Preferred argument structure : grammar as architecture for function / edited by John W. Du Bois, Lorraine E. Kumpf, William J. Ashby.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Du Bois, John W.

Kumpf, Lorraine Edith, 1948-

Ashby, William J.

Series:

Studies in discourse and grammar ; v. 14.

Studies in discourse and grammar, 0928-8929 ; 14

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Linguistics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (469 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : J. Benjamins, c2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Preferred Argument Structure offers a profound insight into the relationship between language use and grammatical structure. In his original publication on Preferred Argument Structure, Du Bois (1987) demonstrated the power of this perspective by using it to explain the origins of ergativity and ergative marking systems. Since this work, the general applicability of Preferred Argument Structure has been demonstrated in studies of language after language. In this collection, the authors move beyond verifying Preferred Argument Structure as a property of a given language. They use the methodology to reveal more subtle aspects of the patterns, for example, to look across languages, diachronically or synchronically, to examine particular grammatical relations, and to examine special populations or particular genres. This volume will appeal to linguists interested in the relationship of pragmatics and grammar generally, in the typology of grammatical relations, and in explanations derived from data- and corpus-based approaches to analysis.

Contents:

Preferred Argument Structure

Dedication page

Title page

LCC page

Table of contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction

References

Argument structure

Notes

Preferred Argument Structure across time and space

Appendix

The lexicon in interaction

Genre and Preferred Argument Structure

Issues in the comparative argument structure analysis inMayan narratives

New light on information pressure

Beyond Preferred Argument Structure

Multiple constraints on reference form

Texts

Argument splits in Finnish grammar and discourse

Core arguments and the inversion of the nominal hierarchy in Roviana

Preferred Argument Structure in early Inuktitut spontaneous speech data

The role of Preferred Argument Structure for understanding aphasic sentence planning

Nominal information .ow in the talk of two boys with autism

Tracking the deer

Narrator virtuosity and the strategic exploitation of Preferred Argument Structure in Mocho

Preferred Argument Structure Bibliography

Name index

Language index

Subject index

The series STUDIES IN DISCOURSE AND GRAMMAR (SiDaG).

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [437]-445) and indexes.

ISBN:

1-282-16090-7

9786612160905

90-272-9613-8