Subjects in constructions : canonical and non-canonical / edited by Marja-Liisa Helasvuo, University of Turku ; Tuomas Huumo, University of Turku.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Helasvuo, Marja-Liisa, editor.

Huumo, Tuomas, editor.

Series:

Constructional approaches to language ; v. 16.

Constructional approaches to language, 1573-594x ; volume 16

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Grammar, Comparative and general--Topic and comment.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Grammar, Comparative and general--Coordinate constructions.

Grammar, Comparative and general--Syntax.

Construction grammar.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (332 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : John Benjamins Publishing Company, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

We offer a model of Russian core syntax in terms of a radial category network of constructions. The prototype corresponds to Langacker's "canonical event model", namely a prototypical transitive event, and more peripheral constructions are related to it via metaphor and metonymy. From this perspective we focus on non-canonical subjects marked in the dative case, highlighting the complex interaction of lexical items (verbs) with constructions, and building on our previous work on case and infinitives. We hypothesize that a speaker's perception of cause may be influenced by the use of non-canonical subjects (in Russian) rather than canonical subjects (in English) and present the results of an experiment. We are unable to prove any conclusive effect, but show the importance and need for further testing.

Contents:

Subjects in Constructions - Canonical and Non-Canonical

Editorial page

Title page

LCC data

Table of contents

Abbreviations

Canonical and non-canonical subjects in constructions: Perspectives from cognition and discourse

1. Introduction

2. Subjects and non-subjects in constructions

3. Grammatical and discourse perspectives on non-canonical subjects

4. Stretching the limits of subjecthood

5. Subjects in networks of constructions

6. Concluding remarks

References

Section I. Grammatical and discourse perspectives on non-canonical subjects

On the subject of subject in Finnish

2. Criteria for subjecthood

2.1 Grammatical criteria

2.2 Semantic criteria

2.2.1 Crosslinguistic perspectives on the semantics of subjects

2.2.2 The semantics of subjects in Finnish

2.3 Discourse criteria

3. E-NPs: Between subjects, objects and predicate nominals

4. Non-agentive constructions with theme orientation

4.1 Setting subject constructions

4.2 Referentiality as a criterion for a grammatical category: Between eNPs and predicate nominals

4.2.1 State clauses

4.2.2 Result clauses

4.3 Existential constructions and theme orientation

5. Conclusions

Hidden subjects in conversation: Estonian personless verb forms as referential devices

1. On person and reference in Estonian

2. Person and how it is concealed in Estonian

3. The personless conditional in conversations

4. Personless conditional in the referential framework of the discourse

5. Impersonal in Estonian conversations

6. Impersonal verbs in the referential framework of a conversation

7. Personless conditional and impersonal in the same referential frame

8. Conclusion

Subjects under generic conditions: Implied subjects in Finnish and Estonian if-clauses.

1. Introduction

1.1 Data

1.2 Conditional markers

2. Conditional clauses

3. Genericity

4. The zero person, the da-infinitive, and the passive as constructions

4.1 The zero person construction

4.2 The Finnish passive and Estonian impersonal

4.3 The da-infinitive

5. Different possibilities for expressing generic conditionals

5.1 Generic person forms

5.1.1 First person

5.1.2 Second person

5.1.3 Third person

5.2 Generic noun phrases

6. Interpretation of the implied subjects

6.1 The zero person and its possible counterparts

6.1.1 The zero person

6.1.2 da-infinitive

6.1.3 The second person singular

6.1.4 The impersonal

6.2 Finnish passive and its possible Estonian counterparts

6.3 The implied "subject" of the impersonal and the da-infinitive in non-translated Estonian

7. Conclusion

Translated data (magazines)

Non-translated data

Section II. Stretching the limits of subjecthood

Abstract locational subjects: Field and settings in French and English

2. A natural class of subjects

3. The abstract locational subject analysis

3.1 Language and human experience: Clause structure

3.2 Toward setting subject constructions

3.3 Impersonals

3.4 Need to further specify the notion of abstract locational setting

4. Different kinds of abstract regions

4.1 Two levels of reality

4.2 There and il: A region of R

4.3 It and il: A region of R′

4.4 R and R′: A second look

4.5 Field versus setting: Il and ça

5. Recapitulation and conclusion

Subjecthood of the agent argument in Estonian passive constructions

2. Estonian impersonal and passive constructions

2.1 Impersonal and passive: an overview

2.2 Agent marking in Estonian passive constructions: previous studies.

3. Expression of the agent in the passive construction in the 19th and the late 20th century

3.1 Expression of the A in the passive construction in the 19th century

3.2 Agent-marking options in modern Estonian

4. Comparison of the use of elative and adessive As in 1800-1850 and the 1990s: subject properties

4.1 Semantic constraints on the use of adessive and elative as agent-marking devices

Elative

Adessive

4.2 Other subject properties of adessive and elative As

4.2.1 Word order and topicality

4.2.2 Reflexivization

4.3 Conclusion: properties of the subject

5. Semantics of the adessive and the elative case

6. Subject properties of the adessive argument in other constructions

7. The spread of the possessive perfect

Categorization and semantics of subject-like obliques: A cross-linguistic perspective

2. Categorization of the NTC

2.1 Lexeme-driven NTCs

2.2 Gram-driven NTCs

2.2.1 Evidentiality

2.2.2 Necessity modals

2.2.3 Resultative/perfect

2.2.4 Genitive-under-negation, a special case of G-NTC in Russian

2.3 Syntax-driven NTC

2.3.1 Accusativus cum infinitivo (AcI)

2.3.2 Absolutive/Adverbial clauses

3. A unified semantic account of the non-prototypically realized trajector

4. Some diachronic evidence (insubordination)

Acknowledgements

The world is raining: Meteorological predicates and their subjects in a typological perspective

2. Cross-linguistic typology of meteorological expressions

3. Subjects of meteorological predicates

3.1 Semantic properties

3.2 Coding properties

3.2.1 The lack of subjects

3.2.2 Expletive subjects

3.2.3 Lexical subjects

3.2.4 Case marking properties

3.2.5 Agreement.

3.3 Behavioral and control properties

4. Conclusions

Section III. Subjects in networks of constructions

The syntactic and semantic history of the Finnish genitive subject: Construction networks and the rise of a grammatical category

2. Background: Finnish genitives and non-finites

3. Constructions with a genitive subject

3.1 The Necessive construction

3.2 The permissive construction

3.3 The agent participle

3.4 The referative construction

3.5 The temporal construction

4. The genitive subject: three paths

4.1 Path 1: the "dative genitive"

4.2 Path 2: the genitive attribute

4.3 Path 3: genitive-accusative syncretism

5. Conclusion: the emergence of the genitive subject category

From canon and monolith to clusters: A constructionist model of subjecthood in Russian

2. Outlook on subjecthood in Russian

3. Constructions, syntactic roles and clustered structures

4. Constructions defined

5. Features of Argument-properties

5.1 Nominative case and subjecthood

5.2 Animacy and subjecthood

5.3 Linear order and subjecthood

5.4 Autonomy and subjecthood

5.5 Subject-predicate Inversion construction and subjecthood

6. Features of indexicality

6.1 Agreement and subjecthood

6.2 Semi-predicates and subjecthood

6.3 Instantiation and subjecthood

6.4 Coordination construction and subjecthood

6.5 Possessive reflexive pronoun and subjecthood

6.6 Short-distance reflexive pronoun and subjecthood

6.7 Referential mismatches, long-distance reflexive pronoun and subjecthood

6.8 Purpose construction and subjecthood

6.9 Gerundive construction and subjecthood

7. Features of schematicity

7.1 Paradigmatic features and subjecthood

7.2 Passive construction and subjecthood.

7.3 Raising construction and subjecthood

7.4 Imperative construction and subjecthood

8. Towards a clustered structure of subjecthood in Russian

9. Entailments and conclusions

The role of non-canonical subjects in the overall grammar of a language: A case study of Russian

1. Constructing an entire grammar: Theoretical background

2. Non-canonical subjects in the dative case in Russian

3. The place of non-canonical subjects in the grammar of Russian

3.1 The network of basic constructions in Russian

3.2 Two kinds of non-canonical subject status

4. A discourse-cohesion experiment

5. Conclusion

Construction index

Subject index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9789027269188

9027269181

OCLC:

900540105