Passivization and Typology: Form and function (Typological Studies in Language)

ISBN 10: 9027229805 / ISBN 13: 9789027229809

Published by John Benjamins Publishing Compan, 2006

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Seller Inventory # mon0002902236

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Passivization and Typology: Form and function (Typological Studies in Language)
• Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Compan
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9027229805
• ISBN 13: 9789027229809
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

Is the passive a unified universal phenomenon? The claim derived from this volume is that the passive, if not universal, has become unified according to function. Language as a means of communication needs the passive, or passive-like constructions, and sooner or later develops them based on other voices (impersonal active, middle, reflexive), specific semantic meanings such as adversativity, or tense-aspect categories (stative,perfect, preterit). Certain contributors review the passives in various languages and language groups, including languages rarely discussed. Another group of contributors takes a novel theoretical approach toward passivization within a broad typological perspective. Among the languages discussed are Vedic, Irish, Mandarin Chinese, Thai, Lithuanian, Mordvin, and Nganasan, next to almost all European languages. Various theoretical frameworks such as Optimality Theory, Modern Structuralist Approaches, Role and Reference Grammar, Cognitive Semantics, Distributed Morphology, and Case Grammar have been applied by the different authors.