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The volume presents recent results in the field of Information Structure based on research on Italian and Italian dialects, and on further studies on several typologically different languages. The central idea is that Information Structure is not an exclusive matter of syntax but an interface issue which involves the interplay of at least the phonological, morpho-syntactic and semantic-pragmatic levels of analysis. In addition, the volume is based on the study of actual language use and it adopts a cross-linguistic point of view.
Recent years have seen intense debates between formal (generative) and functional linguists, particularly with respect to the relation between grammar and usage. This debate is directly relevant to diachronic linguistics, where one and the same phenomenon of language change can be explained from various theoretical perspectives. In this, a close look at the divergent and/or convergent evolution of a richly documented language family such as Romance promises to be useful. The basic problem for any approach to language change is what Eugenio Coseriu has termed the paradox of change: if synchronically, languages can be viewed as perfectly running systems, then there is no reason why they should change in the first place. And yet, as everyone knows, languages are changing constantly. In nine case studies, a number of renowned scholars of Romance linguistics address the explanation of grammatical change either within a broadly generative or a functional framework.
This book takes the reader on a journey through the structure of everyday spoken English, providing a fresh look at the relation between language and the mind.
Taking a functional approach, this book provides a thorough overview of Morphosyntax, and sets out a framework for syntactic constructions.
This volume offers theoretically informed surveys of topics that have figured prominently in morphosyntactic and syntactic research into Romance languages and dialects. We define syntax as being the linguistic component that assembles linguistic units, such as roots or functional morphemes, into grammatical sentences, and morphosyntax as being an umbrella term for all morphological relations between these linguistic units, which either trigger morphological marking (e.g. explicit case morphemes) or are related to ordering issues (e.g. subjects precede finite verbs whenever there is number agreement between them). All 24 chapters adopt a comparative perspective on these two fields of research, highlighting cross-linguistic grammatical similarities and differences within the Romance language family. In addition, many chapters address issues related to variation observable within individual Romance languages, and grammatical change from Latin to Romance.
Non-Native Prosody: Phonetic Description and Teaching Practice is a response to the increasing interest in the field of prosody in second language acquisition and teaching. The volume presents an overview of the state of the art in second language prosody learning and teaching and brings together linguistic research on the description and modelling of non-native prosodic structures with L2 teaching methods and practices. The first part comprises descriptions of non-native prosodic structures (including intonation, stress and speech rhythm) as well as methodological considerations of research in second language acquisition written by experts in the field. These overviews of current theoretica...
This volume provides a guide to what we know about the interplay between prosody-stress, phrasing, and melody-and interpretation-felicity in discourse, inferences, and emphasis. Speakers can modulate the meaning and effects of their utterances by changing the location of stress or of pauses, and by choosing the melody of their sentences. Although these factors often do not change the literal meaning of what is said, linguists have in recent years found tools and models to describe these more elusive aspects of linguistic meaning. This volume provides a guide to what we know about the interplay between prosody-stress, phrasing, and melody-and interpretation-felicity in discourse, inferences, ...
New Perspectives on Historical Latin Syntax: Complex Sentences, Grammaticalization, Typology is the fourth in a set of four volumes dealing with the long-term evolution of Latin syntax, roughly from the 4th century BCE up to the 6th century CE. As in the other volumes, the non-technical style and extensive illustration with classical examples makes the content readable and immediately useful to the widest audience.
For New Testament biblical scholars, this book constitutes a vital summary of contemporary, theoretically-sound interpretations of the linguistic functions of the Post-Classical (Koine) Greek article in a way that will inform exegesis of the text, especially in the field of larger discourse units. There is also significant payoff for the as-yet significantly under-researched field of Koine linguistics. The essays included in this volume are written by notable experts, offering contributions to the linguistic analysis of the Post-Classical Greek language. While there remains no comprehensive treatment of the grammar of the Post-Classical dialects, individual elements of that grammar continue to be fruitfully explored. The collection presented here offers interpretations of the functions and grammar of the Greek article (ὁ, ἡ, τό) from a variety of perspectives, including generative grammar and discourse analysis, along with studies that make use of text-critical and diachronic data. Together, these supply readers of Greek with a thorough understanding of the functions of the article and constitute a starting point for further research efforts.
This volume is intended as a celebration of Kristin Davidse’s work and its impact within the broad traditions of cognitive, functional and usage-based grammars. Reflecting this wide functionalist lens, the contributions develop ideas central to Neo-Firthian theories of grammar (in particular, Semiotic Grammar and SFL), the Prague School, Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG), and broader cognitive-functional (e.g. Construction Grammar) and usage-based approaches (e.g. Entrenchment-and-Conventionalization theory, corpus-based sociolinguistics). The range of topics addressed makes the volume particularly relevant to linguists investigating information structure, construction grammar, functional discourse grammar, spatial deixis, pronoun and case systems, and/or the semantics of verbal constructions.