Preferred Argument Structure: Grammar as Architecture for Function (Studies in Discourse and Grammar)

John W. Du Bois; Lorraine E. Kumpf; William J. Ashby

ISBN 10: 1588113698 / ISBN 13: 9781588113696

Published by John Benjamins, 2003

About this Item

Hardcover, x + 458 pages, NOT ex-library. Book is clean and bright throughout with unmarked text, free of inscriptions and stamps, firmly bound. Sunned spine. Issued without a dust jacket. -- Exploring the concept of preferred argument structure (PAS) in grammar, the book provides a detailed analysis of how grammar serves as an architecture for linguistic function, focusing on the distribution and structuring of arguments in discourse. It delves into the syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic aspects of language, offering insights into how speakers organize information and manage communication effectively. -- Contents: Preface; Abbreviations; Introduction; Argument Structure: Grammar in Use / John W. Du Bois; Preferred Argument Structure Across Time and Space: A Comparative Diachronic Analysis of French and Spanish / William J. Ashby & Paola Bentivoglio; The Lexicon in Interaction: Developmental Origins of Preferred Argument Structure in Korean / Patricia M. Clancy; Genre and Preferred Argument Structure: Sources of Argument Structure in Classroom Discourse / Lorraine E. Kumpf; Issues in the Comparative Argument Structure Analysis in Mayan Narratives / Nora C. England & Laura Martin; New Light on Information Pressure: Information Conduits, 'Escape Valves', and Role Alignment Stretching / Mark Durie; Beyond Preferred Argument Structure: Sentences, Pronouns, and Given Referents in Nepali / Carol Genetti & Laura D. Crain; Multiple Constraints on Reference Form: Null, Pronominal, and Full Reference in Mapudungun / Jennifer E. Arnold; Argument Splits in Finnish Grammar and Discourse / Marja-Liisa Helasvuo; Core Arguments and the Inversion of the Nominal Hierarchy in Roviana / Simon H. Corston-Oliver; Preferred Argument Structure in Early Inuktitut Spontaneous Speech Data / Shanley E.M. Allen & Heike Schröder; The Role of Preferred Argument Structure for Understanding Aphasic Sentence Planning / Susan E. Kohn & Ana Cragnolino; Nominal Information Flow in the Talk of Two Boys with Autism / Elizabeth G. Weber; Tracking the Deer: Nominal Reference, Parallelism and Preferred Argument Structure in Itzaj Maya Narrative Genres / Charles Andrew Hofling; Narrator Virtuosity and the Strategic Exploitation of Preferred Argument Structure in Mocho: Repetition and Constructed Speech in Mocho Narrative / Laura Martin; Bibliography; Name Index; Language Index; Subject Index.

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Preferred Argument Structure: Grammar as Architecture for Function (Studies in Discourse and Grammar)
• Publisher: John Benjamins
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1588113698
• ISBN 13: 9781588113696
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine

About this title

Synopsis

Preferred Argument Structure offers a profound insight into the relationship between language use and grammatical structure. In his original publication on Preferred Argument Structure, Du Bois (1987) demonstrated the power of this perspective by using it to explain the origins of ergativity and ergative marking systems. Since this work, the general applicability of Preferred Argument Structure has been demonstrated in studies of language after language. In this collection, the authors move beyond verifying Preferred Argument Structure as a property of a given language. They use the methodology to reveal more subtle aspects of the patterns, for example, to look across languages, diachronically or synchronically, to examine particular grammatical relations, and to examine special populations or particular genres. This volume will appeal to linguists interested in the relationship of pragmatics and grammar generally, in the typology of grammatical relations, and in explanations derived from data- and corpus-based approaches to analysis.