand, and ETRs, on the other, without the intermediation of grammatically defined semantic roles. This makes it possible to analyze thematic relations that have been traditionally problematic, such as the patient, in a linguistically simple and cognitively well-motivated way. Thematic Relations – A Study in the Grammar-Cognition Interface will be a useful resource for practicing linguists working on the analysis of natural languages, in particular on verb valency; verb subcategorization and thematic structure; semantic (thematic) roles, their definition and syntactic coding; the relation between grammatical structure and cognitive schemata (frames); and the structure of the lexicon.

Download or read book Exploring Language Structure written by Thomas Payne and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-01-12 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Designed for those beginning to study linguistics, this is a lively introduction to two key aspects of the structure of language: syntax (the structure of sentences) and morphology (the structure of words). It shows students in a step-by-step fashion how to analyze the syntax and morphology of any language, by clearly describing the basic methods and techniques, and providing almost 100 practical exercises based on data from a rich variety of the world's languages. Written in an engaging style and complete with a comprehensive glossary, Exploring Language Structure explains linguistic concepts by using clear analogies from everyday life. It introduces a range of essential topics in syntax and morphology, such as rules, categories, word classes, grammatical relations, multi-clause constructions and typology. Providing a solid foundation in morphology and syntax, this is the perfect introductory text for beginning students, and will fully prepare them for more advanced courses in linguistic analysis.

Download or read book Advances in Role and Reference Grammar written by Robert D. Van Valin, Jr. and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 1992-01-01 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents research on major issues in syntactic theory within Role and Reference Grammar. This theory was first presented in detail in Functional Syntax and Universal Grammar [FSUG], and these papers represent both expansions and applications of the theory to a wide range of phenomena. The first section contains an introduction to the theory which is the most thorough statement of it since FSUG, summarizing the features of Role and Reference Grammar established there and developing new theoretical components and analyses of syntactic phenomena not discussed in the earlier work. Throughout the discussion features of RRG are compared and contrasted with comparable features of other syntactic theories. The remainder of the volume is devoted to detailed analyses of specific problems, e.g. control, case marking, in a wide variety of languages, e.g. Mandarin Chinese, Nootka, Mparntwe Arrernte and Turkish. Thus the works presented here illustrate well the strong cross-linguistic approach to syntactic theory and description in Role and Reference Grammar.

Download or read book Exploring the Syntax Semantics Interface written by Robert D. van Valin, Jr. and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-07-07 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Language is a system of communication in which grammatical structures function to express meaning in context. While all languages can achieve the same basic communicative ends, they each use different means to achieve them, particularly in the divergent ways that syntax, semantics and pragmatics interact across languages. This book looks in detail at how structure, meaning, and communicative function interact in human languages. Working within the framework of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG), Van Valin proposes a set of rules, called the 'linking algorithm', which relates syntactic and semantic representations to each other, with discourse-pragmatics playing a role in the linking. Using this model, he discusses the full range of grammatical phenomena, including the structures of simple and complex sentences, verb and argument structure, voice, reflexivization and extraction restrictions. Clearly written and comprehensive, this book will be welcomed by all those working on the interface between syntax, semantics and pragmatics.

Download or read book Constructicography written by Benjamin Lyngfelt and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2018-07-17 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In constructionist theory, a constructicon is an inventory of constructions making up the full set of linguistic units in a language. In applied practice, it is a set of construction descriptions – a “dictionary of constructions”. The development of constructicons in the latter sense typically means combining principles of both construction grammar and lexicography, and is probably best characterized as a blend between the two traditions. We call this blend constructicography. The present volume is a comprehensive introduction to the emerging field of constructicography. After a general introduction follow six chapters presenting constructicon projects for English, German, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, and Swedish, respectively, often in relation to a framenet of the language. In addition, there is a chapter addressing the interplay between linguistics and language technology in constructicon development, and a final chapter exploring the prospects for interlingual constructicography. This is the first major publication devoted to constructicon development and it should be particularly relevant for those interested in construction grammar, frame semantics, lexicography, the relation between grammar and lexicon, or linguistically informed language technology.

Download or read book Noun Modifying Constructions in Japanese written by Yoshiko Matsumoto and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 1997-08-02 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study examines the clausal noun-modifying construction (NMC) in Japanese, a much-discussed construction that embraces what have usually been called relative clause and noun complement constructions. Drawing upon a broad range of naturally-occurring NMCs, including types that fall outside the domains of relative clause and noun complement constructions, Yoshiko Matsumoto argues for an analysis of NMCs that gives an important role to semantics and pragmatics. The framework in which this approach is presented draws from, and further refines, concepts of frame semantics. By using a frame semantic definition of semantic integration, the author reveals the commonality of diverse types of NMCs in Japanese, and posits a tripartite classification of NMCs which is both more comprehensive and more revealing than the traditional dichotomy between relative clause and noun complement constructions. As the first comprehensive and systematic study in English of Japanese NMCs with diverse lexical heads, this work is further notable for its detailed discussion of the dependence of NMCs on both linguistic and extra-linguistic context.

Download or read book Topic and Discourse Structure in West Greenlandic Agreement Constructions written by Anna Berge and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2011-07-01 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In cooperation with the American Indian Studies Research Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington"

Download or read book Grammatical Constructions written by Masayoshi Shibatani and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1999 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in grammatical constructionsunits of grammar representing formmeaning correspondences. The movement in which Construction Grammar, as developed by Charles Fillmore and Paul Kay, has played a significant role, has arisen in part as aresponse to the Chomskyan modular approach, which treats grammatical constructions as epiphenomenal, dismantling their component features and attributing these to general principles of grammar. This volume is the first collection to focus on grammatical constructions per se, and is dedicated to Charles Fillmore in recognition of his leadership in the field. The papers all reflect or elaborate on his work, which shows how lexicon, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics interact in givingconstructions their individual holistic characters as basic units of grammar. Several approaches to constructions are represented here, dealing with topics that range from idiomatized constructions to traditional forms such as conditionals, relative clauses, and benefactive constructions. A unifying thread is the shared conviction that close examination of the nature ofgrammatical constructions, with particular emphasis on their idiosyncrasies and on the complex interrelationships among their forms, functions, meanings, and uses in ordinary speech and writing, provides a rich foundation upon which to build a theory of cognition, memory, and grammar.

Download or read book Constructions written by Adele E. Goldberg and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1995-03-15 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on work in linguistics, language acquisition, and computer science, Adele E. Goldberg proposes that grammatical constructions play a central role in the relation between the form and meaning of simple sentences. She demonstrates that the syntactic patterns associated with simple sentences are imbued with meaning—that the constructions themselves carry meaning independently of the words in a sentence. Goldberg provides a comprehensive account of the relation between verbs and constructions, offering ways to relate verb and constructional meaning, and to capture relations among constructions and generalizations over constructions. Prototypes, frame semantics, and metaphor are shown to play crucial roles. In addition, Goldberg presents specific analyses of several constructions, including the ditransitive and the resultative constructions, revealing systematic semantic generalizations. Through a comparison with other current approaches to argument structure phenomena, this book narrows the gap between generative and cognitive theories of language.

Download or read book Linking Constructions into Functional Linguistics written by Brian Nolan and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2013-12-06 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a growing awareness of the significance of constructions in grammar in the world’s languages. To date there has not been a single volume that addresses the issues of constructions within a functional Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) account. The book is a collection of articles that will serve the scholarly community as a reference work on the role, place and significance of constructions within this functional model of grammar. As a result, this volume represents the first instance of cross-linguistic comparison of these important discourse and syntax-related phenomena. The articles cover a variety of typologically different languages including German, Irish, Spanish, French, Japanese, Yaqui, Tepehua (Totonacan), Persian, and English, and they offer new data on the role of constructions, within the RRG theory, in these languages. Further, this volume contributes towards providing a comprehensive overview of grammatical constructions which are central to our understanding of how human languages function, in a functional linguistics perspective. This scholarly work is grounded in a functionally oriented model that makes strong claims of descriptive and typological adequacy. The book will represent a valuable step forward in linguistics research as it applies the RRG theoretical framework to the analyses of constructions.