Split possession : an areal-linguistic study of the alienability correlation and related phenomena in the languages of Europe / Thomas Stolz ... [et al.].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stolz, Thomas, Author.

Contributor:

Stolz, Thomas.

Series:

Studies in language companion series ; v. 101.

Studies in language companion series, 0165-7763 ; v. 101

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Grammar, Comparative and general--Possessives.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Europe--Languages--Possessives.

Europe.

Physical Description:

x, 546 p. : ill.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : John Benjamins, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book is a functional-typological study of possession splits in European languages. It shows that genetically and structurally diverse languages such as Icelandic, Welsh, and Maltese display possessive systems which are sensitive to semantically based distinctions reminiscent of the alienability correlation. These distinctions are grammatically relevant in many European languages because they require dedicated constructions. What makes these split possessive systems interesting for the linguist is the interaction of semantic criteria with pragmatics and syntax. Neutralisation of distinctions occurs under focus. The same happens if one of the constituents of a possessive construction is syntactically heavy. These effects can be observed in the majority of the 50 sample languages. Possessive splits are strong in those languages which are outside the Standard Average European group. The bulk of the European languages do not behave much differently from those non-European languages for which possession splits are reported. The book reveals interesting new facts about European languages and possession to typologists, universals researchers, and areal linguists.

Contents:

Prelim pages

Table of contents

Preface

List of abbreviations

Part A: What needs to be known beforehand

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. Prerequisites

Chapter 3. Split possession

Part B: Tour d'Europe

Chapter 4. Grammatical possession splits

Chapter 5. Further evidence of possession splits in Europe

Part C: On European misfits and their commonalities

Chapter 6. Results

Notes

Sources

References

Additional background literature

Index of languages

Index of authors

Index of subjects

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [525]-538) and indexes.

ISBN:

9786612105586

9781282105584

1282105582

9789027290366

9027290369