[PDF] The Structure Of Language eBook

Author : Emma L. Pavey
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 423 pages
File Size : 49,85 MB
Release : 2010-08-19
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 1139488694

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Most of the time we communicate using language without considering the complex activity we are undertaking, forming words and sentences in a split second. This book introduces the analysis of language structure, combining both description and theory within a single, practical text. It begins by examining words and parts of words, and then looks at how words work together to form sentences that communicate meaning. Sentence patterns across languages are also studied, looking at the similarities and the differences we find in how languages communicate meaning. The book also discusses how context can affect how we structure our sentences: the context of a particular language and its structures, the context of old and new information for us and our addressee(s), and the context of our culture.

Author : Rachel Grenon
Publisher : Bloomsbury USA
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 23,64 MB
Release : 2012-10-16
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780802743589

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In the ancient scholarly curriculum, grammar formed part of the Trivium, with its sister sciences of logic and rhetoric. Logic asks: When is a sentence true? Rhetoric asks: Which is the right sentence? Grammar purely asks: When is a sentence correct? In Grammar, Rachel Grenon defines the rules governing the construction of words, phrases, sentences, and extended text or speech. Beginning with the rules behind ancient languages such as Sanskrit and Greek, she then focuses on how the rules of English have developed-from nouns and pronouns, verbs and adverbs, to tenses, the passive voice, questions, imperatives, and much more. With diagrams, engravings, and witty cartoon illustrations, this original take on a classic subject is essential for anyone interested in language.

Author : Rik De Busser
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing Company
Page : 378 pages
File Size : 33,98 MB
Release : 2015-06-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9027268738

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Language Structure and Environment is a broad introduction to how languages are shaped by their environment. It makes the argument that the social, cultural, and natural environment of speakers influences the structures and development of the languages they speak. After a general overview, the contributors explain in a number of detailed case studies how specific cultural, societal, geographical, evolutionary and meta-linguistic pressures determine the development of specific grammatical features and the global structure of a varied selection of languages. This is a work of meticulous scholarship at the forefront of a burgeoning field of linguistics.

Author : Lars Heltoft
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing Company
Page : 431 pages
File Size : 26,63 MB
Release : 2019-06-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9027262632

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This volume centers on three important theoretical concepts for the study of language change and the ways in which language structure emerges and turns into new structure: reanalysis, actualization, and indexicality. Reanalysis is a part of ongoing everyday language use, a process through which language is reproduced and changed. Actualization refers to the processes through which a reanalyzed structure spreads throughout single communities and society. Indexicality covers the way in which parts of a linguistic system can point to other parts of the system, both syntagmatically and paradigmatically. The inclusion of indexicality leads to fine-grained analysis in morphology, word order, and constructional syntax.

Author : Noam Chomsky
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 120 pages
File Size : 21,3 MB
Release : 2020-05-18
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 3112316002

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No detailed description available for "Syntactic Structures".

Author : Zygmunt Frajzyngier
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing
Page : 334 pages
File Size : 34,86 MB
Release : 2003-01-01
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9789027229632

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This book proposes a framework for describing languages through the description of relationships among lexicon, morphology, syntax, and phonology. The framework is based on the notion of formal coding means; the principle of functional transparency; the notion of functional domains; and the notion of systems interaction in the coding of functional domains. The study is based on original analyses of cross-linguistic data.The fundamental finding of the study is that different languages may code different functional domains, which must be discovered by analyzing the formal means available in each language. The first part of the book proposes a methodology for discovering functional domains and the second part describes the properties of various functional domains. The book presents new cross-linguistic analyses of theoretical issues including agreement; phenomena attributed to government; nominal classification; prerequisites for and implications of linear order coding; and defining characteristics of lexical categories. The study also contributes new analyses of specific problems in individual languages.

Author : Susumu Kuno
Publisher : MIT Press (MA)
Page : 410 pages
File Size : 18,13 MB
Release : 1973-01
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780262110495

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"Conventional grammars tell us when we can use given grammatical patterns. However, they almost invariably fail to tell us when we cannot use them. Many of the chapters of this book are concerned with the latter problem. They attempt to explain why some sentences that should be grammatical according to the explanations given in conventional grammars are in fact ungrammatical. In this sense, the book can be called a grammar of ungrammatical sentences.... It deals only with those problems of Japanese—and only a handful of them—that are either completely ignored or erroneously treated in conventional grammars. For these features I hope that the book will give the reader a revealing account of a kind seldom found in other Japanese grammars or in grammars of any other languages." —from the author's Preface Some features of Japanese are peculiarities of the language, while others are shared by English and various other languages of the world. At times two features, one in Japanese and one, for example, in English, that may look totally unrelated on casual inspection turn out to be a manifestation of the same principle, either syntactic or semantic, which governs the two languages. Whenever possible each feature of Japanese that the book discusses is contrasted with the features in English that are overtly or covertly related to it, and the similarities and differences that exist between the two languages with respect to this feature are examined. Thus the book can also be called a contrastive grammar of Japanese and English. The book reveals a wide variety of semantic and syntactic factors (some of them not very well known to linguists working on English) that control the usage of certain grammatical patterns. It also shows what kinds of sentences the linguist working on a nonnative language should check with native speakers of the language to prove or disprove his initial hypothesis. So in a third sense, Professor Kuno's study might be called a textbook of field methods in linguistic analysis. Because The Structure of the Japanese Language is both descriptive and analytical (the generalizations given in the book have been developed within the framework of the theory of transformational grammar but are presented without recourse to the complex formalisms of the theory), it will prove useful both as a basic handbook of supplementary reading for second-year or more advanced courses in Japanese and as a source of material for students and researchers doing work in Japanese or non-Indo-European linguistics. This is volume three in the series, Current Studies in Linguistics.

Author : Kasper Boye
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
Page : 369 pages
File Size : 35,93 MB
Release : 2010
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 3110219174

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Addresses an issue hotly debated in the linguistic theory: the relation between language usage and language structure

Author : Thomas Payne
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 390 pages
File Size : 44,88 MB
Release : 2006-01-12
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780521671507

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Designed for those beginning to study linguistics, this is a lively introduction to two key aspects of the structure of language: syntax (the structure of sentences) and morphology (the structure of words). It shows students in a step-by-step fashion how to analyze the syntax and morphology of any language, by clearly describing the basic methods and techniques, and providing almost 100 practical exercises based on data from a rich variety of the world's languages. Written in an engaging style and complete with a comprehensive glossary, Exploring Language Structure explains linguistic concepts by using clear analogies from everyday life. It introduces a range of essential topics in syntax and morphology, such as rules, categories, word classes, grammatical relations, multi-clause constructions and typology. Providing a solid foundation in morphology and syntax, this is the perfect introductory text for beginning students, and will fully prepare them for more advanced courses in linguistic analysis.