[PDF] Free Variation In Grammar eBook

Author : Kristin Kopf
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing Company
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 47,1 MB
Release : 2023-10-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9027249334

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Recent years have seen a growing interest in grammatical variation, a core explanandum of grammatical theory. The present volume explores questions that are fundamental to this line of research: First, the question of whether variation can always and completely be explained by intra- or extra-linguistic predictors, or whether there is a certain amount of unpredictable – or ‘free’ – grammatical variation. Second, the question of what implications the (in-)existence of free variation would hold for our theoretical models and the empirical study of grammar. The volume provides the first dedicated book-length treatment of this long-standing topic. Following an introductory chapter by the editors, it contains ten case studies on potentially free variation in morphology and syntax drawn from Germanic, Romance, Uralic and Mayan.

Author : Andreas Dufter
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
Page : 419 pages
File Size : 42,84 MB
Release : 2009
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 3110205904

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The aim of the volume is to bridge the 'cultural gap' between sociolinguistics and theoretical linguistics in the study of variation. The various contributions seek to combine corpus-based and competence-based approaches. They document the plurality

Author : Frank Kügler
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
Page : 437 pages
File Size : 40,80 MB
Release : 2009-08-17
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 3110219328

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This book provides an overview of current issues in variation and gradience in phonetics, phonology and sociolinguistics. It contributes to the growing interest in gradience and variation in theoretical phonology by combing research on the factors underlying variability and systematic quantitative results with theoretical phonological considerations. Variation is inherent to language, and one of the aims of phonological theory is to describe and explain the mechanisms underlying variation at every level of phonological representation. Variation below the segment concerns articulatory, acoustic and perceptual cues that contribute to the formation of natural classes of sounds. At the segmental level there are grammatical differences in the production and perception of contextual variation of segments and in the syntagmatic constraints on the combination of segments. At the suprasegmental level the mapping of tones to grammatical functions and vice versa is discussed. Further aspects addressed in this book are factors outside of language: Variation that arises as a result of a particular dialect or of belonging to a certain age group, or variation that is the consequence of language change. Gradience and variation have always been a central issue in phonetic and sociolinguistic research. Gradience introduces variation in phonology as well. If a phonetic entity can be pronounced in different ways, depending on the environment, prosodic factors or dialectal influences, this ‘gradience’ may introduce ‘variation’, which we understand as a stable state of grammar.

Author : Douglas Biber
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 757 pages
File Size : 41,18 MB
Release : 2015-06-25
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 1316298701

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The Cambridge Handbook of English Corpus Linguistics (CHECL) surveys the breadth of corpus-based linguistic research on English, including chapters on collocations, phraseology, grammatical variation, historical change, and the description of registers and dialects. The most innovative aspects of the CHECL are its emphasis on critical discussion, its explicit evaluation of the state of the art in each sub-discipline, and the inclusion of empirical case studies. While each chapter includes a broad survey of previous research, the primary focus is on a detailed description of the most important corpus-based studies in this area, with discussion of what those studies found, and why they are important. Each chapter also includes a critical discussion of the corpus-based methods employed for research in this area, as well as an explicit summary of new findings and discoveries.

Author : Frederick J. Newmeyer
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 212 pages
File Size : 19,16 MB
Release : 1983-09-15
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 9780226577197

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Newmeyer persuasively defends the controversial theory of transformational generative grammar. Grammatical Theory is for every linguist, philosopher, or psychologist who is skeptical of generative grammar and wants to learn more about it. Newmeyer's formidable scholarship raises the level of debate on transformational generative grammar. He stresses the central importance of an autonomous formal grammar, discusses the limitations of "discourse-based" approaches to syntax, cites support for generativist theory in recent research, and clarifies misunderstood concepts associated with generative grammar.

Author : Sali A. Tagliamonte
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 263 pages
File Size : 36,66 MB
Release : 2006-05-11
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 1139451324

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The study of how language varies in social context, and how it can be analyzed and accounted for, are the key goals of sociolinguistics. Until now, however, the actual tools and methods have been largely passed on through 'word of mouth', rather than being formally documented. This is the first comprehensive 'how to' guide to the formal analysis of sociolinguistic variation. It shows step-by-step how the analysis is carried out, leading the reader through every stage of a research project from start to finish. Topics covered include fieldwork, data organization and management, analysis and interpretation, presenting research results, and writing up a paper. Practical and informal, the book contains all the information needed to conduct a fully-fledged sociolinguistic investigation, and includes exercises, checklists, references and insider tips. It is set to become an essential resource for students, researchers and fieldworkers embarking on research projects in sociolinguistics.

Author : Hans-Heinrich Lieb
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 40,31 MB
Release : 1993-01-01
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9027236119

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This book for the first time reconstructs in a single theoretical framework the more important approaches to linguistic variation found in areas as different as historical linguistics, dialectology, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, stylistics, contrastive linguistics, language typology, so-called evaluation grammar, and current Chomskyan generative grammar (generally with an emphasis on syntax). The book concentrates on language-internal variation but also analyses typological research and considers the question of how linguistic descriptions may account for variation both within and between languages. The book's first and primary aim is adequate conceptualization in the area of linguistic variation. Its second aim is a practical one: to contribute, from a theoretical point of view, to the vast descriptive effort that is demanded in linguistics in documenting endangered languages. Its third aim is, simply, orientation. Using a non-Labovian notion of linguistic variable, the author distinguishes a holistic and a component approach to linguistic variation. A precise version of the former is developed by formulating a theory of language varieties based on the concept of variety structure of a language; it is then shown how the proposals made by major representatives of the component approach can be integrated into this framework. The theory is extended to interlanguage variation and applied, in particular, to typology. It is further extended to establish the properties of linguistic descriptions that account for variation in a unified way.

Author : Riitta Välimaa-Blum
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
Page : 285 pages
File Size : 43,4 MB
Release : 2011-12-22
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 311092059X

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This textbook is an accessible introduction to both English phonology and phonology in general. It analyzes some central phenomena of the sound system of two standard varieties of English, Southern British English and General American. The framework adopted is Cognitive Linguistics and Construction Grammar, and this entails in particular that all the elements of the sound system are tightly interwoven with the meaningful units: morphemes, words, phrases and sentences. The book contains chapters on articulatory phonetics, sounds and meaning, alternation patterns, word stress and intonation. Each chapter ends with an invitation to analyze English and other languages with the tools of Cognitive Linguistics. The book is designed for students as well as teachers of English and linguistics, and while the target readership should already have a background in linguistics, a beginner in phonology will find all the basic concepts clearly defined.

Author : Rod Ellis
Publisher : Oxford University
Page : 836 pages
File Size : 30,8 MB
Release : 1994
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 9780194371896

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An up to date comprehensive introduction to second language acqusition research. Contains a general framework for the study of second language acquisition, provides a general description of learner language, accounts for the role of the linguistic environment, examines the learner's internal mechanisms, explores individual differences in language learning and reviews the expanding research on classroom second language acquisition.

Author : Elly Van Gelderen
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 239 pages
File Size : 46,58 MB
Release : 2021-12-16
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 1108924468

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In this pioneering study, a world-renowned generative syntactician explores the impact of phenomena known as 'third factors' on syntactic change. Generative syntax has in recent times incorporated third factors – factors not specific to the language faculty – into its framework, including minimal search, labelling, determinacy and economy. Van Gelderen's study applies these principles to language change, arguing that change is a cyclical process, and that third factor principles must combine with linguistic information to fully account for the cyclical development of 'optimal' language structures. Third Factor Principles also account for language variation around that-trace phenomena, CP-deletion, and the presence of expletives and Verb-second. By linking insights from recent theoretical advances in generative syntax to phenomena from language variation and change, this book provides a unique perspective, making it essential reading for academic researchers and students in syntactic theory and historical linguistics.