Coordination relations in the languages of Europe and beyond / by Caterina Mauri.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mauri, Caterina, 1981-

Series:

Empirical approaches to language typology ; 42.

Empirical approaches to language typology ; 42

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Linguistic geography.

Europe--Languages--Coordinate constructions.

Europe.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (384 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book examines the coding of the three coordination relations of combination, contrast and alternative between states of affairs on the basis of a 74 language sample, with special focus on the languages spoken in Europe. It constitutes the first systematic inquiry so far conducted on the cross-linguistic coding of coordination, as defined in cognitive and pragmatic terms. This research shows that the 'and-but-or' coding system which is typical of Central-Western Europe appears to be extremely rare outside Europe, where a great variation in the coding of coordination is attested. This cross-linguistic variation, however, is not random, but is crucially constrained by the interaction of economic principles with the semantic properties of the individual relations expressed. A fine-grained functional systematization of coordination is proposed and described by means of implicational patterns and semantic maps. This work brings together a broad cross-linguistic perspective and a detailed semantic analysis, largely based on new and comparable data collected by means of questionnaires, all accessible in the appendix of the book. It represents the first systematic attempt towards a unified typology of coordination relations.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of figures

List of tables

List of abbreviations

Chapter 1. Theoretical foundations: the notion of coordination

Chapter 2. Parameters of analysis

Chapter 3. Combination relations

Chapter 4. Contrast relations

Chapter 5. Alternative relations

Chapter 6. Combination, contrast and alternative relations in comparison

Chapter 7. A focus on Europe

Chapter 8. Conclusion and prospects

Backmatter

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613398161

9781283398169

1283398168

9783110211498

3110211491

OCLC:

319549287