| Description |
xii, 416 pages ; 24 cm |
| Series |
Cambridge studies in linguistics ; 38 |
|
Cambridge studies in linguistics ; 38
|
| Contents |
Machine derived contents note: List of tables; List of figures; Preface; Abbreviations; 1. Theoretical preliminaries; 2. The semantic structure of the clause; 3. Case marking; 4. Intraclausal syntax; 5. Juncture and operators; 6. Nexus; 7. Systems of discourse cohesion: reference-tracking mechanisms; List of tables; List of figures |
| Summary |
The key argument of this book, originally published in 1984, is that when human beings communicate with each other by means of a natural language they typically do not do so in simple sentences but rather in connected discourse - complex expressions made up of a number of clauses linked together in various ways. A necessary precondition for intelligible discourse is the speaker's ability to signal the temporal relations between the events that are being discussed and to refer to the participants in those events in such a way that it is clear who is being talked about. A great deal of the grammatical machinery in a language is devoted to this task, and Functional Syntax and Universal Grammar explores how different grammatical systems accomplish it. --From publisher's description |
| Analysis |
Functional grammar |
| Notes |
Includes indexes |
| Bibliography |
Bibliography: pages [398]-409 |
| Notes |
Cambridge studies in linguistics no:38 0068-676X |
| Subject |
Functionalism (Linguistics)
|
|
Grammar, Comparative and general -- Syntax.
|
|
Typology (Linguistics)
|
| Author |
Van Valin, Robert D.
|
| LC no. |
83023949 |
| ISBN |
0521259568 |
|
0521269040 (paperback) |
|
