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Aspect And Modality In Kwa Languages

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Aspect And Modality In Kwa Languages

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Author : Felix K. Ameka
language : en
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Release Date : 2008

Aspect And Modality In Kwa Languages written by Felix K. Ameka and has been published by John Benjamins Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2008 with Language Arts & Disciplines categories.

This book explores the thesis that in the Kwa languages of West Africa, aspect and modality are more central to the grammar of the verb than tense. Where tense marking has emerged it is invariably in the expression of the future, and therefore concerned with the impending actualization or potentiality of an event, hence with modality, rather than the purely temporal sequencing associated with tense. The primary grammatical contrasts are perfective versus imperfective. The main languages discussed are Akan, Dangme, Ewe, Ga and Tuwuli while Nzema-Ahanta, Likpe and Eastern Gbe are also mentioned. Knowledge about these languages has deepened considerably during the past decade or so and ideas about their structure have changed. The volume therefore presents novel analyses of grammatical forms like the so-called S-Aux-O-V-Other or future constructions, and provides empirical data for theorizing about aspect and modality. It should be of considerable interest to Africanist linguists, typologists, and creolists interested in substrate issues.

Aspect And Modality In Kwa Languages

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Author : Felix K. Ameka
language : en
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Release Date : 2008-04-10

This book explores the thesis that in the Kwa languages of West Africa, aspect and modality are more central to the grammar of the verb than tense. Where tense marking has emerged it is invariably in the expression of the future, and therefore concerned with the impending actualization or potentiality of an event, hence with modality, rather than the purely temporal sequencing associated with tense. The primary grammatical contrasts are perfective versus imperfective. The main languages discussed are Akan, Dangme, Ewe, Ga and Tuwuli while Nzema-Ahanta, Likpe and Eastern Gbe are also mentioned. Knowledge about these languages has deepened considerably during the past decade or so and ideas about their structure have changed. The volume therefore presents novel analyses of grammatical forms like the so-called S-Aux-O-V-Other or “future” constructions, and provides empirical data for theorizing about aspect and modality. It should be of considerable interest to Africanist linguists, typologists, and creolists interested in substrate issues.

Modality Aspect Interfaces

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Author : Werner Abraham
language : en
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Release Date : 2008

Modality Aspect Interfaces written by Werner Abraham and has been published by John Benjamins Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2008 with Language Arts & Disciplines categories.

The main topics pursued in this volume are based on empirical insights derived from Germanic: logical and typological dispositions about aspect-modality links. These are probed in a variety of non-related languages. The logically establishable links are the following: Modal verbs are aspect sensitive in the selection of their infinitival complements embedded infinitival perfectivity implies root modal reading, whereas embedded infinitival imperfectivity triggers epistemic readings. However, in marked contexts such as negated ones, the aspectual affinities of modal verbs are neutralized or even subject to markedness inversion. All of this suggests that languages that do not, or only partially, bestow upon full modal verb paradigms seek to express modal variations in terms of their aspect oppositions. This typological tenet is investigated in a variety of languages from Indo-European (German, Slavic, Armenian), African, Asian, Amerindian, and Creoles. Seeming deviations and idiosyncrasies in the interaction between aspect and modality turn out to be highly rule-based.

Modality And Subordinators

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Author : Jackie Nordstrom
language : en
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Release Date : 2010

Modality And Subordinators written by Jackie Nordstrom and has been published by John Benjamins Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010 with Language Arts & Disciplines categories.

This book connects two linguistic phenomena, modality and subordinators, so that both are seen in a new light, each adding to the understanding of the other. It argues that general subordinators (or complementizers) denote propositional modality (otherwise expressed by moods such as the indicative-subjunctive and epistemic-evidential modal markers). The book explores the hypothesis both on a cross-linguistic and on a language-branch specific level (the Germanic languages). One obvious connection between the indicative-subjunctive distinction and subordinators is that the former is typically manifested in subordinate clauses. Furthermore, both the indicative-subjunctive and subordinators determine clause types. More importantly, however, it is shown, through data from various languages, that subordinators themselves often denote the indicative-subjunctive distinction. In the Germanic languages, there is variation in many clause types between both the indicative and the subjunctive and "that" and "if "depending on the speaker s and/or the subject s certainty of the truth of the proposition."

Modality In Japanese

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Author : Heiko Narrog
language : en
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Release Date : 2009-02-18

Modality In Japanese written by Heiko Narrog and has been published by John Benjamins Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2009-02-18 with Language Arts & Disciplines categories.

Hierarchical clause structure is an important feature of most theories of grammar. While it has been an indispensable part of formal syntactic theories, functional theories have more recently discovered for themselves a ‘layered structure of the clause’. A major focus of the current discussion on semanto-syntactic clause structure is the hierarchical ordering of grammatical categories such as tense, aspect and modality. However, there are very few empirical studies yet to provide systematic evidence for presumably universal hierarchical structures. This book presents a systematic corpus-based study of the semantic and morphosyntactic interaction of modality with tense, aspect, negation, and modal markers embedded in subordinate clauses. The results are critically compared with extant theories of hierarchies of grammatical categories, including those in Functional Grammar, Role and Reference Grammar, and the Cartography of Syntactic Structures. Also provided is an extensive description of the expression of modality and related categories in Modern Japanese.

The Present Perfective Paradox Across Languages

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Author : Astrid De Wit
language : en
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Release Date : 2017

The Present Perfective Paradox Across Languages written by Astrid De Wit and has been published by Oxford University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2017 with Language Arts & Disciplines categories.

This book presents an analysis of how speakers of typologically diverse languages report present-time situations. Astrid De Wit brings together cross-linguistic observations from English, French, the English-based creole language Sranan, and various Slavic languages, and relates them to the same phenomenon, the 'present perfective paradox'.

The Expression Of Phasal Polarity In African Languages

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Author : Raija Kramer
language : en
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Release Date : 2021-02-22

The Expression Of Phasal Polarity In African Languages written by Raija Kramer and has been published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2021-02-22 with Language Arts & Disciplines categories.

The book provides insights into the systems and strategies of expressing the Phasal Polarity (PhP) concepts ALREADY, STILL, NOT YET and NO LONGER in African languages. Special emphasis is laid on careful examination of the functional spectrum and paradigmatic affiliation of PhP expressions. The book challenges hypotheses and established assumptions in the typological literature.

The Role Of Semantic Pragmatic And Discourse Factors In The Development Of Case

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Author : Jóhanna Barðdal
language : en
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Release Date : 2009-03-11

The Role Of Semantic Pragmatic And Discourse Factors In The Development Of Case written by Jóhanna Barðdal and has been published by John Benjamins Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2009-03-11 with Language Arts & Disciplines categories.

The aim of this volume is to bring non-syntactic factors in the development of case into the eye of the research field, by illustrating the integral role of pragmatics, semantics, and discourse structure in the historical development of morphologically marked case systems. The articles represent fifteen typologically diverse languages from four different language families: (i) Indo-European: Vedic Sanskrit, Russian, Greek, Latin, Latvian, Gothic, French, German, Icelandic, and Faroese; (ii) Tibeto-Burman, especially the Bodic languages and Meithei; (iii) Japanese; and (iv) the Pama-Nyungan mixed language Gurindji Kriol. The data also show considerable diversity and include elicited, archival, corpus-based, and naturally occurring data. Discussions of mechanisms where change is obtained include semantically and aspectually motivated synchronic case variation, discourse motivated subject marking, reduction or expansion of case marker distribution, case syncretism motivated by semantics, syntax, or language contact, and case splits motivated by pragmatics, metonymy, and subjectification.

The Chain Of Being And Having In Slavic

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Author : Steven J. Clancy
language : en
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Release Date : 2010

The Chain Of Being And Having In Slavic written by Steven J. Clancy and has been published by John Benjamins Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010 with Language Arts & Disciplines categories.

The complex diachronic and synchronic status of the concepts "be" and "have" can be understood only with consideration of their full range of constructions and functions. Data from modern Slavic languages (Russian, Czech, Polish, Bulgarian) provides a window into zero copulas, non-verbal "have" expressions, and verbal constructions. From the perspective of cognitive linguistics, "be" and "have" are analyzed in terms of a blended prototype model, wherein existence/copula for "be" and possession/relationship for "have" are inseparably combined. These concepts are related to each other in their functions and meanings and serve as organizing principles in a conceptual network of semantic neighbors, including "give, take, get, become, make," and verbs of position and motion. Renewal and replacement of "be" and "have" occur through processes of polysemization and suppletization involving lexical items in this network. Topics include polysemy, suppletion, tense/mood auxiliaries, modality, causatives, evidentiality, function words, contact phenomena, syntactic calques, and idiomatic constructions.

Text And Discourse Connectedness

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Author : Maria-Elisabeth Conte
language : en
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Release Date : 1989-01-01

Text And Discourse Connectedness written by Maria-Elisabeth Conte and has been published by John Benjamins Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 1989-01-01 with Language Arts & Disciplines categories.

The 35 papers in this volume provide a comprehensive picture of crucial aspects of connectedness. The papers are divided into three main groups: the papers in the first group deal with particular questions of the text-constituting role of anaphora, deixis, coreference, modality, conjunctions and particles, theme, topic, ellipsis, etc., the second group of papers discusses the connectedness in texts/discourses of different types (narrative texts, stories, horoscopes, anecdotes, poems, comics, etc.), and, finally, the papers in the third group discuss general theoretical/methodological questions concerning connectedness.

Aspect And Modality In Kwa Languages

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