Coordination relations in the languages of Europe and beyond [[electronic resource] /] / by Caterina Mauri

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910782791203321
• Autore: Mauri Caterina <1981->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Berlin ; ; New York, : Mouton de Gruyter, 2008
• ISBN: 1-283-39816-8; 9786613398161; 3-11-021149-1
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (384 p.)
• Collana: Empirical approaches to language typology ; ; 42
• Disciplina: 415/.7
• Soggetti: Linguistic geography; Europe Languages Coordinate constructions
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- List of abbreviations -- Chapter 1. Theoretical foundations: the notion of coordination -- Chapter 2. Parameters of analysis -- Chapter 3. Combination relations -- Chapter 4. Contrast relations -- Chapter 5. Alternative relations -- Chapter 6. Combination, contrast and alternative relations in comparison -- Chapter 7. A focus on Europe -- Chapter 8. Conclusion and prospects -- Backmatter
• Sommario/riassunto: This book examines the coding of the three coordination relations of combination, contrast and alternative between states of affairs on the basis of a 74 language sample, with special focus on the languages spoken in Europe. It constitutes the first systematic inquiry so far conducted on the cross-linguistic coding of coordination, as defined in cognitive and pragmatic terms. This research shows that the 'and-but-or' coding system which is typical of Central-Western Europe appears to be extremely rare outside Europe, where a great variation in the coding of coordination is attested. This cross-linguistic variation, however, is not random, but is crucially constrained by the interaction of economic principles with the semantic properties of the individual relations expressed. A fine-grained functional systematization of coordination is proposed and described by means of implicational ; patterns and semantic maps. This work brings together a broad cross-linguistic perspective and a detailed semantic analysis, largely based on new and comparable data collected by means of questionnaires, all accessible in the appendix of the book. It represents the first systematic attempt towards a unified typology of coordination relations.