The Life Cycle of Adpositions

by Thomas Givon

Adpositions are used, universally, to mark the roles of nominal participants in the verbal clause, most commonly indirect object roles. Practically all languages seem to have such markers, which begin their diachronic life as lexical words -- in this case either serial verbs or positional nouns. In many languages, however, adpositions also seem to have extended their diachronic life one step further, becoming verbal affixes. The main focus of this...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9027208824
• ISBN13: 9789027208828
• Release Date: July 2021
• Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
• Length: 205 Pages