The universal structure of categories : towards a formal typology / Martina Wiltschko.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wiltschko, Martina, author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in linguistics ; 142.

Cambridge studies in linguistics ; 142

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Categorial grammar.

Structural linguistics.

Language, Universal.

Physical Description:

xx, 356 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Summary:

"Using data from a variety of languages such as Blackfoot, Halkomelem, and Upper Austrian German, this book explores a range of grammatical categories and constructions, including tense, aspect, subjunctive, case and demonstratives. It presents a new theory of grammatical categories - the Universal Spine Hypothesis - and reinforces generative notions of Universal Grammar while accommodating insights from linguistic typology. In essence, this new theory shows that language-specific categories are built from a small set of universal categories and language-specific units of language. Throughout the book the Universal Spine Hypothesis is compared to two alternative theories - the Universal Base Hypothesis and the No Base Hypothesis. This valuable addition to the field will be welcomed by graduate students and researchers in linguistics"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. The universal structure of categories; 2. A history of ideas behind the spine; 3. The universal spine as a heuristic for the identification of grammatical categories; 4. Anchoring categories in independent clauses; 5. Anchoring categories in dependent clauses; 6. Nominal anchoring categories; 7. Categories that introduce a point of view; 8. Towards a formal typology.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781107038516

1107038510

OCLC:

874733035

Online:

Cover image