Syntactic Reconstruction and Proto-Germanic

Syntactic Reconstruction and Proto-Germanic

Author: George Walkden

Publisher: Oxford Studies in Diachronic a

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0198712294

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This book offers reconstructions of various syntactic properties of Proto-Germanic, including verb position in main clauses, the syntax of the wh-system, and the (non-)occurrence of null pronominal subjects and objects. Although previous studies have looked at the lexical and phonological reconstruction of Proto-Germanic, little is currently known about the syntax of the language, and it has even been argued that the reconstruction of syntax is impossible. Dr Walkden uses extensive evidence from the early Germanic languages - Old English, Old High German, Old Saxon, Old Norse, and Gothic - to show that syntactic reconstruction is not only possible but also profitable. He argues that while the reconstruction of syntax differs from lexical-phonological reconstruction due to the so-called 'correspondence problem', this is not insurmountable. In fact, the approach taken in current Minimalist theories, in which syntactic variation is attributed to the properties of lexical items, opens the door for syntactic reconstruction as lexical reconstruction. The book also discusses practical solutions for circumventing the correspondence problem, in particular the use of both distributional properties of lexical items and the phonological forms of such items in order to establish cognacy. The book will be of interest to historical linguists working on syntactic reconstruction and the Germanic languages, from graduate level upwards, as well as to advanced students of syntactic change more generally.


Book Synopsis Syntactic Reconstruction and Proto-Germanic by : George Walkden

Download or read book Syntactic Reconstruction and Proto-Germanic written by George Walkden and published by Oxford Studies in Diachronic a. This book was released on 2014 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers reconstructions of various syntactic properties of Proto-Germanic, including verb position in main clauses, the syntax of the wh-system, and the (non-)occurrence of null pronominal subjects and objects. Although previous studies have looked at the lexical and phonological reconstruction of Proto-Germanic, little is currently known about the syntax of the language, and it has even been argued that the reconstruction of syntax is impossible. Dr Walkden uses extensive evidence from the early Germanic languages - Old English, Old High German, Old Saxon, Old Norse, and Gothic - to show that syntactic reconstruction is not only possible but also profitable. He argues that while the reconstruction of syntax differs from lexical-phonological reconstruction due to the so-called 'correspondence problem', this is not insurmountable. In fact, the approach taken in current Minimalist theories, in which syntactic variation is attributed to the properties of lexical items, opens the door for syntactic reconstruction as lexical reconstruction. The book also discusses practical solutions for circumventing the correspondence problem, in particular the use of both distributional properties of lexical items and the phonological forms of such items in order to establish cognacy. The book will be of interest to historical linguists working on syntactic reconstruction and the Germanic languages, from graduate level upwards, as well as to advanced students of syntactic change more generally.


Toward a grammar of Proto-Germanic

Toward a grammar of Proto-Germanic

Author: Frans van Coetsem

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2011-06-03

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 3111549046

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Toward a Grammar of Proto-Germanic.


Book Synopsis Toward a grammar of Proto-Germanic by : Frans van Coetsem

Download or read book Toward a grammar of Proto-Germanic written by Frans van Coetsem and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2011-06-03 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Toward a Grammar of Proto-Germanic.


Principles of Syntactic Reconstruction

Principles of Syntactic Reconstruction

Author: Gisella Ferraresi

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9027248184

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This is a collection of state-of-the-art papers in the field of syntactic reconstruction. It treats a range of topics which are representative of current debates in historical syntax. The novelty and merit of the present book is, the editors believe, that, in contrast to most previous work on diachronic syntax, it combines the perspectives of the traditional philological research on syntactic reconstruction with the insights of modern syntactic theory, as it is emphasised in the Foreword by Giuseppe Longobardi. The volume includes articles by well-recognized researchers in historical linguistics with a focus on syntactic change. In the present volume syntactic reconstruction is discussed from a variety of angles, including historical linguistics, phenomena of language contact, generative approaches as well as typological and variationist research. In the articles, languages from a diverse range of families are discussed, including Indo-European, North and South Caucasian, Sino-Tibetan, and Turkic.


Book Synopsis Principles of Syntactic Reconstruction by : Gisella Ferraresi

Download or read book Principles of Syntactic Reconstruction written by Gisella Ferraresi and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2008 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a collection of state-of-the-art papers in the field of syntactic reconstruction. It treats a range of topics which are representative of current debates in historical syntax. The novelty and merit of the present book is, the editors believe, that, in contrast to most previous work on diachronic syntax, it combines the perspectives of the traditional philological research on syntactic reconstruction with the insights of modern syntactic theory, as it is emphasised in the Foreword by Giuseppe Longobardi. The volume includes articles by well-recognized researchers in historical linguistics with a focus on syntactic change. In the present volume syntactic reconstruction is discussed from a variety of angles, including historical linguistics, phenomena of language contact, generative approaches as well as typological and variationist research. In the articles, languages from a diverse range of families are discussed, including Indo-European, North and South Caucasian, Sino-Tibetan, and Turkic.


Reconstructing Syntax

Reconstructing Syntax

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-06-15

Total Pages: 389

ISBN-13: 9004392009

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During several decades, syntactic reconstruction has been more or less regarded as a bootless and an unsuccessful venture, not least due to the heavy criticism in the 1970s from scholars like Watkins, Jeffers, Lightfoot, etc. This fallacious view culminated in Lightfoot’s (2002: 625) conclusion: “[i]f somebody thinks that they can reconstruct grammars more successfully and in more widespread fashion, let them tell us their methods and show us their results. Then we’ll eat the pudding.” This volume provides methods for the identification of i) cognates in syntax, and ii) the directionality of syntactic change, showcasing the results in the introduction and eight articles. These examples are offered as both tastier and also more nourishing than the pudding Lightfoot had in mind when discarding the viability of reconstructing syntax.


Book Synopsis Reconstructing Syntax by :

Download or read book Reconstructing Syntax written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-06-15 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During several decades, syntactic reconstruction has been more or less regarded as a bootless and an unsuccessful venture, not least due to the heavy criticism in the 1970s from scholars like Watkins, Jeffers, Lightfoot, etc. This fallacious view culminated in Lightfoot’s (2002: 625) conclusion: “[i]f somebody thinks that they can reconstruct grammars more successfully and in more widespread fashion, let them tell us their methods and show us their results. Then we’ll eat the pudding.” This volume provides methods for the identification of i) cognates in syntax, and ii) the directionality of syntactic change, showcasing the results in the introduction and eight articles. These examples are offered as both tastier and also more nourishing than the pudding Lightfoot had in mind when discarding the viability of reconstructing syntax.


Oblique Subjects in Germanic

Oblique Subjects in Germanic

Author: Jóhanna Barðdal

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2023-09-18

Total Pages: 499

ISBN-13: 3111078078

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Pulling together the threads of forty years of research on oblique subjects in the Germanic languages, this book introduces a novel approach to grammatical relations, based on a definition of subject as the first argument of the argument structure. New data are presented from Gothic, Old Saxon, Old Norse-Icelandic, Old Swedish and Old Danish, as well as from Icelandic, Faroese and German. This includes alternating Dat-Nom/Nom-Dat predicates, where either argument, the dative or the nominative, takes on subject behavior. The subject concept is modeled with the formalism of Construction Grammar, both synchronically and for the purpose of reconstructing grammatical relations for Proto-Germanic.


Book Synopsis Oblique Subjects in Germanic by : Jóhanna Barðdal

Download or read book Oblique Subjects in Germanic written by Jóhanna Barðdal and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2023-09-18 with total page 499 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pulling together the threads of forty years of research on oblique subjects in the Germanic languages, this book introduces a novel approach to grammatical relations, based on a definition of subject as the first argument of the argument structure. New data are presented from Gothic, Old Saxon, Old Norse-Icelandic, Old Swedish and Old Danish, as well as from Icelandic, Faroese and German. This includes alternating Dat-Nom/Nom-Dat predicates, where either argument, the dative or the nominative, takes on subject behavior. The subject concept is modeled with the formalism of Construction Grammar, both synchronically and for the purpose of reconstructing grammatical relations for Proto-Germanic.


The Syntax of the Simple Sentence in Proto-Germanic

The Syntax of the Simple Sentence in Proto-Germanic

Author: Paul J. Hopper

Publisher:

Published: 1975

Total Pages: 104

ISBN-13: 9783111872001

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Book Synopsis The Syntax of the Simple Sentence in Proto-Germanic by : Paul J. Hopper

Download or read book The Syntax of the Simple Sentence in Proto-Germanic written by Paul J. Hopper and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


A Diachronic Phonology from Proto-Germanic to Old English Stressing West-Saxon Conditions

A Diachronic Phonology from Proto-Germanic to Old English Stressing West-Saxon Conditions

Author: Charles M. Barrack

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2018-03-19

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 3110873516

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Book Synopsis A Diachronic Phonology from Proto-Germanic to Old English Stressing West-Saxon Conditions by : Charles M. Barrack

Download or read book A Diachronic Phonology from Proto-Germanic to Old English Stressing West-Saxon Conditions written by Charles M. Barrack and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2018-03-19 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Germania Semitica

Germania Semitica

Author: Theo Vennemann gen. Nierfeld

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 764

ISBN-13: 3110301091

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Germania Semitica explores prehistoric language contact in general, and attempts to identify the languages involved in shaping Germanic in particular. The book deals with a topic outside the scope of other disciplines concerned with prehistory, such as archaeology and genetics, drawing its conclusions from the linguistic evidence alone, relying on language typology and areal probability. The data for reconstruction comes from Germanic syntax, phonology, etymology, religious loan names, and the writing system, more precisely from word order, syntactic constructions, word formation, irregularities in phonological form, lexical peculiarities, and the structure and rules of the Germanic runic alphabet. It is demonstrated that common descent is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for reconstruction. Instead, lexical and structural parallels between Germanic and Semitic languages are explored and interpreted in the framework of modern language contact theory.


Book Synopsis Germania Semitica by : Theo Vennemann gen. Nierfeld

Download or read book Germania Semitica written by Theo Vennemann gen. Nierfeld and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 764 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Germania Semitica explores prehistoric language contact in general, and attempts to identify the languages involved in shaping Germanic in particular. The book deals with a topic outside the scope of other disciplines concerned with prehistory, such as archaeology and genetics, drawing its conclusions from the linguistic evidence alone, relying on language typology and areal probability. The data for reconstruction comes from Germanic syntax, phonology, etymology, religious loan names, and the writing system, more precisely from word order, syntactic constructions, word formation, irregularities in phonological form, lexical peculiarities, and the structure and rules of the Germanic runic alphabet. It is demonstrated that common descent is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for reconstruction. Instead, lexical and structural parallels between Germanic and Semitic languages are explored and interpreted in the framework of modern language contact theory.


The Germanic Languages

The Germanic Languages

Author: Ekkehard Konig

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-12-16

Total Pages: 648

ISBN-13: 1317799585

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Provides a unique, up-to-date survey of twelve Germanic languages from English and German to Faroese and Yiddish.


Book Synopsis The Germanic Languages by : Ekkehard Konig

Download or read book The Germanic Languages written by Ekkehard Konig and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-16 with total page 648 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a unique, up-to-date survey of twelve Germanic languages from English and German to Faroese and Yiddish.


The Proto-Germanic n-stems.

The Proto-Germanic n-stems.

Author: Guus Kroonen

Publisher: Rodopi

Published: 2011-04

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 9042032936

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The n-stems are an intriguing part of Proto-Germanic morphology. Unlike any other noun class, the n-stems have roots that are characterized by systematic consonant and vowel alternations across the different Germanic dialects. This monograph represents a diachronic investigation of this root variation. It traces back the Germanic n-stems to their Indo-European origin, and clarifies their formal characteristics by an interaction of sound law and analogy. This book therefore is not just an attempt to account for the typology of the Germanic n-stems, but also a case study of the impact that sound change may have on the evolution of morphology and derivation.


Book Synopsis The Proto-Germanic n-stems. by : Guus Kroonen

Download or read book The Proto-Germanic n-stems. written by Guus Kroonen and published by Rodopi. This book was released on 2011-04 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The n-stems are an intriguing part of Proto-Germanic morphology. Unlike any other noun class, the n-stems have roots that are characterized by systematic consonant and vowel alternations across the different Germanic dialects. This monograph represents a diachronic investigation of this root variation. It traces back the Germanic n-stems to their Indo-European origin, and clarifies their formal characteristics by an interaction of sound law and analogy. This book therefore is not just an attempt to account for the typology of the Germanic n-stems, but also a case study of the impact that sound change may have on the evolution of morphology and derivation.