Form and function in language research : papers in honour of Christian Lehmann / edited by Johannes Helmbrecht, ... [et al.].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Helmbrecht, Johannes.

Series:

Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs [TiLSM]

Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs ; 210

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Grammar, Comparative and general--Syntax.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Typology (Linguistics).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (362 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Mouton de Gruyter, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Language description enriches linguistic theory and linguistic theory sharpens language description. Based on evidence from the world's languages, functional-typological linguistics has established a number of thorough generalizations about the nature of linguistic categorizations and their manifestation in natural languages. Empirical studies in these fields of linguistics have contributed to sharpen linguistic theory in several respects. This volume is a collection of 19 contributions from outstanding scholars in the field of functional-typological linguistics that address fundamental issues in the study of language, such as the nature of linguistic categories, the constitution of functional domains, and the form of cross-linguistic continua. Empirical data from individual languages and from typological samples are investigated in order to achieve generalizations about the properties of human grammar(s). Several grammatical phenomena are dealt with including tonal systems, person distinctions, modalities, reciprocity, complex predicates, grammatical relations, word order, clause linkage, and information structure. The structure of the book illustrates the fundamental importance of the analytical distinction between the onomasiological and the semasiological approach to language and language diversity. Both perspectives are integrated in most papers with a dominant focus on either the former or the latter perspective.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Glosses

Introduction

A.1 Functional Typologies

The continuum of pragmaticity: a sketch

Weighing semantic distinctions in person forms

Spatial reciprocity: between grammar and lexis

A chapter in marginal possession: on being six(ty) in Europe (and beyond)

A.2 Constraints on the Encoding of Concepts

Thoughts on (im)perfective imperatives

Animacy and argument hierarchy in conflict: constraints on object-topicalization in Korean

A.3 Limits of the Exponence of Functions: Zero

Zero and nothing in Jarawara

Clause linkage in a language without coordination: the adjoined clause in Iatmul

B.1 Establishing Categories and Relations

Once more on linguistic categories

Questions surrounding the basic notions of the word, lexie, morpheme, and lexeme

Linguistic typology and language theory: the various faces of syntax

Linking without grammatical relations in Yucatec: alignment, extraction, and control

B.2 Formal Typologies

Areal typology of tone-consonant interaction and implosives in Kwa, Kru, and Southern-Mande

The internal structure of adpositional phrases

On the form of complex predicates: toward demystifying serial verbs

Conjunctive coordination in Amharic: some typological approaches

Linguistic type and complexity: some remarks

B.3 Discovering Function in the Identity of Form

Constituent questions and argument-focus constructions: some data from the North-Caucasian languages

"A lot of grammar with a good portion of lexicon": towards a typology of partitive and pseudopartitive nominal constructions

Backmatter

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612296581

9781282296589

1282296582

9783111738604

3111738604

9783110216134

3110216132

OCLC:

477087795