Structures

· Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
eBook
659
Pages
Ratings and reviews aren’t verified  Learn more

About this eBook

This grammar of English embraces major lexical, phonological, syntactic structures and interfaces. It is based on the substantive assumption: that the categories and structures at all levels represent mental substance, conceptual and/or perceptual. The adequacy of this assumption in expressing linguistic generalizations is tested. The lexicon is seen as central to the grammar; it contains signs with conceptual, or content, poles, minimally words, and perceptual, and expression, poles, segments. Both words and segments are differentiated by substance-based features. They determine the erection of syntactic and phonological structures at the interfaces from lexicon. The valencies of words, the identification of their semantically determined complements and modifiers, control the erection of syntactic structures in the form of dependency relations. However, the features of different segment types determines their placement in the syllable, or as prosodies. Despite this discrepancy, dependency and linearization are two of the analogical properties displayed by lexical, syntactic and phonological structure. Analogies among parts of the grammar are another consequence of substantiveness, as is the presence of figurativeness and iconicity.

About the author

John M. Anderson, Prof. Em. University of Edinburgh, UK.

Rate this eBook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Centre instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.