Functional Syntax and Universal Grammar (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, Series Number 38) - Hardcover

Foley, William A.; Van Valin Jr, Robert D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521259568 ISBN 13: 9780521259569

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1984

Synopsis

The key argument of this book, originally published in 1984, is that when human beings communicate with each other by means of a natural language they typically do not do so in simple sentences but rather in connected discourse - complex expressions made up of a number of clauses linked together in various ways. A necessary precondition for intelligible discourse is the speaker's ability to signal the temporal relations between the events that are being discussed and to refer to the participants in those events in such a way that it is clear who is being talked about. A great deal of the grammatical machinery in a language is devoted to this task, and Functional Syntax and Universal Grammar explores how different grammatical systems accomplish it. This book is an important attempt to integrate the study of linguistic form with the study of language use and meaning. It will be of particular interest to field linguists and those concerned with typology and language universals, and also to anthropologists involved in the study of language function.

About this title

Book Description

A great deal of the grammatical machinery in a language is devoted to the speaker's ability to signal the temporal relations between different events and different people making it clear who is being talked about. Functional Syntax and Universal Grammar explores how different grammatical systems accomplish this.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 0521259568
• ISBN 13: 9780521259569
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 428