Negation in the History of English

Negation in the History of English PDF Author: Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 9783110161984
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Book Description
The future of English linguistics as envisaged by the editors of Topics in English Linguistics lies in empirical studies, which integrate work in English linguistics into general and theoretical linguistics on the one hand, and comparative linguistics on the other. The TiEL series features volumes that present interesting new data and analyses, and above all fresh approaches that contribute to the overall aim of the series, which is to further outstanding research in English linguistics. For further publications in English linguistics see also our Dialects of English book series. To discuss your book idea or submit a proposal, please contact Natalie Fecher.

Old English Syntax

Old English Syntax PDF Author: Bruce Mitchell
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780195204704
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 2010

Book Description


Verb Movement and Clause Structure in Old Romanian

Verb Movement and Clause Structure in Old Romanian PDF Author: Virginia Hill
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191056146
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Book Description
The book provides a formal analysis of root and complement clauses in Old Romanian. Virginia Hill and Gabriela Alboiu examine the combination of Balkan syntactic patterns such as generalized subjunctive complementation on the one hand, and the Romance morphology that supplies complementizers and grammatical mood forms on the other. The consequences of this mixed typology range from root clauses with non-finite verbs to split heads and repeated recycling in clausal complements. The book argues that discourse triggers at the left periphery are responsible for fluctuations in verb movement in finite clauses, while with gerunds and imperatives verb movement follows from functional constraints. It further argues that clausal complements to control and raising verbs systematically display the pattern of the Balkan subjunctive, and that the spell out of these clausal complements has been repeatedly recycled during the development of Romanian. Verb Movement and Clause Structure in Old Romanian presents a new perspective on the manifestation of Balkan Sprachbund properties in the language, and on the nature of parametric differences in relation to other Romance languages. It provides a unified explanation for a range of constructions that have previously been treated as separate phenomena, and places diachronic changes in Romanian in a wider context.

Phrase Structures in Competition

Phrase Structures in Competition PDF Author: Susan Pintzuk
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 9780815332695
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Book Description
This book investigates variation and change in Old English word order, with special emphasis on the position of the verb.

A Brief History of English Syntax

A Brief History of English Syntax PDF Author: Olga Fischer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521768586
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Book Description
An accessible, up-to-date account of the major changes in English syntax since its beginnings up to the present day.

Clause Structure and Language Change

Clause Structure and Language Change PDF Author: Adrian Battye
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195358791
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 380

Book Description
The Principles-and-Parameters approach to linguistic theory has triggered an enormous amount of work in comparative syntax over the last decade or so. A natural consequence of the growth in synchronic comparative work has been a renewed interest in questions of diachronic syntax, and this collection testifies to that trend. These papers focus on questions of clause structure which have become a central theme of theoretical work since the pioneering work in the late 1980s by Chomsky, Pollock, and others. The languages studied by an international roster of contributors include all the major Romance and Germanic languages. This volume is of central importance for anyone working in theoretical, comparative, or historical syntax.

The Development of Latin Clause Structure

The Development of Latin Clause Structure PDF Author: Lieven Jozef Maria Danckaert
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198759525
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Book Description
This book examines Latin word order, and in particular the relative ordering of i) lexical verbs and direct objects (OV vs VO) and ii) auxiliaries and non-finite verbs (VAux vs AuxV). In Latin these elements can freely be ordered with respect to each other, whereas the present-day Romance languages only allow for the head-initial orders VO and AuxV. Lieven Danckaert offers a detailed, corpus-based description of these two word order alternations, focusing on their diachronic development in the period from c. 200 BC until 600 AD. The corpus data reveal that some received wisdom needs to be reconsidered: there is in fact no evidence for any major increase in productivity of the order VO during the eight centuries under investigation, and the order AuxV only becomes more frequent in clauses with a modal verb and an infinitive, not in clauses with a BE-auxiliary and a past participle. The book also explores a more fundamental question about Latin syntax, namely whether or not the language is configurational, in the sense that a phrase structure grammar (with 'higher-order constituents' such as verb phrases) is needed to describe and analyse Latin word order patterns. Four pieces of evidence are presented that suggest that Latin is indeed a fully configurational language, despite its high degree of word order flexibility. Specifically, it is shown that there is ample evidence for the existence of a verb phrase constituent. The book thus contributes to the ongoing debate regarding the status of configurationality as a language universal.

Understanding Sentence Structure

Understanding Sentence Structure PDF Author: Christina Tortora
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118659740
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 371

Book Description
A straightforward guide to understanding English grammar This book is for people who have never thought about syntax, and who don't know anything about grammar, but who want to learn. Assuming a blank slate on the part of the reader, the book treats English grammar as a product of the speaker's mind, and builds up student skills by exploring phrases and sentences with more and more complexity, as the chapters proceed. This practical guide excites and empowers readers by guiding them step by step through each chapter with intermittent exercises. In order to capitalize on the reader's confidence as a personal authority on English, Understanding Sentence Structure assumes an inclusive definition of English, taking dialect variation and structures common amongst millions of English speakers to be a fact of natural language. Situates grammar as part of what the student already unconsciously knows Presupposes no prior instruction, not even in prescriptive grammar Begins analyzing sentences immediately, with the "big picture" (sentences have structure, structure can be ambiguous) and moves through levels of complexity, tapping into students' tacit knowledge of sentence structure Includes exercise boxes for in-chapter practicing of skills, side notes that offer further tips/encouragement on topics being discussed, and new terms defined immediately and helpfully in term boxes Applies decades of findings in syntactic theory and cognitive science, with an eye towards making English grammar accessible to school teachers and beginning students alike Understanding Sentence Structure: An Introduction to English Syntax is an ideal book for undergraduates studying modern English grammar and for instructors teaching introductory courses in English grammar, syntax, and sentence structure.

Modern English Structures - Second Edition

Modern English Structures - Second Edition PDF Author: Bernard O'Dwyer
Publisher: Broadview Press
ISBN: 9781551117638
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Book Description
Modern English Structures is a clear and accessible text that follows a structural approach to teaching basic English grammar. The book is divided into three parts: what a sentence constituent is, what a sentence constituent does, and where a sentence constituent goes—Form, Function, and Position. The objective of the book is to bring students to a better understanding of sentence constituents and sentence structures, providing them with appropriate terminology to discuss these forms and relationships. This second edition has been revised and updated throughout. The accompanying Modern English Structures Workbook parallels the text and provides useful training both in memorization and in higher-order thinking skills.

Blickling Homilies

Blickling Homilies PDF Author: Richard J. Kelly
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 0826467857
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Book Description
"The Blickling Homilies, which date from the end of the tenth century, are one of the earliest extant collections of English vernacular homiletic writings. The homiletic texts survive in a composite codex consisting of Municipal Entries for the Council of Lincoln (fourteenth to seventeenth century), a Calendar (mid-fifteenth century), Gospel Oaths (early fourteenth century) and the eighteen homiletic texts that are based on the annual liturgical cycle. The Blickling Homilies are an important literary milestone in the early evolution of English prose." "The manuscript, in the William H. Scheide collection which is housed in Princeton University Library (MS. 71, s.x/xi), was edited in facsimile by Rudolph Willard and published as Volume 10 of Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile (Copenhagen, 1960). The previous edition of The Blickling Homilies is by Richard Morris, published as three volumes in 1874, 1876 and 1880 (reprinted as one volume in 1967) by the Early English Texts Society (London), though individual items from the collection have also been published in readers and anthologies." "This new edition makes certain corrections to Morris's editing of the manuscript and the translations are modernized and made more exact. It also formats both the original text and facing-page translation into paragraphs based on the considered opinion of the editor, which makes it easier to comprehend the flow of the prose. Finally, the text and translation are accompanied with a general introduction, textual notes, tables and charts, select bibliography and index."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved