English Comparative Correlatives: Diachronic and Synchronic Variation at the Lexicon-Syntax Interface (Studies in English Language)
Hoffmann, Thomas Thomas Hoffmann,
ISBN 10: 1108477216 ISBN 13: 9781108477215
Published by Cambridge University Press, 2019
Used
Hardcover
From
Bahamut Media, Reading, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
AbeBooks Seller since 15 August 2012
This specific item is no longer available.
About this Item
Description:
Shipped within 24 hours from our UK warehouse. Clean, undamaged book with no damage to pages and minimal wear to the cover. Spine still tight, in very good condition. Remember if you are not happy, you are covered by our 100% money back guarantee. Seller Inventory # 6545-9781108477215
Synopsis:
One of the most intriguing features of languages is that speakers can produce novel grammatical utterances that they have never heard before. Consequently, most linguists agree that the mental grammars of speakers are complex systems that must be more abstract than the input they are exposed to. Yet, linguists differ as to how general and abstract speakers' mental representations have to be to allow this grammatical creativity. This book addresses this issue by empirically investigating one specific construction, English comparative correlatives (e.g., the more you eat, the fatter you get). Drawing on authentic corpus data from Old English to Present-day English varieties around the world, it shows how input frequency and domain-general cognitive principles affect the complex mental network of constructions that underlies speakers' linguistic behaviour. This pioneering and original study will be of interest to scholars and students of English syntax and English historical linguistics.
About the Author: Thomas Hoffmann is Professor and Chair of English Language and Linguistics at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. He is author of Preposition Placement in English (Cambridge, 2011) and he is currently writing the textbook Construction Grammar: The Structure of English for the Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics series.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Bibliographic Details
Title: English Comparative Correlatives: Diachronic...
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication Date: 2019
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good