The role of semantic, pragmatic, and discourse factors in the development of case / edited by Johanna Bardal, Shobhana L. Chelliah.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Johanna Bardal, 1969-

Chelliah, Shobhana Lakshmi, 1961-

Series:

Studies in language companion series ; v. 108.

Studies in language companion series, 0165-7763 ; v. 108

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Grammar, Comparative and general--Case.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Case grammar.

Physical Description:

xx, 432 p. : ill., charts.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : John Benjamins Pub., c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The aim of this volume is to bring non-syntactic factors in the development of case into the eye of the research field, by illustrating the integral role of pragmatics, semantics, and discourse structure in the historical development of morphologically marked case systems. The articles represent fifteen typologically diverse languages from four different language families: (i) Indo-European: Vedic Sanskrit, Russian, Greek, Latin, Latvian, Gothic, French, German, Icelandic, and Faroese; (ii) Tibeto-Burman, especially the Bodic languages and Meithei; (iii) Japanese; and (iv) the Pama-Nyungan mixed language Gurindji Kriol. The data also show considerable diversity and include elicited, archival, corpus-based, and naturally occurring data. Discussions of mechanisms where change is obtained include semantically and aspectually motivated synchronic case variation, discourse motivated subject marking, reduction or expansion of case marker distribution, case syncretism motivated by semantics, syntax, or language contact, and case splits motivated by pragmatics, metonymy, and subjectification.

Contents:

List of contributors

Introduction: the role of semantic, pragmatic and discourse factors in the development of case / Jóhanna Barðdal & Shobhana L. Chelliah

Pt. 1. Semantically and aspectually motivated synchronic case variation

Case variation in Gothic absolute constructions / Tonya Kim Dewey & Yasmin Syed

Some semantic and pragmatic aspects of object alternation in Early Vedic / Eystein Dahl

Pt. 2. Discourse motivated subject marking

The case of the shifty ergative marker : a pragmatic shift in the ergative marker of one Australian mixed language / Felicity Meakins

How useful is case morphology? : the loss of the Old French two-case system within a theory of preferred argument structure / Ulrich Detges

Pt. 3. Reduction or expansion of case marker distribution

The development of case in Germanic / Jóhanna Barðdal

A usage-based approach to change : Old Russian possessive constructions / Hanne Martine Eckhoff

Lacking in Latvian : case variation from a cognitive and constructional perspective / Sturla Berg-Olsen

Verb classes and dative objects in Insular Scandinavian / Jóhannes Gísli Jónsson

Transitive adjectives in Japanese / Daniela Caluianu

Pt. 4. Case syncretism motivated by syntax, semantics or language contact

Patterns of development, patterns of syncretism of relational morphology in the Bodic languages / Michael Noonan

The evolution of local cases and their grammatical equivalent in Greek and Latin / Silvia Luraghi

Argument structure and alignment variations and changes in Late Latin / Michela Cennamo

Case loss in Texas German : the influence of semantic and pragmatic factors / Hans C. Boas

Pt. 5. Case splits motivated by pragmatics, metonymy and subjectification

Semantic role to new information in Meithei / Shobhana L. Chelliah

From less personal to more personal : subjectification of ni-marked NPs in Japanese discourse / Misumi Sadler.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9786612104350

9781282104358

1282104357

9789027289926

9027289921