The Semantics of Grammar

The Semantics of Grammar
Author :
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages : 632
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9789027230195
ISBN-13 : 9027230196
Rating : 4/5 (95 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Semantics of Grammar by : Anna Wierzbicka

Download or read book The Semantics of Grammar written by Anna Wierzbicka and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 1988-01-01 with total page 632 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The semantics of grammar" presents a radically semantic approach to syntax and morphology. It offers a methodology which makes it possible to demonstrate, on an empirical basis, that syntax is neither "autonomous" nor "arbitrary," but that it follows from "semantics." It is shown that every grammatical construction encodes a certain semantic structure, which can be revealed and rigorously stated, so that the meanings encoded in grammar can be compared in a precise and illuminating way, within one language and across language boundaries. The author develops a semantic metalanguage based on lexical universals or near-universals (and, ultimately, on a system of universal semantic primitives), and shows that the same semantic metalanguage can be used for explicating lexical, grammatical and pragmatic aspects of language and thus offers a method for an integrated linguistic description based on semantic foundations. Analyzing data from a number of different languages (including English, Russian and Japanese) the author explores the notion of ethnosyntax and, via semantics, links syntax and morphology with culture. She attemps to demonstrate that the use of a semantic metalanguage based on lexical universals makes it possible to rephrase the Humboldt-Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in such a way that it can be tested and treated as a program for empirical research.


The Semantics of Grammar Related Books

The Semantics of Grammar
Language: en
Pages: 632
Authors: Anna Wierzbicka
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 1988-01-01 - Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"The semantics of grammar" presents a radically semantic approach to syntax and morphology. It offers a methodology which makes it possible to demonstrate, on a
The Semantics of Syntax
Language: en
Pages: 544
Authors: Denis Bouchard
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 1995-12 - Publisher: University of Chicago Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

During the last thirty years, most linguists and philosophers have assumed that meaning can be represented symbolically and that the mental processing of langua
Natural Language Semantics
Language: en
Pages: 731
Authors: Brendan S. Gillon
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-03-12 - Publisher: MIT Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An introduction to natural language semantics that offers an overview of the empirical domain and an explanation of the mathematical concepts that underpin the
The Emergence of Semantics in Four Linguistic Traditions
Language: en
Pages: 339
Authors: Wout Jac. van Bekkum
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 1997-04-03 - Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The aim of this study is a comparative analysis of the role of semantics in the linguistic theory of four grammatical traditions, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Greek, Arabi
Morphology-Semantics Mismatches and the Nature of Grammatical Features
Language: en
Pages: 281
Authors: Peter W. Smith
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-04-19 - Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Hybrid nouns have a morphological shape that doesn’t match their semantic interpretation. Such nouns pose clear and interesting questions for the nature of gr