Cover image for Relative Clauses in Time and Space : A case study in the methods of diachronic typology.
Relative Clauses in Time and Space : A case study in the methods of diachronic typology.
Title:
Relative Clauses in Time and Space : A case study in the methods of diachronic typology.
Author:
Hendery, Rachel.
ISBN:
9789027273680
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (293 pages)
Series:
Typological Studies in Language ; v.101

Typological Studies in Language
Contents:
Relative Clauses in Time and Space -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC data -- Table of contents -- Acknowledgements -- List of abbreviations -- 1. Introduction -- 1.1 What is diachronic typology? -- 1.1.1 Typology as a tool for investigating language change -- 1.1.2 Historical linguistics as a tool for investigating typology -- 1.1.3 'What's where why' becomes 'what's where when and why'? -- 1.2 About this book -- 1.2.1 Demonstrating the methods of diachronic typology -- 1.2.2 Why use relative clauses as a case study? Some methodological considerations -- 1.3 A brief introduction to the relative clause -- 1.3.1 What is a relative clause? -- 1.3.2 The types and subtypes of relative clauses -- 1.3.3 Relative clause markers -- 1.3.4 Relative clauses around the world -- 1.3.5 Relative clauses through time -- 2. Sources and extension of grammatical markers -- 2.1 Types of relationship between grammatical markers -- 2.2 Case studies of sources and extensions -- 2.2.1 Pronouns -- 2.2.2 Classifiers and generic nouns -- 2.2.3 Discourse markers -- 2.2.4 Possessives -- 2.2.5 Comparatives -- 2.2.6 Adverbial clauses -- 2.2.7 Complement clauses -- 2.2.8 General subordination -- 2.2.9 Adjective markers -- 2.2.10 General linkers -- 2.2.11 Less well-documented extensions -- 2.3 Conclusions: What came from where, when and why? -- 3. Other types of relationship between grammatical markers -- 3.1 Redistribution of markers -- 3.2 Loss of markers -- 3.2.1 Loss and general typological change -- 3.3 Formal changes -- 3.3.1 From invariant complementiser to inflecting pronoun and vice versa -- 3.3.2 From free-standing marker to verb affix -- 3.4 Grammatical markers: What's where when and why? -- 3.4.1 Relative clause markers in space and time -- 3.4.2 Relative clause markers and language contact -- 3.4.3 Implications for the methods of diachronic typology.

4. Syntactic change in the development of RC constructions -- 4.1 The origins of embedded clauses -- 4.2 Deranking and balancing of verb forms -- 4.3 Correlatives -- 4.4 Change in clause order -- 4.4.1 Relative clauses that follow the head -- 4.4.2 Relative clauses that precede the head -- 4.5 Syntax: What's where, when and why? -- 4.5.1 Stability -- 4.5.2 Implications for the methods of diachronic typology -- 5. Relevant factors in language change: The importance of contact -- 5.1 'Basic word order' as a factor in relative clause change -- 5.2 Other word order 'harmonies' as a factor in relative clause change -- 5.3 Embedding as a factor in relative clause change -- 5.4 The relationship between grammatical marker type and syntactic change -- 5.5 The relevance of language family affiliation to relative clause change -- 5.6 Language contact and relative clause change -- 5.7 The relative influence of internal and external factors -- 6. Conclusions -- 6.1 What's where when? Mapping relative clauses in three dimensions -- 6.2 and why: Processes and mechanisms -- 6.3 Language contact -- 6.4 Implications for the structure of relative clauses -- 6.5 Implications for taxonomies of relative clause types -- 6.6 The methods of diachronic typology -- References -- Appendices -- A. Constructions -- B. Markers -- C. Sources -- Language index -- Subject index.
Abstract:
This book presents a comprehensive survey of historically attested relative clause constructions from a diachronic typological perspective. Systematic integration of historical data and a typological approach demonstrates how typology and historical linguistics can each benefit from attention to the other. The diachronic behaviour of relative clauses is mapped across a broad range of genetically and geographically diverse languages. Central to the discussion is the strength of evidence for what have previously been claimed to be 'natural' or even 'universal' pathways of change. While many features of relative clause constructions are found to be remarkably stable over long periods of time, it is shown that language contact seems to be the crucial factor that does trigger change when it occurs. These results point to the importance of incorporating the effects of language contact into models of language change rather than viewing contact situations as exceptional. The findings of this study have implications for the definition of relative clauses, their syntactic structures and the relationships between the different 'subtypes' of this construction, as well as offering new directions for the integration of typological and historical linguistic research.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
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