Objects and information structure
In many languages, the objects of transitive verbs are either marked by grammatical case or agreement on the verb, or they remain unmarked: this is differential object marking. This book is a cross-linguistic study of how differential object marking is affected by information structure, the structuring of the utterance in accordance with the informational value of its elements and contextual factors. Marked objects tend to be associated with old information or information that the sentence is a…
Read More ↓Title Statements
- Full title :Objects and information structure / Mary Dalrymple, Irina Nikolaeva.
Summary
In many languages, the objects of transitive verbs are either marked by grammatical case or agreement on the verb, or they remain unmarked: this is differential object marking. This book is a cross-linguistic study of how differential object marking is affected by information structure, the structuring of the utterance in accordance with the informational value of its elements and contextual factors. Marked objects tend to be associated with old information or information that the sentence is about, while unmarked objects tend to express new information. The book also sheds light on grammatical patterning in languages with differential object marking: in some languages marked and unmarked objects have identical grammatical properties, whereas in other languages marked objects are more active in syntax. Finally, it provides a theory of the historical changes that lead to the emergence of various patterns of differential object marking.
Read More ↓Edition Statements
- Publication Date:2011
Publication Statements
- Publisher(s):Cambridge University Press
- Place of Publication:Cambridge
- Language:eng
- Publication Date:2011
Notes
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
The Physical Object
- Description:1 online resource (247 Seiten)
Edition Identifiers
- ISBN:9780511993473, 0511993471, 9780521199858, 0521199859, 9781107627376, 1107627370
- DOI:10.1017/CBO9780511993473
- oclc:ocn992848517
- Dewey Decimal:415
Table of Contents
1. Introduction; 2. Syntactic assumptions; 3. Information structure in grammar; 4. Syntax and information structure; 5. Topicality and grammatical marking; 6. Topical marking of nonsubjects; 7. Topicality and DOM; 8. Primary and secondary objecthood and DOM; 9. Multiple objects and grammatical alignment; 10. Semantic features, topicality and grammaticalisation; 11. Conclusion.
Read More ↓Writers
More from this Series
No reviews yet. Be the first to rate this work.
Files & Downloads
-
Objects and Information Structure -- (.pdf)
PDF · 1.7 MB · updated
Rate & Review