Subjects and Universal Grammar
The 'subject' of a sentence is a concept that presents great challenges to linguists. Most languages have something which looks like a subject, but subjects differ across languages in their nature and properties, making them an interesting phenomenon for those seeking linguistic universals...
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Cambridge University Press
2006
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/cbo9780511486265 2024-06-09T07:47:19+00:00 Subjects and Universal Grammar An Explanatory Theory Falk, Yehuda N. 2006 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511486265 unknown Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms ISBN 9780521858540 9780511486265 9780521122955 monograph 2006 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511486265 2024-05-15T12:58:30Z The 'subject' of a sentence is a concept that presents great challenges to linguists. Most languages have something which looks like a subject, but subjects differ across languages in their nature and properties, making them an interesting phenomenon for those seeking linguistic universals. This pioneering volume addresses 'subject' nature from a simultaneously formal and typological perspective. Dividing the subject into two distinct grammatical functions, it shows how the nature of these functions explains their respective properties, and argues that the split in properties shown in 'ergative' languages (whereby the subject of intransitive verbs is marked as an object) results from the functions being assigned to different elements of the clause. Drawing on data from a typologically wide variety of languages, including English, Hebrew, Tagalog, Inuit and Acehnese, it explains why, even in the case of very different languages, certain core properties can be found. Book inuit Cambridge University Press |
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Cambridge University Press |
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description |
The 'subject' of a sentence is a concept that presents great challenges to linguists. Most languages have something which looks like a subject, but subjects differ across languages in their nature and properties, making them an interesting phenomenon for those seeking linguistic universals. This pioneering volume addresses 'subject' nature from a simultaneously formal and typological perspective. Dividing the subject into two distinct grammatical functions, it shows how the nature of these functions explains their respective properties, and argues that the split in properties shown in 'ergative' languages (whereby the subject of intransitive verbs is marked as an object) results from the functions being assigned to different elements of the clause. Drawing on data from a typologically wide variety of languages, including English, Hebrew, Tagalog, Inuit and Acehnese, it explains why, even in the case of very different languages, certain core properties can be found. |
format |
Book |
author |
Falk, Yehuda N. |
spellingShingle |
Falk, Yehuda N. Subjects and Universal Grammar |
author_facet |
Falk, Yehuda N. |
author_sort |
Falk, Yehuda N. |
title |
Subjects and Universal Grammar |
title_short |
Subjects and Universal Grammar |
title_full |
Subjects and Universal Grammar |
title_fullStr |
Subjects and Universal Grammar |
title_full_unstemmed |
Subjects and Universal Grammar |
title_sort |
subjects and universal grammar |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511486265 |
genre |
inuit |
genre_facet |
inuit |
op_source |
ISBN 9780521858540 9780511486265 9780521122955 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511486265 |
_version_ |
1801378294709354496 |