Comrie / Estrada-Fernández Relative Clauses in Languages of the Americas

A typological overview
Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-90-272-7339-0
Verlag: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 102, 321 Seiten

Reihe: Typological Studies in Language

Patterns of relative clause formation tend to vary according to the typological properties of a language. Highly polysynthetic languages tend to have fully nominalized relative clauses and no relative pronouns, while other typologically diverse languages tend to have relative clauses which are similar to main or independent clauses. Languages of the Americas, with their rich genetic diversity, have all been under the influence of European languages, whether Spanish, English or Portuguese, a situation that may be expected to have influenced their grammatical patterns. The present volume focuses on two tasks: The first deals with the discussion of functional principles related to relative clause formation: diachrony and paths of grammaticalization, simplicity vs. complexity, and formalization of rules to capture semantic-syntactic correlations. The second provides a typological overview of relative clauses in nine different languages going from north to south in the Americas.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Comrie, Bernard

Estrada-Fernández, Zarina

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Grammatik, Syntax, Morphologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Semantik & Pragmatik
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Historische & Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft, Sprachtypologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction
Bernard Comrie and Zarina Estrada-Fernández

part i. Diachrony, typology, and theory

Toward a diachronic typology of relative clause*
Tom Givón

The evolution of language and elaborateness of grammar: The case of relative clauses in creole languages*
Tania Kuteva and Bernard Comrie

Some issues in the linking between syntax and semantics in relative clauses
Robert D. Van Valin, Jr.

Part II. Uto-Aztecan

Relative clauses and nominalizations in Yaqui
Albert Álvarez González

On relative clauses and related constructions in Yaqui
Lilián Guerrero

From demonstrative to relative marker to clause linker: Relative clause formation in Pima Bajo
Zarina Estrada-Fernández

Functional underpinnings of diachrony in relative clause formation: The nominalization-relativization connection in Northern Paiute
Timothy J. Thornes

Part III. Elsewhere in the Americas

Clauses as noun modifiers in Toba (Guaycuruan)
María Belén Carpio and Marisa Censabella

Between headed and headless relative clauses*
Patience Epps

Relative clauses in Seri
Stephen A. Marlett

Relative clauses in Gavião of Rondônia
Denny Moore

Relative clauses in Yucatec Maya: Light heads vs. Null domain*
Rodrigo Gutièrrez-Bravo

Questionable relatives
Marianne Mithun

Language and language family index

Name index

Subject index