Parts of Speech

Empirical and theoretical advances

Edited by Umberto Ansaldo, Jan Don and Roland Pfau
University of Hong Kong / University of Amsterdam
Parts of Speech are a central aspect of linguistic theory and analysis. Though a long-established tradition in Western linguistics and philosophy has assumed the validity of Parts of Speech in the study of language, there are still many questions left unanswered. For example, should Parts of Speech be treated as descriptive tools or are they to be considered universal constructs? Is it possible to come up with cross-linguistically valid formal categories, or are categories of language structure ultimately language-specific? Should they be defined semantically, syntactically, or otherwise? Do non-Indo-European languages reveal novel aspects of categorical assignment? This volume attempts to answer these and other fundamental questions for linguistic theory and its methodology by offering a range of contributions that spans diverse theoretical persuasions and contributes to our understanding of Parts of Speech with analyses of new data sets.

These articles were originally published in Studies in Language 32:3 (2008).

[Benjamins Current Topics, 25]  2010.  vi, 291 pp.
Publishing status: Available
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ISBN 9789027222558 | EUR 95.00 | USD 143.00
 
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Table of Contents

Parts-of-Speech: Particulars, universals and theoretical constructs
Umberto Ansaldo, Jan Don and Roland Pfau
1–4
Word classes in sign languages: Criteria and classifications
Waldemar Schwager and Ulrike Zeshan
5–41
Roots, stems and word classes
Christian Lehmann
43–64
Precategoriality and syntax-based parts of speech: The case of Late Archaic Chinese
Walter Bisang
65–86
Covert word classes: Seeking your own syntax in Tukang Besi
Mark Donohue
87–106
Pragmatic factors in the development of a switch-adjective language: A case study of the Miyako-Hirara dialect of Ryukyuan
Yulia Koloskova and Toshio Ohori
107–133
The acquisition of syntactic categories in Jakarta Indonesian
David Gil
135–167
Possible phonological cues in categorial acquisition: Evidence from adult categorization
Jan Don and Marian Erkelens
169–181
Lexical semantic constraints on noun roots and noun borrowability
Lynn Nichols
183–200
Degree words, intensification, and word class distinctions in romance languages
Ventura Salazar-García
201–226
On flexible and rigid nouns
Jan Rijkhoff
227–252
Parts of speech and dependent clauses in Functional Discourse Grammar
Kees Hengeveld and Eva van Lier
253–285
Languag index
287–288
Subject index
289–291

Quotes

“My evaluation of the volume is strongly positive. Besides the very high quality of every contribution, I particularly appreciated the continuity of the discussion in which the assorted parts fit well together: every essay is functional to and helps a better comprehension of the others. Even the order in which the papers have been presented helps the reader to follow the thread of discussion, despite the differences of topics and theoretical frameworks of the papers.”
Germana Olga Civilleri, Roma Tre University, on Linguist List 22.2283, 2011

Subjects

Benjamins Subject classification

BIC Subject

CFK: Grammar, syntax

BISAC Subject

LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics
U.S. Library of Congress Control Number:  2010030034
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