Subjects in Constructions – Canonical and Non-Canonical

Editors

Marja-Liisa Helasvuo

| University of Turku

Tuomas Huumo

| University of Turku

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027204387 | EUR 99.00 | USD 149.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027269188 | EUR 99.00 | USD 149.00

This volume analyzes constructions with non-canonical subjects in individual languages and cross-linguistically, drawing on insights from cognitive and discourse-functional linguistics. Prototypical subjects have often been characterized in terms of their semantic, syntactic and discourse features, such as animacy, agentivity, topicality, referentiality, definiteness and autonomy of existence of the subject referent. A non-canonical subject is one that lacks some of these features. This may be reflected in its meaning, grammatical coding, and/or discourse function. In discussing non-canonical subjects in individual languages and cross-linguistically, the chapters in the volume address the following more general topics: What kinds of grammatical, semantic and discourse criteria can be used to distinguish subjects from non-subjects? To what extent are subject criteria construction-specific? What kinds of constructions have non-canonical subjects? What are the semantic and discourse functions of constructions with non-canonical subjects? Are subjects which are grammatically non-canonical also atypical in terms of their discourse features?

[Constructional Approaches to Language, 16] 2015. viii, 324 pp.

Publishing status: Available

https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.16

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	vii–Viii
Canonical and non-canonical subjects in constructions: Perspectives from cognition and discourse Marja-Liisa Helasvuo and Tuomas Huumo	1–9
Section I: Grammatical and discourse perspectives on non-canonical subjects
On the subject of subject in Finnish Tuomas Huumo and Marja-Liisa Helasvuo	13–41
Hidden subjects in conversation: Estonian personless verb forms as referential devices9 Renate Pajusalu	43–72
Subjects under generic conditions: Implied subjects in Finnish and Estonian if-clauses Hanna Jokela and Helen Plado	73–97
Section II: Stretching the limits of subjecthood
Abstract locational subjects: Field and settings in French and English Michel Achard	101–139
Subjecthood of the agent argument in Estonian passive constructions Liina Lindström	141–173
Categorization and semantics of subject-like obliques: A cross-linguistic perspective Ilja A. Seržant	175–203
The world is raining: Meteorological predicates and their subjects in a typological perspective Pål Kristian Eriksen, Seppo Kittilä and Leena Kolehmainen	205–228
Section III: Subjects in networks of constructions
The syntactic and semantic history of the Finnish genitive subject: Construction networks and the rise of a grammatical category Jaakko Leino	231–251
From canon to monolith to clusters: A constructionist model of subjecthood in Russian Aki-Juhani Kyröläinen	253–291
The role of non-canonical subjects in the overall grammar of a language: A case study of Russian Laura A. Janda and Dagmar Divjak	293–317
Construction index	319–320
Subject index	321–324

“The contributions to the volume under review, even when offering an analysis of Finnish or Estonian data, are of broader interest and can be read with profit by anyone concerned with general questions of grammatical relations and the different angles under which they can be approached. It should be noted, however, that several authors take the notion of subjecthood rather broadly, extending it to agent phrases, defocused referents in agent-backgrounding constructions etc. The different perspectives taken by the authors will certainly inspire further research into a domain that has much to gain from a constructional approach. The contents of the volume fully justify its title, as they illustrate the benefits of studying subjects in constructions, in the various meanings in which this formulation may be understood.”

Axel Holvoet, Vilnius University, in Constructions and Frames Vol. 10:1 (2018)

Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Barðdal, Jóhanna

2018. In Non-Canonically Case-Marked Subjects [Studies in Language Companion Series, 200], ► pp. 1 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 11 september 2021. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Subjects & Metadata