The locative alternation in German : its structure and acquisition / Ursula Brinkmann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brinkmann, Ursula.

Series:

Language acquisition & language disorders ; 15.

Language acquisition & language disorders, 0925-0123 ; v. 15

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

German language--Locative constructions.

German language.

German language--Prepositions.

German language--Verb.

German language--Case.

German language--Morphology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (299 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : J. Benjamins Pub., 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This monograph deals with the locative alternation in German, a change in the argument structure of verbs like spray and load. Like most argument structure changes, the alternation is both productive and constrained: new forms may be derived, but not from all candidate verbs. This raises a learnability problem: how can children determine, in the absence of negative evidence, which verbs participate in the alternation? The Locative Alternation in German tries to answer this question by providing an in-depth analysis of the conditions that verbs must meet.

Contents:

CONTENTS; Chapter 1: Argument Structure Alternations and the No Negative Evidence Problem; Chapter 2: Theories of the Acquisition of Argument Structure Alterations; Chapter 3: The Structure of the Locative Alternation; Chapter 4: The Nonindividuation Hypothesis; Chapter 5: The Production Experiment: Testing the Nonindividuation Hypothesis; Chapter 6: Restrictions on be-Prefixation; Chapter 7: The Comprehension Experiment: Testing Children's Inter-pretation of be-Verbs; Chapter 8: Summary and Conclusions; Appendices; References; Author Index; Subject Index

Notes:

Based on the author's thesis (Ph.D.).

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

1-283-28017-5

9786613280176

90-272-8171-8

OCLC:

301104920