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This rich volume deals comprehensively with cross-linguistic variation in the morphosyntax of ditransitive constructions: constructions formed with verbs (like give) that take Agent, Theme and Recipient arguments. For the first time, a broadly cross-linguistic perspective is adopted. The present volume, consisting of an overview article and twenty-odd in-depth studies of ditransitive constructions in individual languages from different continents, arose from the conference on ditransitive constructions held at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig) in 2007. It opens with the editors' survey article providing an overview of cross-linguistic variation in ditransitive ...
Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG) is a constraint-based or declarative approach to linguistic knowledge, which analyses all descriptive levels (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics) with feature value pairs, structure sharing, and relational constraints. In syntax it assumes that expressions have a single relatively simple constituent structure. This volume provides a state-of-the-art introduction to the framework. Various chapters discuss basic assumptions and formal foundations, describe the evolution of the framework, and go into the details of the main syntactic phenomena. Further chapters are devoted to non-syntactic levels of description. The book also considers related fields and research areas (gesture, sign languages, computational linguistics) and includes chapters comparing HPSG with other frameworks (Lexical Functional Grammar, Categorial Grammar, Construction Grammar, Dependency Grammar, and Minimalism).
The analysis of constructions denoting possession (particularly, but not exclusively, in English) has long presented a challenge to morpho-syntactic theory and has been a topic of debate for some time. The papers presented here afford thought-provoking insights into the morphosyntactic nature of possessive markers under a variety of theoretical frameworks. The distribution of phrases expressing possession is explored in a range of languages (including English, Swedish, Urdu and West Flemish), with rigorous exploitation of corpus data and careful statistical analysis. Descriptions and analyses represent the state of the art in research into possessive constructions. Particular attention is paid to the English possessive 's, both synchronically and diachronically. This volume is essential for scholars interested in theoretical and corpus-based linguistics, morphosyntactic constructions, and the expression of possession.
It is hardly an overstatement to say that Soviet linguists had a monopoly over Tajik linguistics before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when most studies on the language were accessible exclusively through Russian and Tajik. Today, however, linguists dealing with Tajik are diverse not only in terms of their location but also in terms of their disciplinary orientation within linguistics, making it difficult for the general linguist to work out the state of the art of the linguistic study of Tajik. This volume aims to address this difficulty by collecting in a handbook format recent (post-Soviet) developments in the study of Tajik that now lie scattered in different subdisciplines of linguistics. The volume thus showcases the state of the art of post-Soviet Tajik linguistics and can be used as a guide for linguists interested in the language.
This is the first book on coordinating constructions that adopts a broad cross-linguistic perspective. Coordination has been studied intensively in English and other major European languages, but we are only beginning to understand the range of variation that is found world-wide. This volume consists of a number of general studies, as well as fourteen case studies of coordinating constructions in languages or groups of languages: Africa (Iraqw, Fongbe, Hausa), the Caucasus (Daghestanian, Tsakhur, Chechen), the Middle East (Persian and other Western Iranian languages), Southeast Asia (Lai, Karen, Indonesian), the Pacific (Lavukaleve, Oceanic, Nêlêmwa), and the Americas (Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan). A detailed introductory chapter summarizes the main results of the volume and situates them in the context of other relevant current research.
During recent years, attempts have been made to move beyond the Eurocentric perspective that characterized the social sciences, especially anthropology, for over 150 years. A debate on the “anthropology of anthropology” was needed, one that would consider other forms of knowledge, modalities of writing, and political and intellectual practices. This volume undertakes that challenge: it is the result of discussions held at the first organized encounter between Iranian, American, and European anthropologists since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. It is considered an important first step in overcoming the dichotomy between “peripheral anthropologies” versus “central anthropologies.” The contributors examine, from a critical perspective, the historical, cultural, and political field in which anthropological research emerged in Iran at the beginning of the twentieth century and in which it continues to develop today.
Iranian Armenian is the variety of spoken Armenian that was developed by Armenians in Tehran, Iran over the last few centuries. It has a substantial community of speakers in California. This variety or lect is called “Persian Armenian” [pɒɻskɒhɒjeɻen] or “Iranian Armenian” [iɻɒnɒhɒjeɻen] by members of the community. The present book is not a comprehensive grammar of the language. It occupies a gray zone between being a simple sketch versus a sizable grammar. We attempt to clarify the basic aspects of the language, such as its phoneme inventory, noticeable morphophonological processes, various inflectional paradigms, and some peculiar aspects of its syntax. We likewise provi...
This volume examines the phenomenon of ergativity, a grammatical patterning whereby direct objects are in some way treated like intransitive subjects, to the exclusion of transitive subjects. It includes theoretical approaches from generative, typological, and functional paradigms, as well as 16 language-specific case studies.
Gorani refers to under-documented, endangered varieties spoken in a cluster within the Zagros mountains (Iran/Iraq). These varieties possess conservative features of importance to linguists. However, their study has been plagued by nomenclature and taxonomy issues. Traditional names for these languages have been supplanted first by orientalists' prescriptions and then by their linguist heirs. Inaccurate terminology has sewn discord between speaker communities, disturbing the sociolinguistic landscape. This volume represents the state of the art of Gorani's historical and socio-linguistics, documentation, and literature, as well as an effort to aid the "decolonization" of Gorani linguistics.
This unique collection of essays by leading international scholars gives a profound introduction into the great diversity and richness of facets forming the study of one of earth’s most exciting areas, the Iranian and Caucasian lands. Each of the 37 contributions sheds light on a very special topic, the range of which comprises historical, cultural, ethnographical, religious, political and last but not least literary and linguistic issues, beginning from the late antiquity up to current times. Especially during the last decennia these two regions gained greater interest worldwide due to several developments in politics and culture. This fact grants the book, intended as a festschrift for P...