The distinction between functional categories and lexical categories is at the heart of present-day grammatical theory, in theories on language acquisition, code-switching and aphasia. At the same time, it has become clear, however, that there are many lexical items for which it is less easy to decide whether they side with the lexical categories or the functional ones. This book deals with the grammatical behavior of such in- between-categories, which are referred to here as "semi-lexical categories."
The distinction between functional categories and lexical categories is at the heart of present-day grammatical theory, in theories on language acq...
This collection investigates the architecture of focus in linguistic theory from different theoretical perspectives. Research on focus and information structure in the last four decades has shown that the phenomenon of focus is highly complex, the theoretical approaches manifold, and the data highly sensitive. The main emphasis has been placed on the integration of the notion of focus in generative grammar. In recent years, however, the approaches to focus and information structure underwent a radical change in perspective. The theoretical concept of focus, its related terms and phenomena...
This collection investigates the architecture of focus in linguistic theory from different theoretical perspectives. Research on focus and information...
This book presents a number of studies which focus on the voice] grammar of Japanese, paying particular attention to historical background, dialectal diversity, phonetic experiment, and phonological analysis. Both voicing processes in consonants (such as Sequential Voicing, or Rendaku) and vowels (such as vowel devoicing) are examined. A number of new analyses are presented, focusing on well-known data that have been controversial in phonological debate in the past, but also presenting new (or rediscovered) data, partly through the work of Japanese scholars that hitherto went mostly...
This book presents a number of studies which focus on the voice] grammar of Japanese, paying particular attention to historical background, dialectal...
Covering linguistic research on empty categories over more than three decades, this monograph presents the result of an in-depth syntactic and focus-theoretical investigation of ellipsis in generative grammar. The phenomenon of ellipsis most generally refers to the omission of linguistic material, structure and sound. The central aim of this book is to explain on the basis of linguistic theorizing of how it is possible that we understand more than we actually hear. The answer developed throughout this book is that ellipsis is an interface phenomenon which can only be explained on the basis...
Covering linguistic research on empty categories over more than three decades, this monograph presents the result of an in-depth syntactic and focu...
This book investigates the concept of phase, aiming at a structural definition of the domains that are assumed as the syntactic loci for interface interpretation: vP, CP and DP. The 16 contributions address crucial issues of syntactic research within the Minimalist Program, namely A) How is the set of minimally necessary syntactic operations to be characterised, B) How is the set of minimally necessary functional heads to be characterised that determine the built-up and the interpretation of syntactic objects and C) How do these syntactic operations and objects interact with principles and...
This book investigates the concept of phase, aiming at a structural definition of the domains that are assumed as the syntactic loci for interface int...
The Minimalist Program postulates the equation "Interfaces + Recursion = Language" - a radical reduction of the language to the core mechanism and the interfaces. With contributions by Noam Chomsky and other experts, this volume evaluates the minimalists' proposal against evidence from syntax and semantics by asking questions like the following: What kind of recursive structures can the core generator form? How can properties of language be reduced to interface properties? What LF-interface conditions are predicted by semantic research? Key features Contains the latest update on Chomsky's...
The Minimalist Program postulates the equation "Interfaces + Recursion = Language" - a radical reduction of the language to the core mechanism and the...
Clause Structure and Adjuncts in Austronesian Languages is a collection of papers devoted to the syntactic analysis of modification and extraction strategies in Austronesian languages such as Kavalan, Malagasy, Niuean, Seediq, and Tagalog. Written by some of the leading scholars in the field, itelucidates the categorial and phrase structural status as well as the scopal behavior of sentence-level adverbs, ordering constraints on adjectival modifiers, and the nature of unbounded dependencies in interaction with Philippine-type voice systems. Guglielmo Cinque's universal ordering...
Clause Structure and Adjuncts in Austronesian Languages is a collection of papers devoted to the syntactic analysis of modification and extra...
Tense/Mood/Aspect-agreeing Infinitivals is an in-depth investigation of the syntax of verb-verb agreement phenomena in Swedish, including pseudocoordinations of the form John started and wrote 'John started writing' and double participles of the form John had been-able written 'John had been able to write'. Providing evidence from facts concerning extraction, locality, selection, and interpretation, the book argues that the relevant construction types all involve surface variants of "infinitives in disguise"; infinitivals that agree with the matrix clause in...
Tense/Mood/Aspect-agreeing Infinitivals is an in-depth investigation of the syntax of verb-verb agreement phenomena in Swedish, including pse...
Most natural languages display an inventory of pronominal elements that obligatorily or optionally remain phonologically null in a few, in many or even in all syntactic surroundings. The authors of the papers compiled in this book analyse such null pronouns in a synchronic and diachronic way and recover the specific morphological and syntactic prerequisites for their origin and insertion.
Most natural languages display an inventory of pronominal elements that obligatorily or optionally remain phonologically null in a few, in many or ...
This volume includes papers by leading figures in phonetics and phonology on two topics central to phonological theory: tones and phonological features. Papers address a wide range of topics bearing on tones and features including their formal representation and phonetic foundation.
This volume includes papers by leading figures in phonetics and phonology on two topics central to phonological theory: tones and phonological feat...
