The Syntax of the Be-Possessive
Parametric variation and surface diversities
This book is the first attempt to provide a unified account of the be-possessive syntax and its extension to the modal and the perfect constructions in Russian/North Russian within a generative framework. Apparently diverse constructions are construed as deriving from the have/be parameter, which depends on the utilization of the prepositional complementizer with a Case feature. The be-perfect structure provides an adequate environment where ergativity is encoded via verbal nominalization. The relevance of the be-perfect structure for a split ergative pattern shows that the ergative system is a syntactically conditioned phenomenon rather than a purely morphological diversity. This volume also offers the diachronic study of the be-syntax, investigating the evolution of the be-perfect and be-modal constructions, which has rarely been explored within a formal framework. Concrete scenarios are proposed for the developmental paths of the be-perfect and the be-modal constructions, based on textual evidence in old North Russian.
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 172] 2011. xiii, 269 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 2 May 2011
Published online on 2 May 2011
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
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Acknowledgements | pp. xi–xii
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List of abbreviations | pp. xiii–xiv
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Chapter 1 Parametric variation in synchrony and diachrony | pp. 1–36
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Chapter 2 The syntax of the be-possessive in Russian | pp. 37–96
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Chapter 3 The consequences of the be-possessive structure: Modal and perfect | pp. 97–120
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Chapter 4 The be-perfect and ergativity in North Russian | pp. 121–156
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Chapter 5 Microvariations in Case and Agreement | pp. 157–176
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Chapter 6 Thematic feature reduction: The historical extension of the syntax of the be-possessive to the be-modal | pp. 177–198
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Chapter 7 Thematic feature reduction: The development of the -no/-to perfect | pp. 199–240
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Chapter 8 Conclusion | pp. 241–248
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Bibliography | pp. 249–264
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Index | pp. 265–270
Cited by (10)
Cited by ten other publications
Kampanarou, Anna
Tsedryk, Egor
Dalmi, Gréte
Jung, Hakyung
Rubinstein, Aynat
2019. Existential possessive modality in the emergence of Modern Hebrew. In Language Contact, Continuity and Change in the Genesis of Modern Hebrew [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 256], ► pp. 55 ff. 
Błaszczak, Joanna
Myler, Neil
White, Lydia, Alyona Belikova, Paul Hagstrom, Tanja Kupisch & Öner Özçelik
2012.
Restrictions on definiteness in
second language acquisition. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 2:1 ► pp. 54 ff. 
[no author supplied]
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Subjects
Main BIC Subject
CFK: Grammar, syntax
Main BISAC Subject
LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General