Discourse Configurational Languages (Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax)

Kiss, Katalin e. (editor)

ISBN 10: 0195088336 / ISBN 13: 9780195088335

Published by New York, NY, U.S.A.: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1995, 1995

About this Item

new; cloth cover.

Seller Inventory # br3950

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Discourse Configurational Languages (Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax)
• Publisher: New York, NY, U.S.A.: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1995
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195088336
• ISBN 13: 9780195088335
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition

About this title

Synopsis

Consisting of eleven studies on languages with designated structural topic and focus positions, this study offers an introduction surveying the empirical and theoretical problems involved in the description of this language type. Unique in focusing on languages outside the traditional Indo-European group, the essays look at Chadic, Somali, Basque, Catalan, Old Romance, Greek, Hungarian, Finnish, Korean, and Quenchua. The papers provide interesting new empirical data, as well as a variety of means and alternatives of representing them structurally. At the same time, they also address important theoretical questions in the framework of generative theory. It is the first study to apply methods of comparative syntax to the study of topic and focus.

Review

The proposals contained in the papers in this volume are bound to pave the way for subsequent analyses. Any practitioner of generative syntax seriously interested in cross-linguistic variation will need to consult them. (Linguistics)