Spatial interrogatives in Europe and beyond : where, whither, whence / Thomas Stolz [and four others].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stolz, Thomas, Author.

Stolz, Thomas, author.

Series:

Studia typologica ; Volume 20.

Studia Typologica, 1617-2957 ; Volume 20

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Linguistics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (778 pages) : illustrations, tables.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin, [Germany] : De Gruyter Mouton, 2017.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

The extant generalizations about the grammar of space rely heavily on the analyses of declarative sentences. There is a need to check whether these generalizations also hold in the domain of interrogation. To this end this book analyzes data from some 450 languages (including non-standard varieties). The focus is on paradigms of spatial interrogatives such as English where, whither and whence and their internal organization. These paradigms are checked for recurrent patterns of morphological mismatches (such as syncretism) and different degrees of complexity (e.g. the number of segments). The data-base consists of a large parallel literary corpus (Le petit prince and translations thereof) which is complemented by further sources of information such as descriptive grammars. The data are analyzed from a synchronic perspective. However, diachronic issues are addressed unsystematically, too. It is shown that the distribution of phenomena which characterize paradigms of spatial interrogatives are subject to areal-linguistic factors. This is the first typological study of spatial interrogatives. It provides new insights for students of the grammar of space, morphological paradigms, and language typology.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Preface and Acknowledgments

Contents

List of Abbreviations

List of Diagrams

List of Schemes

List of Tables

1. Introduction

2. The formal relations of spatial interrogatives

3. WHERE, WHITHER, and WHENCE in the languages of Europe

4. The big world

5. Spatial relations across sentence-types

6. Conclusions

Sources

Appendix: Language sample

Index of Authors

Index of Languages

Index of Subjects

Notes:

Includes indexes.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed September 11, 2017).

ISBN:

3-11-053833-4

OCLC:

1002222240