William B. McGregor

List of John Benjamins publications for which William B. McGregor plays a role.

Titles

Reconnecting Form and Meaning: In honour of Kristin Davidse

Edited by Caroline Gentens, Lobke Ghesquière, William B. McGregor and An Van linden

[Studies in Language Companion Series, 230] 2023. vii, 305 pp.
Subjects Cognition and language | Discourse studies | Functional linguistics | Pragmatics | Syntax | Theoretical linguistics

The Diachrony of Classification Systems

Edited by William B. McGregor and Søren Wichmann

[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 342] 2018. xi, 362 pp.
Subjects Historical linguistics | Theoretical linguistics | Typology

The Interaction of Data, Description, and Theory in Linguistics: Functional perspectives

Edited by William B. McGregor

Special issue of Functions of Language 9:2 (2003) iv, 206 pp.
Subjects Functional linguistics | Theoretical linguistics

A Functional Grammar of Gooniyandi

William B. McGregor

[Studies in Language Companion Series, 22] 1990. xx, 618 pp.
Subjects Australian languages | Functional linguistics | Theoretical linguistics

Articles

Gentens, Caroline, Lobke Ghesquière, William B. McGregor and An Van linden 2023 Introduction. Reconnecting form and meaning: Lexis and grammar from cognitive-functional and usage-based perspectivesReconnecting Form and Meaning: In honour of Kristin Davidse, Gentens, Caroline, Lobke Ghesquière, William B. McGregor and An Van linden (eds.), pp. 1–13 | Chapter
McGregor, William B. 2023 Chapter 9. Zero-marking or nothing to mark? The case against absolutive ‘case’ in GooniyandiReconnecting Form and Meaning: In honour of Kristin Davidse, Gentens, Caroline, Lobke Ghesquière, William B. McGregor and An Van linden (eds.), pp. 237–265 | Chapter
Gooniyandi (Bunuban, Kimberley, north-west Australia), according to McGregor (1990a), has an ergative case-marker. Unusually, McGregor’s grammar does not identify a corresponding zero absolutive case-marker or case; nor does it discuss why there is none. This paper rectifies this lacuna and… read more
McGregor, William B. 2020 UniversalsHandbook of Pragmatics: 23rd Annual Installment, Östman, Jan-Ola and Jef Verschueren (eds.), pp. 221–243 | Chapter
McGregor, William B. 2019 The evolutionary origins of interpersonal grammarOn mood and speech function and the ‘why’ of text analysis: In honour of Margaret Berry, Fontaine, Lise, Miriam Taverniers and Kristin Davidse (eds.), pp. 112–135 | Article
McGregor, William B. 2018 The history of verb classification in Nyulnyulan languagesThe Diachrony of Classification Systems, McGregor, William B. and Søren Wichmann (eds.), pp. 315–352 | Chapter
Most languages of northern Australia show a compound verb construction in which an uninflecting verbal element collocates with one of a small set of inflecting verbs. McGregor (2002) argues that this construction typically represents a system of verb classification in which the inflecting verbal… read more
McGregor, William B. 2017 There’s grammar and there’s grammar just as there’s usage and there’s usageGrammar, usage and discourse: Functional studies offered to Kristin Davidse, Vandelanotte, Lieven, Wout Van Praet and Lieselotte Brems (eds.), pp. 199–232 | Article
Usage-based grammars have become increasingly prominent in recent years. In these theories usage is construed quantitatively and serves as a circumstance for the emergence and development of grammar. This paper argues that usage can go deeper than this, and may become a component of the semiotic… read more
A well-known feature of many Australian Aboriginal languages is that the same verb form can mean either ‘say’ or ‘do’ (Rumsey 1990; Dixon 2002: 121). The received story is that this represents a polysemic verb with two distinct though not unrelated meanings. Few linguists, however, have presented… read more
McGregor, William B. 2014 Connate roles in Nyulnyul: non-nuclear grammatical relations within the coreNon-Nuclear Cases, Delbecque, Nicole, Karen Lahousse and Willy Van Langendonck (eds.), pp. 67–94 | Article
This paper is concerned with the distinction between nuclear and non-nuclear grammatical relations in Nyulnyul, an effectively extinct language of Dampier Land, Western Australia. Drawing on research within Semiotic Grammar, it is proposed that a fundamental distinction needs to be drawn between… read more
McGregor, William B. 2013 Grammaticalisation of verbs into temporal and modal markers in Australian languagesDiachronic and Typological Perspectives on Verbs, Josephson, Folke and Ingmar Söhrman (eds.), pp. 107–132 | Article
In this paper I present some speculative stories about the development from verbs of some TAM markers in Australian languages. The verbs in question are basic and high frequency ones, including ‘say, do’, which can appear as a marker of inceptive aspect; telic, accomplishment, or activity… read more
McGregor, William B. 2008 13. The origin of noun classes in Worrorran languagesMorphology and Language History: In honour of Harold Koch, Bowern, Claire, Bethwyn Evans and Luisa Miceli (eds.), pp. 185–200 | Article
This paper explores the contribution of missionary linguists to the documentation, description, and maintenance of Aboriginal languages of the Kimberley region of Western Australia from the establishment of the first enduring mission in 1890 to 1960. It is argued that the primary contribution was… read more
McGregor, William B. 2008 Indexicals as sources of case markers in Australian languagesInterdependence of Diachronic and Synchronic Analyses, Josephson, Folke and Ingmar Söhrman (eds.), pp. 299–321 | Article
Among the well-known and widely discussed sources of case-markers are verbs,body part nouns, spatial terms (spatial adverbials and nominals denoting spatial concepts), other case-markers, and combinations of other case-markers. A less well-known source of case-markers is indexical items such as… read more
McGregor, William B. 2007 2. A desiderative complement construction in Warrwa.Language Description, History and Development: Linguistic indulgence in memory of Terry Crowley, Siegel, Jeff, John Lynch and Diana Eades (eds.), pp. 27–40 | Article
McGregor, William B. 2007 Language and the number senseFunctions of Language 14:2, pp. 231–249 | Miscellaneous
McGregor, William B. 2003 IntroductionThe Interaction of Data, Description, and Theory in Linguistics: Functional perspectives, McGregor, William B. (ed.), pp. 125–131 | Article
McGregor, William B. 2002 10. Ergative and accusative patterning in WarrwaThe Nominative & Accusative and their counterparts, Davidse, Kristin and Béatrice Lamiroy (eds.), pp. 285–317 | Chapter
McGregor, William B. 2001 4. The verb HAVE in Nyulnyulan languagesDimensions of Possession, Baron, Irène, Michael Herslund and Finn Sørensen (eds.), pp. 67 ff. | Chapter
McGregor, William B. 2001 Ideophones as the source of verbs in Northern Australian languagesIdeophones, Voeltz, F.K. Erhard and Christa Kilian-Hatz (eds.), pp. 205–221 | Article
McGregor, William B. 2000 Reflexive and reciprocal constructions in Nyulnyulan languagesReciprocals: Forms and functions, Frajzyngier, Zygmunt and Traci Walker (eds.), pp. 85 ff. | Article
McGregor, William B. 1999 External Possession Constructions in Nyulnyulan LanguagesExternal Possession, Payne, Doris L. and Immanuel Barshi (eds.), pp. 429 ff. | Article
McGregor, William B. 1999 How many types of internal conjunction?Functions of Language 6:1, pp. 139–151 | Article
McGregor, William B. 1999 The Medio-Active Construction in Nyulnyulan LanguagesStudies in Language 23:3, pp. 531–567 | Article
Most Nyulnyulan languages (non-Pama-Nyungan, Western Australia), show an unusual clause type, the medio-active, with the case-frame of a transitive clause, but the verbal agreement of an intransitive clause; there is no formal registration in the verb. This paper provides a detailed description of… read more
McGregor, William B. 1998 The verbal suffix — ngany in WarrwaCase, Typology and Grammar: In honor of Barry J. Blake, Siewierska, Anna and Jae Jung Song (eds.), pp. 171 ff. | Article
McGregor, William B. 1997 Grammatical structures in noun incorporationReconnecting Language: Morphology and Syntax in Functional Perspectives, Simon-Vandenbergen, Anne-Marie, Kristin Davidse and Dirk Noël (eds.), pp. 141 ff. | Article
McGregor, William B. 1996 Arguments for the category of verb phraseFunctions of Language 3:1, pp. 1–30 | Article
The category VP has since the late 1950s attracted a considerable amount of interest in both formally and functionally oriented linguistics, though in the latter to a lesser extent. There is a substantial amount of disagreement amongst linguists as to the status of this category, and as to its… read more
McGregor, William B. 1995 3. The English ‘tag question’: A new analysis, is(n’t) it?On Subject and Theme: A discourse functional perspective, Hasan, Ruqaiya † and Peter H. Fries (eds.), pp. 91 ff. | Article
McGregor, William B. 1994 Review of Hopper & Traugott (1993): GrammaticalizationFunctions of Language 1:2, pp. 304–307 | Review
This paper investigates complex sentence constructions in Nyulnyul (Kimberley, Western Australia). Three primary types of inter-clausal relationships — embedding (part-whole), dependence (part-part) and scope (whole-whole) — permit an initial typology of complex sentence types. This paper focuses… read more
Elliott, Marietta and William B. McGregor 1989 Reid, I., ed. (1987) The Place of Genre in Learning: Current DebatesGenre and Systemic Functional Studies, pp. 1–12 | Review article
McGregor, William B. 1988 Mood and Subodination in KuniyantiComplex Sentence Constructions in Australian Languages, Austin, Peter (ed.), pp. 37 ff. | Article
McGregor, William B. 1987 Event progression in Gooniyandi textsAustralian Review of Applied Linguistics 10:1, pp. 158–170 | Article
The purpose of this paper is to explore the way in which the sequence of referent events underlying the story is expressed in narrative texts in Gooniyandi (Kimberley, Western Australia). It is shown that narratives are structured in at least two partially independent ways: in terms of story… read more
The purpose of this paper is to explore the significance of intonation in narrative texts in Kuniyanti (Kimberley, WA). It is suggested that intonation realizes the information structure of texts. Tone units correspond to information units. Each tone unit has one syllable that is more prominent… read more
McGregor, William B. 1986 Some issues in orthography design for Aboriginal languagesLiteracy, pp. 61–74 | Article
The appropriateness of the standard practical orthographies for Australian languages, recommended by e.g. Dixon (1980:xxi-xxii), and used in languages such as Warlpiri and Walmajarri, has recently been called to question by linguists and Aboriginal users. A non-phonemic English based orthography… read more