Auxiliaries

TRAMA

Offering a new perspective on auxiliaries in particular and language structure in general, this study argues that language cannot be explained satisfactorily with reference to linguistic variables alone; what is required in addition are extra-linguistic parameters relating to how we perceive<BR>the world around us, and how we utilize the linguistic resources available to us to conceptualize our experiences, and to communicate successfully. Rather than a closed, self-contained system, language is an entity that is constantly shaped by such external factors as cognitive forces, pragmatic<BR>manipulation, history, etc. These factors are responsible for the emergence of chain-like linguistic structures, and auxiliaries are typical examples of such structures, which Heine describes as grammaticalization chains. A limited number of concrete event schemas are discussed and these schemas are<BR>shown to be responsible for much of the linguistic diversity that auxiliary constructions exhibit in the languages of the world.

ALTRE INFORMAZIONI

• Condizione: Nuovo
• ISBN: 9780195083873
• Dimensioni: 242 x 19.0 x 160 mm Ø 476 gr
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Illustration Notes: line figures
• Pagine Arabe: 172