The Dynamics of Nominal Classification

The Dynamics of Nominal Classification
Author: Ruth Singer
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2016-02-22
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1501501208

The use of grammatical gender in the Australian language Mawng calls into question prevailing ideas about the functions of nominal classification systems. Mawng’s gender system has a strong semantic basis and plays an important role in the construction of meaning in discourse. Gender agreement in verbs is frequently lexicalized, creating idioms called lexicalised agreement verbs that are structurally similar to noun-verb idioms. This book will be of interest to anyone interested in nominal classification or cross-linguistic approaches to idioms.

Perspectives on Classifier Constructions in Sign Languages

Perspectives on Classifier Constructions in Sign Languages
Author: Karen Emmorey
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 425
Release: 2003-04-02
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1135632952

Classifier constructions are universal to sign languages and exhibit unique properties that arise from the nature of the visual-gestural modality. The major goals are to bring to light critical issues related to the study of classifier constructions and to present state-of-the-art linguistic and psycholinguistic analyses of these constructions. It is hoped that by doing so, more researchers will be inspired to investigate the nature of classifier constructions across signed languages and further explore the unique aspects of these forms. The papers in this volume discuss the following issues: *how sign language classifiers differ from spoken languages; *cross-linguistic variation in sign language classifier systems; *the role of gesture; *the nature of morpho-syntactic and phonological constraints on classifier constructions; *the grammaticization process for these forms; and *the acquisition of classifier forms. Divided into four parts, groups of papers focus on a particular set of issues, and commentary papers end each section.

Systems of Nominal Classification

Systems of Nominal Classification
Author: Gunter Senft
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 366
Release: 2000-08-03
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780521770750

A major linguistic study of nominal classification systems across a variety of languages, first published in 2000.

Nominal Classification

Nominal Classification
Author: Marcin Kilarski
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2013-12-18
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027270902

This book offers the first comprehensive survey of the study of gender and classifiers throughout the history of Western linguistics. Based on an analysis of over 200 genetically and typologically diverse languages, the author shows that these seemingly arbitrary and redundant categories play in fact a central role in the lexicon, grammar and the organization of discourse. As a result, the often contradictory approaches to their functionality and semantic motivation encapsulate the evolving conceptions of such issues as cognitive and cultural correlates of linguistic structure, the diverse functions of grammatical categories, linguistic complexity, agreement phenomena and the interplay between lexicon and grammar. The combination of a typological and historiographic perspective adopted here allows the reader to appreciate the detail and insight of earlier, supposedly ‘prescientific’ accounts in light of the data now available and to examine contemporary discussions in the context of prevailing conceptions in the study of language at different points in its history since antiquity.

English on Croker Island

English on Croker Island
Author: Robert Mailhammer
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2021-02-08
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3110707853

Existing accounts of Australian Aboriginal English do not investigate the significant degree of variation found across the continent. This book presents the first description of English spoken on Croker Island, Northern Territory, Australia, in terms of its history, linguistic features and connections to local Aboriginal languages. It demonstrates that English on Croker Island shows an extremely high degree of intra- and inter-speaker variation and embedding in a longstanding multilingual contact situation, both of which challenge existing models of variation and language contact. These results have significant ramifications for how variation is modelled, for our understanding of how postcolonial Englishes develop, as well as for the dynamics of complex contact situations. The book also puts English on Croker Island into a typological context of World Englishes by establishing a profile according to the parameters of the World Atlas of Varieties of English (WAVE). It is of interest to academics interested in Australian Aboriginal English, language contact, World Englishes and Australian Aboriginal languages.

Non-Canonical Gender Systems

Non-Canonical Gender Systems
Author: Sebastian Fedden
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2018-03-09
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0192514784

This book explores the boundaries of the category of gender and their theoretical significance within the framework of Canonical Typology. Grammatical gender is a famously puzzling category: although it has been widely explored from a typological perspective, studies are constantly identifying exciting and unexpected patterns in gender systems, many of which cannot be easily classified or straightforwardly analysed. Some of these patterns stretch or even threaten to cross the largely unexplored outer boundaries of the category. In the canonical approach, morphosyntactic features like gender are established in terms of a canonical ideal: the clearest instance of the phenomenon. The canonical ideal is a clustering of properties that serves as a baseline to measure the actual examples observed. In this volume, international experts use this approach to analyse a range of gender systems that diverge from the canonical ideal, and to determine to what extent each component property of these systems can be considered canonical. Chapters explore a wide range of typologically diverse languages from all over the world, from South America to Melanesia, and from Central Italy to Northern Australia. The book will be of interest to all linguists working in the field of typology, from graduate level upwards, as well as to morphologists and syntacticians of all theoretical stripes who have an interest in grammatical gender.

English in Malaysia

English in Malaysia
Author: Toshiko Yamaguchi
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2016-03-21
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 900431430X

English in Malaysia: Current Use and Status offers an account of the English language used in present-day West and East Malaysia and its status anchored in different linguistic, social and educational domains. After an Introduction giving a bird’s eye view of the status of English in Malaysia, the eight main chapters offer case studies revolving around four themes: i. linguistic features, with special focus on pronunciation and language contact; ii. language attitudes; iii. English in on-line discourse; and iv. English and language policies. The chapters cover original data and topics, seeking to draw an accurate portrait of Malaysian English, a non-native variety of postcolonial English that is currently developing its pronunciation, grammar, lexis and distinct identity.