- Home
- Books
Books
To browse by subfields of a subject, please start on the Subjects tab in the navigation bar/menu, then filter by subject-subcategory and by content type.
Information on Forthcoming Books can be found on the benjamins.com website.
1 - 20 of 53 results
Subject
- Theoretical linguistics [23] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-theor
- Syntax [14] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-syntax
- Pragmatics [13] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-prag
- Language acquisition [10] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-la
- Sociolinguistics and Dialectology [10] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-socio
- Cognition and language [9] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-cogn
- Historical linguistics [8] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-hl
- Discourse studies [7] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-disc
- Germanic linguistics [7] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-germ
- English linguistics [6] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-eng
- Bilingualism [5] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-bil
- Generative linguistics [5] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-gener
- Psycholinguistics [4] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-psylin
- Semantics [4] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-seman
- Philosophy [4] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/phil-gen
- Functional linguistics [3] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-funct
- History of linguistics [3] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-hol
- Language documentation [3] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-landoc
- Languages of North America [3] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-noam
- Sino-Tibetan languages [3] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-sitib
- Typology [3] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-typ
- Consciousness research [2] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/cons-gen
- Applied linguistics [2] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-appl
- Contact Linguistics [2] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-cont
- Creole studies [2] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-creo
- Japanese linguistics [2] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-japanese
- Cognitive psychology [2] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/psy-cogpsy
- Communication Studies [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/comm-cgen
- Afro-Asiatic languages [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-afas
- Computational & corpus linguistics [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-comput
- Corpus linguistics [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-corp
- Dictionaries [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-dict
- Language teaching [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-educ
- Language policy [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-lapo
- Morphology [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-morph
- Phonology [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-phon
- Romance linguistics [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-rom
- Semiotics [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-sem
- Signed languages [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-sign
- Slavic linguistics [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-slav
- Uralic languages [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-ural
- Writing and literacy [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lin-writ
- Romance literature & literary studies [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/lit-rom
- Industrial & organizational studies [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/misc-indroc
- Neuropsychology [1] http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/psy-neuro
- More Hide
Year
- 2024 [3] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2024
- 2023 [2] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2023
- 2022 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2022
- 2021 [2] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2021
- 2020 [3] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2020
- 2018 [2] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2018
- 2017 [2] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2017
- 2016 [2] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2016
- 2015 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2015
- 2014 [3] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2014
- 2013 [3] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2013
- 2012 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2012
- 2011 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2011
- 2010 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2010
- 2008 [2] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2008
- 2006 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2006
- 2005 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2005
- 2004 [2] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2004
- 2002 [3] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2002
- 2001 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2001
- 2000 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 2000
- 1999 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 1999
- 1996 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 1996
- 1994 [2] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 1994
- 1992 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 1992
- 1991 [2] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 1991
- 1990 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 1990
- 1989 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 1989
- 1986 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 1986
- 1985 [1] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 1985
- 1984 [2] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 1984
- 1983 [2] http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/yearOfPublication 1983
- More Hide
-
-
The Ubiquity of Metaphor
Editor(s): Wolf Paprotté and René DirvenPublication Date January 1985More LessThis volume brings together a number of articles representative of the present outlook on the importance of metaphors, and of the work done on metaphors in several domains of (psycho)linguistics. The first part of the volume deals with metaphor and the system of language. The second part offers papers on metaphor and language use. In the third part psychological and psycholinguistic aspects of metaphor are discussed.
-
-
-
UG and External Systems
Editor(s): Anna Maria Di SciulloPublication Date April 2005More LessThis book explores the interaction of the grammar with the external systems, conceptual-intentional and sensori-motor. The papers in the Language section include configurational analyses of the interface properties of depictives, clitic clusters, imperatives, conditionals, clefts, as well as asymmetries in the structure of syllables and feet. The Brain section discusses questions related to human learning and comprehension of language: the acquisition of compounds, the acquisition of the definite article, the subject/object asymmetry in the comprehension of D-Linked vs. non D-linked questions, the evidence for syntactic asymmetries in American Sign Language, the acquisition of syllable types, and the role of stress shift in the determination of phrase ending. The papers in the Computation section present different perspectives on how the properties of UG can be implemented in a parser; implementations of different theories including configurational selection, incorporation, and minimalism; and the role of statistical and quantitative approaches in natural language processing.
-
-
-
Ugandan English
Editor(s): Christiane Meierkord, Bebwa Isingoma and Saudah NamyaloPublication Date October 2016More LessUgandan English is a variety that has scarcely been noticed in past research. This timely volume brings together African and European scholars in a first-ever collection of articles that offer comprehensive discussions of the historical and present-day sociolinguistics of English in Uganda and fine-grained analyses of the structural characteristics of and attitudes to this hitherto largely unknown variety. Using rich archive, corpus, and interview data as well as ethnographic and observational methods, the various contributions paint a comprehensive picture of Ugandan English as distinct from other East African Englishes and as characterized by nativisation despite a still strong exonormative orientation, reflecting the modern nation’s status as a post-protectorate under the influence of globalisation. Apart from advancing our understanding of Ugandan English itself, the individual chapters contribute to theoretical debates on language contact and variation as regards the influence of substrate languages, founder populations, language ideologies and socio-economic factors.
-
-
-
Umbrüche
Editor(s): Klaus Kahnert and Burkhard MojsischPublication Date November 2001More LessUmbrüche ist keine lückenlose Darstellung aller Wendepunkte in der Philosophiegeschichte, sondern eine Sammlung von Beiträgen, die sowohl bekannte Neuanfänge als auch bislang wenig beachtete Denkbewegungen analysieren bis hin zu Auseinandersetzungen mit Anregungen, die für sich selbst genommen Umbrüche bedeuten, als solche jedoch nicht historisch wirksam werden konnten. Folgende Autoren bzw. Themen werden berücksichtigt: die Sprach- und Erkenntnistheorie Platons, Naturphilosophie und Philosophiekritik bei Augustin, Meister Eckharts Predigt 21, wissenschaftstheoretische und ontologische Neuansätze bei Adam de Wodeham, Hervaeus Natalis und Wilhelm von Ockham, atheistische Tendenzen im 14. Jahrhundert, Niccolò Machiavellis politische Philosophie, philosophiehistorische Überlegungen zum Epochenbegriff, Kants kritische Transzendentalphilosophie und ihre Wende bei Fichte, die Bedeutung der Französischen Revolution für den Freiheitsbegriff Fichtes, die Vollendung des Anselmianischen Arguments durch Schellings Begriff des Überseienden, die Sprachphilosophie W. von Humboldts sowie die Dionysius-Pseudo-Areopagita-Rezeption bei Hugo Ball.
Beiträgen von: Burkhard Mojsisch; Arne Malmsheimer; Udo Reinhold Jeck; Franz-Bernhard Stammkötter; Jens Maassen; Christian Rode; Martin Lenz; Olaf Pluta; Bernhard Milz; Christiane Schultz; Christoph Asmuth; Annette Sell; Orrin F. Summerell; Klaus Kahnert; Matthias Bloch.The volume Umbrüche the German word means “radical changes” presents not a seamless account of the many turning points in the history of philosophy, but instead contributions individually reflecting on both well-known and little regarded crises in the development of philosophical thought, including some whose promise was never fully realized. At issue are the following authors and themes: Plato’s epistemology and theory of language, Augustine‘s philosophy of nature and his critique of philosophy, Meister Eckhart’s German sermon 21, Adam de Wodeham’s, Hervaeus Natalis’s and William of Ockham’s revolutionary theories of science and ontology; atheistic tendencies in the 14th century; Niccolò Machiavelli’s political philosophy; philosophical-historical deliberations on the concept of an ‘epoch’; Kant’s transcendental philosophy and its reception and change by Fichte; the significance of the French Revolution for Fichte’s concept of freedom; the culmination of the Anselmian argument in Schelling’s concept of what is ‘beyond being’; Wilhelm von Humboldt’s philosophy of language and Hugo Ball’s reception of Dionysius Pseudo-Areopagita.
-
-
-
The Unaccented Vowels of Proto-Norse
Author(s): Martin SyrettPublication Date January 1994More LessThe Unaccented Vowels of Proto-Norse attempts to analyse the unaccented vowel system attested in the proto-Norse period, as partially attested in the older runic inscriptions in the elder futhark. Each chapter in turn assesses the evidence for unaccented syllables of a particular category, whether inflectional or derivational, and decides whether any reliable conclusions can be drawn from it. It is argued that too many widely accepted views are based on insufficient and poor methodology, and that too little note has been taken of the fact that viable alternatives exist alongside most of our theories about proto-Norse. In particular, a new realisation that the inscriptions are written in a less than perfect orthographic system, a notion that many scholars have often been unwilling to accept, leads to some interesting new interpretations of the data.
-
-
-
-
-
Unconscious Memory Representations in Perception
Editor(s): István Czigler and István WinklerPublication Date May 2010More LessPerceptual experience emerges from neural computations. Unconscious Memory Representations in Perception focuses on the role of implicit (non-conscious) memories in processing sensory information. Making sense of the wealth of information arriving at our senses requires implicit memories, which represent environmental regularities, contingencies of the sensory input, as well as general contextual knowledge. Recent findings and theories in cognitive and computational neuroscience provided new insights into the structure and contents of implicit memory representations. The chapters of this book examine implicit memories both in relatively simple situations, such as perceiving auditory and visual objects, as well as in high‑level cognitive functions, such as speech and music perception and aesthetic experience.
By nature, implicit memories cannot be directly studied with behavioral methods. Therefore, a large part of the evidence reviewed was obtained in neuroscientific studies. Readers with limited experience in neuroscience will find information about the most commonly used techniques in the appendix of this volume. (Series B)
-
-
-
Under the Tumtum Tree
Author(s): Marlene DolitskyPublication Date January 1984More LessAny informal discussion of a piece of nonsense literature produces highly varying interpretations which retain, however, a common core. It seemed, then, that nonsense would be a fertile base in the study of nonautomatic comprehension, i.e. comprehension where the word-meaning relations do not seem to be self-evident. And fertile it was! This monograph reports the results of a study into the nonautomatic functioning of the linguistic network which includes idiosyncratic as well as common, coded elements at all levels: semantic, syntactic, and phonetic as well as episodic. To carry it out, a number of adults and children were given nonsense texts to interpret. These interpretations were in turn analyzed as to the strategies applied toward the comprehension of those texts. Various examples of nonsense in mass media were also analyzed in the light of these findings.
-
-
-
Understanding Conversational Joking
Author(s): Nadine ThielemannPublication Date June 2020More LessThis book examines the diverse forms of conversational humor with the help of examples drawn from casual interactions among Russian speakers. It argues that neither an exclusively discourse-analytic perspective on the phenomenon nor an exclusively cognitive one can adequately account for conversational joking. Instead, the work advocates reconciling these two perspectives in order to describe such humor as a form of cognitive and communicative creativity, by means of which interlocutors convey additional meanings and imply further interpretive frames. Accordingly, in order to analyze cognition in interaction, it introduces a discourse-semantic framework which complements mental spaces and blending theory with ideas from discourse analysis. On the one hand, this enables both the emergent and interactive character and the surface features of conversational joking to be addressed. On the other, it incorporates into the analysis those normally backgrounded cognitive processes responsible for the additional meanings emerging from, and communicated by jocular utterances.
-
-
-
Understanding Deafness, Language and Cognitive Development
Editor(s): Gary MorganPublication Date February 2020More LessThe study of childhood deafness offers researchers many interesting insights into the role of experience and sensory inputs for the development of language and cognition. This volume provides a state of the art look at these questions and how they are being applied in the areas of clinical and educational settings. It also marks the career and contributions of one of the greatest scholars in the field of deafness: Bencie Woll. As the field of deafness goes through rapid and profound changes, we hope that this volume captures the latest perspectives regarding the impacts of these changes for our understanding of child development. The volume will be of essential interest to language development researchers as well as teachers and clinical researchers.
-
-
-
Understanding Historical (Im)Politeness
Editor(s): Marcel Bax and Dániel Z. KádárPublication Date November 2012More LessExploring a largely uncharted territory of cultural history and linguistic ethnography, Understanding Historical (Im)Politeness offers in-depth analyses and perceptive interpretations of the conveyance of social-relational meaning in times (long) past and across historical cultures.
A collection of essays from the pens of authoritative historical (pragma)-linguistics researchers, the volume examines the forms and functions of historical (im)politeness, varying from single utterances and act sequences to fully-fledged (im)polite speech encounters and genres, with a focus on their period- and culture-bound appraisal. What is more, the book sheds light on what is still very dimly seen: diachronic trends in ‘relational work’ and the cultural-societal factors behind patterns of sociopragmatic change.
The volume reviews theoretical concepts, methods and analytical approaches to improve our present-day understanding of the historical understanding of relational practices of the distant as well as the more recent past. Since it includes newly established themes and positions and breaks new ground, this collection furthers considerably the field of historical (im)politeness research.
This volume was originally published as a special issue of Journal of Historical Pragmatics 12:1/2 (2011).
-
-
-
Understanding Interfaces
Author(s): Laura DomínguezPublication Date June 2013More LessBy combining theoretical analysis and empirical investigation, this monograph investigates the status of interfaces in Minimalist linguistic theory, second language acquisition and native language attrition. Two major questions are currently under debate: (1) what exactly makes a linguistic phenomenon an ‘interface phenomenon’, and (2) what is the specific role that the interfaces play in explaining language loss and persistent problems in second language acquisition? Answers to these questions are provided by a theoretical examination of the role that economy and computational efficiency play in recent Minimalist models of the language faculty, as well as by evidence obtained in two empirical studies examining the acquisition and attrition of two interface phenomena: Spanish subject realization and word order variation. The result is a new definition of ‘interface phenomena’ which deemphasizes syntactic complexity and focuses on the effect of interface interpretive conditions on syntactic structure. This work also shows that representational deficits cannot be ruled out in the acquisition and attrition of interface structures.
-
-
-
Understanding L2 Proficiency
Editor(s): Eun Hee Jeon and Yo In'namiPublication Date August 2022More LessThis edited volume is a collection of theoretical and empirical overviews of second language (L2) proficiency based on four skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Each skill is reviewed in terms of how it has been conceptualized, measured, and studied over the years in relation to relevant (sub-) constructs of the language skill under discussion. This is followed by meta-analyses of correlation coefficients that examine the relationship between the L2 skill in question and its component variables. Unlike most meta-analyses that have a limited range of variables under investigation, our meta-analyses are much larger in scope to better clarify such relationships. By combining theoretical and empirical approaches, the book is helpful in deepening the understanding of how subcomponents or various variables are related to a particular L2 skill.
-
-
-
Understanding Language and Cognition through Bilingualism
Editor(s): Gigi Luk, John A.E. Anderson and John G. GrundyPublication Date June 2023More LessBilingualism is a ubiquitous global phenomenon. Beyond being a language experience, bilingualism also entails a social experience, and it interacts with development and learning, with cognitive and neural consequences across the lifespan. The authors of this volume are world renowned experts across several subdisciplines including linguistics, developmental psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. They bring to light bilingualism’s cognitive, developmental, and neural consequences in children, young adults, and older adults. This book honors Ellen Bialystok, and highlights her profound impact on the field of bilingualism research as a lifelong experience. The chapters are organized into four sections: The first section explores the complexity of the bilingual experience beyond the common characterization of “speaking multiple languages.” The next section showcases Ellen Bialystok’s earlier impact on psychology and education; here the contributors answer the question “how does being bilingual shape children’s development?” The third section explores cognitive and neuroscientific theories describing how language experience modulates cognition, behavior, and brain structures and functions. The final section shifts the focus to the impact of bilingualism on healthy and abnormal aging and asks whether being bilingual can stave off the effects of dementia by conferring a “cognitive reserve.”
-
-
-
Understanding Patients' Voices
Author(s): Marta Antón and Elizabeth M. GoeringPublication Date April 2015More LessThis volume illustrates the process of conducting interdisciplinary, multi-cultural research into the relationship between patient language use and chronic disease management. The ten chapters in this book provide a model for interdisciplinary research in health discourse from start to finish. Part I describes in detail the conceptualization and design of a multi-year research project exploring language use among people living with diabetes. Part II offers a sampler of a variety of qualitative, quantitative, and contrastive methodologies that have considerable potential in the study of health discourse. Part III brings the research process full circle by discussing issues related to adapting research protocols to diverse cultural contexts, translating results into practice, and working in interdisciplinary teams.
-
-
-
Understanding Second Language Processing
Author(s): Bronwen Patricia Dyson and Gisela HåkanssonPublication Date May 2017More LessThis book aims to help researchers and teachers interested in language processing and Processability Theory (PT) to understand this theory and its applications. PT is an influential account of second language processing which hypothesizes that, due to the architecture of language processing, learners acquire second languages in developmental stages. This book lays out PT’s predictions and research on the development of diverse target languages – particularly English and Scandinavian languages – by learners of various categories. It discusses the typological issues facing PT and its contribution to an understanding of variation and cognitive constraints on pedagogy. However, the book also raises a critical eye to the literature which, after almost twenty years of evolution, requires explanation, clarification and, in some cases, extension. Why do some phenomena belong to different stages in different languages? Why are important types of variation under-represented? Is teaching as constrained as proposed in PT?
-
-
-
Understatements and Hedges in English
Author(s): Axel HüblerPublication Date January 1983More LessThe goal of this monograph is a comprehensive analysis of understatements and other forms of non-direct speech (hedges) in modern English. It is based on a multi-level approach, including philosophical, cultural, and socio-psychological arguments. The main part consists of an investigation of the linguistic restrictions for understatements and hedges to be formed by means of the following grammatical categories: negation of predicates, gradation of predicates, modalization of affirmative sentences by means of parenthetical verbs, modal adverbs, modal verbs, and questions.
-
-
-
Unfolding Perceptual Continua
Editor(s): Liliana AlbertazziPublication Date July 2002More LessThe book analyses the differences between the mathematical interpretation and the phenomenological intuition of the continuum. The basic idea is that the continuity of the experience of space and time originates in phenomenic movement. The problem of consciousness and of the spaces of representation is related to the primary processes of perception. Conceived as an interplay between cognitive science, linguistics and philosophy, the book presents a conceptual framework based on a dynamic and experimental approach to the problem of the continuum. Besides presenting the primitives of a theory of cognitive space and time, it presents a theory of the observer, analyzing the relationship among perspective, points of view and unity of consciousness. The book's chapters deal with the dynamic elaboration and recognition of forms from the lower to the higher processes in the various perceptual fields. Experimental analysis from visual, auditory and tactile perception outline the basic structures of intentionality and its counterpart in language and gesture. (Series B)
-
-
-
Uniformitarianism in Linguistics
Author(s): T. Craig ChristyPublication Date January 1983More LessThis study examines specific implications of the considerable overlap in methodology and theory of 19th-century geology and philology. Recognition of this overlap is indispensable to a complete understanding of philology’s development into the more empirical science of linguistics, especially as this empiricism culminates in the neogrammarian doctrine of exceptionless sound laws.
The study consists of three major parts: I Uniformitarianism in the Palaetiological Sciences [i.e., geology and other natural sciences studying life in earlier periods of the earth]; II The Rise of Uniformitarianism in Linguistics; and III The Uniformitarian Basis of Neogrammarian Linguistics.
-
-
-
Unique Focus
Author(s): Marina StoyanovaPublication Date April 2008More LessThis monograph focuses on an interesting typological property shared by four languages: the ungrammaticality of multiple wh-questions in Irish, Berber, Italian and Somali. It contains a broad discussion of data related to the grammar of wh-questions, a comparative analysis of wh-constructions in the four languages, and a theoretical account for the observed phenomenon. The analysis is based on the minimalist syntax theory as developed by Chomsky since 1995. It takes up the standard assumption that wh-phrases are typical representatives of elements bearing new information, in theoretical terms referred to as information focus. Most importantly, in the languages without multiple wh-questions the information focus is licensed in a unique syntactic position. The basic claim is that languages with unique focus are languages without multiple wh-questions. The analysis makes possible the classification of the languages without multiple wh-questions into the crosslinguistic typology of wh-constructions. Furthermore, this book is a contribution to the better understanding of information structure in natural languages, especially of focusing phenomena.
-