Syntax [electronic resource]. Volume 1 : an introduction. / T. Givon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Givón, Talmy, 1936-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Functionalism (Linguistics).

Grammar, Comparative and general--Syntax.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Typology (Linguistics).

Physical Description:

xvii, 500 p.

Edition:

Rev. ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : J. Benjamins, 2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This new edition of Syntax: A functional-typological introduction is at many points radically revised. In the previous edition (1984) the author deliberately chose to de-emphasize the more formal aspects of syntactic structure, in favor of a more comprehensive treatment of the semantic and pragmatic correlates of syntactic structure. With hindsight the author now finds the de-emphasis of the formal properties a somewhat regrettable choice, since it creates the false impression that one could somehow be a functionalist without being at the same time a structuralist. To redress the balance, explicit treatment is given to the core formal properties of syntactic constructions, such as constituency and hierarchy (phrase structure), grammatical relations and relational control, clause union, finiteness and governed constructions. At the same time, the cognitive and communicative underpinning of grammatical universals are further elucidated and underscored, and the interplay between grammar, cognition and neurology is outlined. Also the relevant typological database is expanded, now exploring in greater precision the bounds of syntactic diversity. Lastly, Syntax treats synchronic-typological diversity more explicitly as the dynamic by-product of diachronic development or grammaticalization. In so doing a parallel is drawn between linguistic diversity and diachrony on the one hand and biological diversity and evolution on the other. It is then suggested that - as in biology - synchronic universals of grammar are exercised and instantiated primarily as constraints on development, and are thus merely the apparent by-products of universal constraints on grammaticalization.

Contents:

Syntax

Title page

LCC page

Dedication page

Table of contents

Preface

Chapter 1. The functional approach to language and the typological approach to grammar

Chapter 2. The lexicon

Chapter 3. Simple verbal clauses and argument structure

Chapter 4. Grammatical relations and case-marking systems

Chapter 5. Word order

Chapter 6. Tense, aspect and modality I

Chapter 7. Tense, aspect and modality II

Chapter 8. Negation

Chapter 9. Referential coherence I

Chapter 10. Referential coherence II

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9786612162275

9781282162273

1282162276

9789027297938

9027297932

OCLC:

732804359