Can I read Syntactic Reconstruction and Proto-Germanic (Oxford Studies in Diachronic and Historical Linguistics) on EtoBox?

Syntactic Reconstruction and Proto-Germanic (Oxford Studies in Diachronic and Historical Linguistics) by George Brian Walkden is a nonfiction available to read on EtoBox.

What is Syntactic Reconstruction and Proto-Germanic (Oxford Studies in Diachronic and Historical Linguistics) about?

This book offers reconstructions of various syntactic properties of Proto-Germanic, including verb position in main clauses, the syntax of the wh -system, and the (non-)occurrence of null pronominal subjects and objects. Although previous studies have looked at the lexical and phonological reconstruction of Proto-Germanic, little is currently known about the syntax of the language, and it has even been argued that the reconstruction of syntax is impossible. Dr Walkden uses extensive evidence from the early Germanic languages - Old English, Old High German, Old Saxon, Old Norse, and Gothic - to show that syntactic reconstruction is not only possible but also profitable. He argues that while the reconstruction of syntax differs from lexical-phonological reconstruction due to the so-called 'correspondence problem', this is not insurmountable. In fact, the approach taken in current Minimalist theories, in which syntactic variation is attributed to the properties of lexical items, opens the door for syntactic reconstruction as lexical reconstruction. The book also discusses practical solutions for circumventing the correspondence problem, in particular the use of both distributional

Who reads Syntactic Reconstruction and Proto-Germanic (Oxford Studies in Diachronic and Historical Linguistics)?

Author

George Brian Walkden

Publisher

Oxford University Press; Oxford University Press, USA

Published

2014

Language

EN

ISBN

9780198783589

Category

nonfiction

Subjects

Language Learning, Linguistics, Literary Fiction