Exploring the syntax-semantics interface / Robert D. van Valin, Jr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Van Valin, Robert D., Jr.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Grammar, Comparative and general--Syntax.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Semantics.

Pragmatics.

Physical Description:

xxi, 310 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Summary:

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.

Contents:

1 Syntactic structure 3

1.1 The layered structure of the clause 3

1.2 Operators 8

1.3 Formal representation of clause structure 11

1.4 Clause structure in dependent-marking and head-marking languages 16

1.5 Adjuncts and the periphery 19

1.6 Adpositional and noun phrase structure 21

2 Lexical representation and semantic roles 31

2.1 Verb classes and logical structures 31

2.2 Operators 50

2.3 Nouns and noun phrases 50

2.4 Semantic roles 53

3 Information structure 68

3.1 Topic and focus 68

3.2 Focus structure and focus types 69

3.3 Morphosyntactic marking of focus structure 73

3.4 Formal representation of focus structure 77

3.5 Focus structure and the notion of VP 80

3.6 Focus structure and the interpretation of quantifier scope 81

4 Syntactic relations and case marking 89

4.1 Do all languages have grammatical relations? 89

4.2 Privileged syntactic arguments 94

4.3 Types of privileged syntactic arguments 101

4.4 Case marking and agreement 107

4.5 Other syntactic functions 115

5 Linking syntactic and semantic representations in simple sentences 128

5.1 The linking algorithm 129

5.2 The role of the lexicon in grammar 158

5.3 Reflexivization 161

5.4 Focus structure and linking 170

6 The structure of complex sentences 183

6.1 Nexus relations 183

6.2 The layered structure of the clause and juncture 188

6.3 Symmetrical vs asymmetrical linkage 198

6.4 Operators in complex sentences 201

6.5 Complementizer position 205

6.6 Interclausal semantic relations and the interclausal relations hierarchy 205

6.7 Focus structure in complex sentences 213

6.8 Complex NPs 220

6.9 Syntactic templates for complex sentences 223

7 Linking syntax and semantics in complex sentences 225

7.1 Linking in clausal junctures 228

7.2 Linking in nuclear junctures 234

7.3 Linking in core junctures 239

7.4 Linking in complex noun phrases 260

7.5 Reflexivization in complex sentences 267

7.6 Constraints on linking in WH-questions and related constructions 272.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 294-303) and indexes.

ISBN:

0521811791

052101056X

OCLC:

59098810

Publisher Number:

9780521811798

9780521010566 (pbk.)