Linguistic Analysis: From Data to Theory

Description

This book reconsiders the classic topics of linguistic analysis and reflects on universal aspects of language from a typological and comparative perspective. The aim is to show the crucial interactions which occur at the different levels of grammar (phonology, morphology, lexicon, syntax and pragmatics), illustrating their various roles in the structural organization of the sentence and exploring how interface relations contribute to yield interpretation in typologically different languages. The structural analysis is set within the Generative framework of grammar, though theoretical tenets are the outcome, rather than the starting point, of a study based on the observation of data. As the basic intent is to show different phenomena across a wide range of languages, a 'semi-guided' method has been adopted in order to facilitate comprehension and assist the reader in the identification of language universals. For every topic, the discussion of previous literature is followed by cross-linguistic evidence so that theory can be checked against data and the relevant generalizations drawn. Ultimately, this approach reveals that grammar is based on a very limited number of universal principles, which operate yielding different effects at the different levels of the grammar. It implies that a real understanding of the language-system can only be derived from a comparative analysis in which the notion of interface plays a crucial role. The seven chapters in the volume deal with categories and functions, argument structure, syntactic functions, the structure of noun phrases, adverbial modification, information structure and illocutive force. Throughout, the observation of data from 74 languages is a crucial element in the formulation and understanding of theoretical tenets. This book is highly recommended for researchers and students interested in formal analysis from a typological, comparative perspective. Table of contents Introduction 1. Categories and functions 1.1. Different levels of analysis 1.2. The theoretical framework: Generative Grammar 1.2.1. X-bar (X') Theory 1.2.2. The head-complement parameter 1.2.3. Levels of analysis and X' structure 1.2.3.1. The Syntax-Semantics interface: Verb Phrase 1.2.3.2. The Syntax-Morphology interface: Inflectional Phrase 1.2.3.3. The Syntax-Discourse grammar interface: Complementizer Phrase 1.3. Parts-of-speech classification: The concept of category 1.3.1. A formal approach to classification 1.3.2. The concept of grammaticality 1.4. Categories: Typology and formal properties 1.5. Categories and syntactic functions 1.5.1. Subject function 1.5.2. Predicate function 1.5.3. Modifier function 2. The structure of the verb phrase 2.1. Predicates, arguments and structural categorization 2.2. Argument structure 2.2.1. Macro-roles and event structure 2.2.2. Mono-argument verbs 2.2.3. Two-argument verbs 2.2.4. Three-argument verbs 2.2.5. Macro-roles and VP structure 2.3. Argument roles, event structure and overt syntax 2.3.1. Event structure and macro-role of the subject in inflecting and agglutinative languages 2.3.2. Event structure and macro-role of the subject in incor-porating languages 2.3.3. Event structure and macro-role of the subject in predicate-initial languages 2.4. Arguments realized by clauses 2.5. Clauses as nouns 3. Syntactic functions 3.1. The relationship between deep roles and surface structure 3.2. Deep and structural Cases 3.2.1. Correlations and tendencies 3.2.2. When structural function is not associated with deep Case: Expletive subjects 4. The structure of the noun phrase 4.1. The internal structure of the NP 4.1.1. Elements in Spec,NP 4.1.2. Elements in Compl,NP and restrictive noun modifiers 4.1.3. When the head is a nominalization 4.2. NPs as arguments 4.3. The functional area of NP: The determiner phrase (DP) 4.4. Noun head modification 4.4.1. Adjectival modification 4.4.2. The relative clause 4.4.2.1. The internal structure of restrictive relative clauses 4.4.2.2. Relative clauses from a typological perspective 4.4.2.3. Types of relative clauses and their meaning 5. Adverbial modification 5.1. Adverbs and adverbials: Preliminary considerations 5.2. Properties and distribution of adverbial modifiers 5.3. Structural insertion of adverb phrases 5.4. Noun and prepositional phrases with adverbial function 5.5. Clausal structures with adverbial function 5.5.1. The internal syntax of adverbial clauses 5.5.2. The external syntax of adverbial clauses 6. The sentence as utterance 6.1. Discourse grammar and information structure 6.2. Speech acts 6.3. Information structure in declarative clauses 6.3.1. The notion of markedness 6.3.2. Given and new in marked and unmarked structures 6.4. Focus 6.4.1. Focus strategies in typologically different languages 6.4.2. Focus as a specificational predicate 6.4.3. Focus-prominent languages 6.4.4. Syntactic interface: The complex structure of CP 6.4.5. Prosodic interface 6.5. Topicalization 6.5.1. The functions of Topic in discourse 6.5.2. Phrasal restrictions on the topicalized constituent 6.5.3. Topicalization strategies in typologically different languages 6.5.4. Topic-prominent languages 6.6. Contrast 7. Illocutionary force 7.1. Types of illocutionary acts 7.1.1. Overt performatives 7.1.2. Covert performatives 7.1.2.1. Formal markers of the covert performative 7.1.2.2. Formal markers in the presence of a performative 7.2. Illocutionary force and performative structure 7.2.1. The distribution of information in different types of sentences 7.2.1.1. Requests for information 7.2.1.2. Requests for action 7.3. Illocutionary force and subordinate clauses 7.3.1. Declarative sentences 7.3.2. Interrogative sentences 7.3.3. Imperative sentences 7.4. More on illocutionary acts 7.4.1. Performative structure modification 7.4.2. Indirect illocutionary acts Conclusions List of languages List of abbreviations Notes References Subject index Language index