Noun-Modifying Clause Constructions in Languages of Eurasia: Rethinking theoretical and geographical boundaries: 116 (Typological Studies in Language) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 902720697X ISBN 13: 9789027206978

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Co, 2017

Synopsis

This volume presents a cross-linguistic investigation of clausal noun-modifying constructions in genetically varied languages of Eurasia. Contrary to a common premise that, in any language, adnominal clauses that share some features of relative clauses constitute a structurally distinct construction, some languages of Eurasia exhibit a General Noun-Modifying Clause Construction (GNMCC) -- a single construction covering a wide range of semantic relations between the head noun and the clause. Through in-depth examination of naturally-occurring and elicited data from Ainu, languages of the Caucasus (e.g. Ingush, Georgian, Bezhta, Hinuq), Japanese, Korean, Marathi, Nenets, Sino-Tibetan languages (e.g. Cantonese, Mandarin, Rawang), and Turkic languages (e.g. Turkish, Sakha), the chapters discuss whether or not the language in question exhibits a GNMCC and the range of noun modification covered by such a construction. The findings afford us new facts, new theoretical perspectives and the first step toward a more global assessment of the possibilities for GNMCCs.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Co
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 902720697X
• ISBN 13: 9789027206978
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 387
• Editor: Matsumoto Yoshiko, Comrie Bernard, Sells Peter