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The three concepts of case valency and transitivity belong to the most discussed topics of modern linguistics. On the one hand they are crucially connected with morphological aspects of the clause including case marking person agreement and voice. On the other hand they are related to several semantic issues such as the meaning of case semantico-syntactic verbal classes and the semantic correlates of transitivity. The volume unifies papers written within different theoretical frameworks and representing variegated approaches (Optimality Theory Government and Binding various versions of the Functional approach Cross-linguistic and Typological analyses) containing both numerous new findings in individual languages and valuable observations and generalizations related to case valency and transitivity.

This collection of studies by leading scholars in the field focuses on the semantics of non-definite (bare and indefinite) plural NPs. The contributions in the first part concentrate on bare plurals and their cross-linguistic counterparts. They discuss applicability of the notion of ‘semantic incorporation’ to bare plurals by contrasting them to bare singulars with the aim of accounting for the interaction between the semantics of number and the degree of (in)dependency of the NP with respect to the verb. The articles in the second part examine the relationship between the semantics of number and the semantics of aspect. The contributions in the third part concentrate on non-definite numerical noun phrases by addressing a range of fundamental questions such as: the semantics of indefinite time-phrases numericals in classifier- and non-classifier languages scope interactions the at least- and exactly-readings referential properties of numericals. The volume will be welcomed by linguists interested in the semantics of number in non-definite NPs.

This study investigates the functions meanings and varieties of forms of address in Shakespeare’s dramatic work. New categories of Shakespearean vocatives are developed and the grammar of vocatives is investigated in above and below the clause following morpho-syntactic semantic lexicographical pragmatic social and contextual criteria. Going beyond the conventional paradigm of power and solidarity and with recourse to Shakespearean drama as both text and performance the study sees vocatives as foregrounded experiential interpersonal and textual markers. Shakespeare’s vocatives construe both quantitatively and qualitatively habitus and identity. They illustrate relationships or messages. They reflect Early Modern Shakespearean and intra- or inter-textual contexts. Theoretically and methodologically the study is interdisciplinary. It draws on approaches from (historical) pragmatics stylistics Hallidayean grammar corpus linguistics cognitive linguistics socio-historical linguistics sociology and theatre semiotics. This study contributes thus not only to Shakespeare studies but also to literary linguistics and literary criticism.

This book presents the structure of Hindi keeping in view the sociolinguistic context of language use. It includes descriptions of sounds devices of word formation rules of phrase and sentence construction and conventions of language use in spoken and written texts incorporating the insights gained by application of recent linguistic theories. The account presented here however is free from abstruse technical vocabulary and modes of presentation that aim at justifying a particular linguistic model. This volume is primarily designed as a source of reference for linguists and educators who want to be better informed about the forms and functions of Hindi and a resource for students and teachers of Hindi.<br xmlns="http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/"/>Hindi the official language of the Republic of India is the second most widely spoken language with approximately three hundred and fifty million speakers. In its diasporic contexts it is spoken in Africa Australia Europe Fiji Guyana Surinam Trinidad United Arab Emirates United Kingdom and United States. An Indo-European language by genetic affiliation Hindi shares many characteristics with Austro-Asiatic Dravidian and Sino-Tibetan languages of the subcontinent. In addition Hindi has assimilated features of Arabic Persian and English in a variety of its functionally determined styles.

The articles of this volume are centered around two competing views on language change originally presented at the 2003 International Conference on Historical Linguistics in the two important plenary papers by Henning Andersen and William Croft. The latter proposes an evolutionary model of language change within a domain-neutral model of a ‘generalized analysis of selection’ whereas Henning Andersen takes it that cultural phenomena could not possibly be handled i.e. observed described understood in the same way as natural phenomena. These papers are models of succinct presentation of important theoretical framework. The other papers present and discuss additional models of change e.g. invisible hand-processes system-internal models functional and cognitive models. Most papers do not subscribe to the evolutionary model; instead they focus on functional factors in the selection and propagation of variants (as opposed to factors of code efficiency) or on cognitive and pragmatic perspectives. Several papers are inspired by the late Eugenio Coseriu and by Henning Andersen’s theories on language change. In particular the volume contains articles proposing interesting grammaticalization studies and extended models of grammaticalization. The clear presentation of important and competing approaches to fundamental questions concerning language change will be of high interest for scholars and students working in the field of diachrony and typology. The languages referred to in the papers include Cantonese the Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages Danish English Eskimo languages German Norwegian Russian Spanish and Swedish.

This volume brings together a selection of papers from the eighteenth ‘Going Romance’ symposium held at Leiden University 9–11 December 2004. These papers cover a broad range of topics in phonology morphology syntax semantics historical linguistics and acquisition in a variety of Romance languages.

In this monograph the author probes the fundamental nature of the concept of agency and its importance to human language and cognition. Whereas previous studies focused on grammatical manifestations this original work addresses such issues as the strong relationship between agency and responsibility a philosophical interpretation of the concept of agency and a variety of epistemic attitudes towards agency that strongly influence our view of the world. Different cultures and languages process and express agency differently. To illustrate the co-relation between the linguistic expressions of agency and cultural stereotypes that lurk behind individual natural languages the author analyses Japanese and English parallel corpora. It is shown that English tends to highlight agency in expressing actions and events whereas Japanese largely obfuscates agency through impersonalising potential agents. Through the case studies on these languages this book sheds light on the close connection between language thought and culture and contributes to the resurging interest in linguistic relativity.

Is the passive a unified universal phenomenon? The claim derived from this volume is that the passive if not universal has become unified according to function. Language as a means of communication needs the passive or passive-like constructions and sooner or later develops them based on other voices (impersonal active middle reflexive) specific semantic meanings such as adversativity or tense-aspect categories (stativeperfect preterit). Certain contributors review the passives in various languages and language groups including languages rarely discussed. Another group of contributors takes a novel theoretical approach toward passivization within a broad typological perspective. Among the languages discussed are Vedic Irish Mandarin Chinese Thai Lithuanian Mordvin and Nganasan next to almost all European languages. Various theoretical frameworks such as Optimality Theory Modern Structuralist Approaches Role and Reference Grammar Cognitive Semantics Distributed Morphology and Case Grammar have been applied by the different authors.

Continuing the work undertaken in Vol. 1 of the History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe Vol. 2 considers various topographic sites—multicultural cities border areas cross-cultural corridors multiethnic regions—that cut across national boundaries rendering them permeable to the flow of hybrid cultural messages. By focusing on the literary cultures of specific geographical locations this volume intends to put into practice a new type of comparative study. Traditional comparative literary studies establish transnational comparisons and contrasts but thereby reconfirm however inadvertently the very national borders they play down. This volume inverts the expansive momentum of comparative studies towards ever-broader regional European and world literary histories. While the theater of this volume is still the literary culture of East-Central Europe the contributors focus on pinpointed local traditions and geographic nodal points. Their histories of Riga Plovdiv Timişoara or Budapest of Transylvania or the Danube corridor – to take a few examples – reveal how each of these sites was during the last two-hundred years a home for a variety of foreign or ethnic literary traditions next to the one now dominant within the national borders. By foregrounding such non-national or hybrid traditions this volume pleads for a diversification and pluralization of local and national histories. A genuine comparatist revival of literary history should involve the recognition that “treading on native grounds” means actually treading on grounds cultivated by diverse people.

This volume is part of a book set which can be ordered at a special discount: https://www.benjamins.com/series/chlel/chlel.special_offer.literarycultures.pdf

This is the first book-length study of how point of view is manifested linguistically in dramatic texts. It examines such issues as how readers process the shifts in viewpoint that can occur within such texts. Using insights from cognitive linguistics the book aims to explain how the analysis of point of view in drama can be undertaken and how this is fruitful for understanding textual and discoursal effects in this genre. Following on from a consideration of existing frameworks for the analysis of point of view a cognitive approach to deixis is suggested as being particularly profitable for explaining the viewpoint effects that can arise in dramatic texts. To expand on the large number of examples discussed throughout the book the penultimate chapter consists of an extended analysis of a single play. This book is relevant to scholars in a range of areas including linguistics literary studies and cognitive science.