Objects and Information Structure

By Mary Dalrymple and Irina Nikolaeva

Book Overview

In every language there are descriptive lexical elements, such as evening and whisper, as well as grammatical elements, such as and -ing. The distinction between these two elements has proven useful in a number of domains, but what is covered by the terms 'lexical' and 'grammatical' and the basis on which the distinction is made, appear to vary according to the domain involved. This book analyses the grammatical elements ('functional categories') in language, a topic that has drawn considerable attention in linguistics, but has never been approached from an integrated, cross-disciplinary perspective Muysken considers functional categories from the perspective of grammar, language history, language contact and psychology (including child language and aphasia) Empirically based, the book examines the available converging evidence from these various disciplines, and draws on comparative data from a wide range of different languages. One of the major arenas for debate within generative grammar is the nature of paradigmatic relations among words. Intervening in key debates at the interface between syntax and semantics, this book examines the relation between structure and meaning, and analysis how it effect the internal properties of words and corresponding syntactic manifestations. adapting notions from the Evo-Devo project in biology (the idea of ?co-linearity? between structural units and behavioural manifestations) Juan Uriagereka addresses a major puzzle how words can be both decomposable so as to be acquired by children, and atomic, so that they do not manifest themselves as modular to adults. Book jacket.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521199859
• ISBN13: 9780521199858
• Release Date: July 2011
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"