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Morphosyntactic Categories and the Expression of Possession
The analysis of constructions denoting possession (particularly, but not exclusively, in English) has long presented a challenge to morpho-syntactic theory and has been a topic of debate for some time. The papers presented here afford thought-provoking insights into the morphosyntactic nature of possessive markers under a variety of theoretical frameworks. The distribution of phrases expressing possession is explored in a range of languages (including English, Swedish, Urdu and West Flemish), with rigorous exploitation of corpus data and careful statistical analysis. Descriptions and analyses represent the state of the art in research into possessive constructions. Particular attention is paid to the English possessive ’s, both synchronically and diachronically. This volume is essential for scholars interested in theoretical and corpus-based linguistics, morphosyntactic constructions, and the expression of possession.
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 199] 2013. xii, 341 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 18 January 2013
Published online on 18 January 2013
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
- IntroductionKersti Börjars, David Denison and Alan K. Scott | pp. vii–xii
- Dealing with postmodified possessors in early English: Split and group genitivesCynthia L. Allen | pp. 1–34
- Variation in the form and function of the possessive morpheme in Late Middle and Early Modern EnglishTeo Juvonen | pp. 35–58
- The great regression: Genitive variability in Late Modern English news textsBenedikt Szmrecsanyi | pp. 59–88
- Nominal categories and the expression of possession: A cross-linguistic study of probabilistic tendencies and categorical constraintsCatherine O'Connor, Joan Maling and Barbora Skarabela | pp. 89–122
- Expression of possession in English: The significance of the right edgeKersti Börjars, David Denison, Grzegorz Krajewski and Alan K. Scott | pp. 123–148
- A cognitive analysis of John’s hatRichard A. Hudson | pp. 149–176
- The oblique genitive in EnglishJohn Payne | pp. 177–192
- The marker of the English “Group Genitive” is a special clitic, not an inflectionStephen R. Anderson | pp. 193–218
- Two prenominal possessors in West FlemishLiliane Haegeman | pp. 219–252
- A Mozart sonata and the Palme murder: The structure and uses of proper-name compounds in SwedishMaria Koptjevskaja-Tamm | pp. 253–290
- Possessive clitics and ezafe in UrduTina Bögel and Miriam Butt | pp. 291–322
- References | pp. 323–338
- Index | pp. 339–341
“The volume is essential reading for any linguist interested in the morphosyntactic realization of possession. While the overall focus is clearly on English, this is not necessarily a negative: it enables the volume to approach the various issues in English from several distinct angles, while maintaining a manageable set of data. Empirical-statistical, cognitive and theoretical-explanatory accounts add up to render a rather complete picture of the English possessive constructions from a synchronic as well as from a diachronic perspective. In addition, descriptive papers team up to provide insights into other languages' possessive structures as well.”
Sebastian Sulger, University of Konstanz, on Linguist List 24,3673, 2013
Cited by (9)
Cited by nine other publications
Corbett, Greville G.
2021. Feature-based competition. In All Things Morphology [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 353], ► pp. 171 ff.
BREBAN, TINE, JULIA KOLKMANN & JOHN PAYNE
Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, Emma Moore, Linda van Bergen & Willem B. Hollmann
Ackermann, Tanja
2018. From genitive inflection to possessive marker?. In Germanic Genitives [Studies in Language Companion Series, 193], ► pp. 189 ff.
Braunmüller, Kurt
2018. On the role of cases and possession in Germanic. In Germanic Genitives [Studies in Language Companion Series, 193], ► pp. 301 ff.
Hoge, Kerstin
2018. Yiddish possessives as a case for genitive case. In Germanic Genitives [Studies in Language Companion Series, 193], ► pp. 231 ff.
Zimmer, Christian, Horst J. Simon & Tanja Ackermann
2018. Genitives in Germanic. In Germanic Genitives [Studies in Language Companion Series, 193], ► pp. 3 ff.
EHRET, KATHARINA, CHRISTOPH WOLK & BENEDIKT SZMRECSANYI
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