Reconstructing grammar : comparative linguistics and grammaticalization / / edited by Spike Gildea

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910958038503321
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Amsterdam ; ; [Great Britain], : John Benjamins, c2000
• ISBN: 9786612162824; 9781282162822; 1282162829; 9781556196584; 155619658X; 9789027298560; 9027298564
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (283 pages)
• Collana: Typological studies in language, , 0167-7373 ; ; vol. 43
• Classificazione: EE 2050
• Altri autori (Persone): GildeaSpike
• Disciplina: 410
• Soggetti: Comparative linguistics; Grammar, Comparative and general
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: These papers were presented in preliminary form at the Seventh Rice University Symposium on Linguistics, held at Rice University in Houston, Texas, March 26-29, 1997-p. ix.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
• Nota di contenuto: RECONSTRUCTING GRAMMAR -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC page -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Areal typology and grammaticalization: The emergence of new verbal morphology in an obsolescent language -- Florescence as a Force in Grammaticalization -- On the Genesis of the Verb Phrase in Cariban Languages: Diversity through Reanalysis -- Internal reconstruction: As method, as theory -- The Concept of Proof in Genetic Linguistics -- Grammaticalization chains across languages: An example from Khoisan -- The accidental intransitive split in the Cariban family -- The reordering of morphemes -- Language and Language Family Index -- Name Index -- Subject Index -- The Series TYPOLOGICAL STUDIES IN LANGUAGE.
• Sommario/riassunto: Comparative linguistics and grammaticalization theory both belong to the broader category of historical linguistics, yet few linguists practice both. The methods and goals of each group seem largely distinct: ; comparative linguists have by and large avoided reconstructing grammar, while grammaticalization theoreticians have either focused on explaining attested historical change or used internal reconstruction to formulate hypotheses about processes of change. In this collection, some of the leading voices in grammaticalization theory apply their methods to comparative data (largely drawn from indigenous languages of the Americas), showing not only that grammar can be reconstructed, but that the process of reconstructing grammar can yield interesting theoretical and typological insights.