Werner Abraham

List of John Benjamins publications for which Werner Abraham plays a role.

Book series

Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today (LA)

General Editor: Elly van Gelderen

ISSN 0166-0829

Studies in Language Companion Series (SLCS)

Journal

Evolutionary Linguistic Theory (ELT)

Edited by Ermenegildo Bidese and Anne Reboul

ISSN 2589-1588 | E-ISSN 2589-1596

Titles

Edited by Werner Abraham, Elisabeth Leiss and Yasuhiro Fujinawa

[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 262] 2020. vii, 390 pp.

Subjects Semantics | Syntax | Theoretical linguistics

Modes of Modality: Modality, typology, and universal grammar

Edited by Elisabeth Leiss and Werner Abraham

[Studies in Language Companion Series, 149] 2014. vi, 511 pp.

Subjects Semantics | Syntax | Theoretical linguistics | Typology

Certainty-uncertainty – and the Attitudinal Space in Between

Edited by Sibilla Cantarini, Werner Abraham and Elisabeth Leiss

[Studies in Language Companion Series, 165] 2014. x, 365 pp.

Modality–Aspect Interfaces: Implications and typological solutions

Edited by Werner Abraham and Elisabeth Leiss

[Typological Studies in Language, 79] 2008. xxiv, 422 pp.

Subjects Semantics | Syntax | Theoretical linguistics | Typology

Nominal Determination: Typology, context constraints, and historical emergence

Edited by Elisabeth Stark, Elisabeth Leiss and Werner Abraham

[Studies in Language Companion Series, 89] 2007. viii, 370 pp.

Subjects Historical linguistics | Semantics | Syntax | Typology

Passivization and Typology: Form and function

Edited by Werner Abraham and Larisa Leisiö

[Typological Studies in Language, 68] 2006. x, 553 pp.

Subjects Semantics | Syntax | Theoretical linguistics | Typology

Datives and Other Cases: Between argument structure and event structure

Edited by Daniel Hole, André Meinunger and Werner Abraham

[Studies in Language Companion Series, 75] 2006. viii, 385 pp.

Subjects Semantics | Syntax | Theoretical linguistics

The Composition of Meaning: From lexeme to discourse

Edited by Alice G.B. ter Meulen and Werner Abraham

[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 255] 2004. vi, 232 pp.

Issues in Formal German(ic) Typology

Edited by Werner Abraham and C. Jan-Wouter Zwart

[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 45] 2002. xviii, 336 pp.

Subjects Generative linguistics | Germanic linguistics | Theoretical linguistics | Typology

Studies in Comparative Germanic Syntax: Proceedings from the 15th Workshop on Comparative Germanic Syntax (Groningen, May 26–27, 2000)

Edited by C. Jan-Wouter Zwart and Werner Abraham

[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 53] 2002. xiv, 407 pp.

Subjects Comparative linguistics | Generative linguistics | Germanic linguistics | Theoretical linguistics

Präteritumschwund und Diskursgrammatik: Präteritumschwund in gesamteuropäischen Bezügen: areale Ausbreitung, heterogene Entstehung, Parsing sowie diskursgrammatische Grundlagen und Zusammenhänge

Werner Abraham und C. Jac Conradie

[Not in series, 103] 2001. xiv, 148 pp.

Subjects Germanic linguistics | Historical linguistics | Syntax

Tense-Aspect, Transitivity and Causativity: Essays in honour of Vladimir Nedjalkov

Edited by Werner Abraham and Leonid Kulikov

[Studies in Language Companion Series, 50] 1999. xxxiv, 359 pp.

Subjects Semantics | Theoretical linguistics | Typology

Minimal Ideas: Syntactic studies in the minimalist framework

Edited by Werner Abraham, Samuel David Epstein, Höskuldur Thráinsson and C. Jan-Wouter Zwart

[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 12] 1996. xii, 364 pp.

Subjects Generative linguistics | Syntax

Discourse, Grammar and Typology: Papers in honor of John W.M. Verhaar

Edited by Werner Abraham, T. Givón and Sandra A. Thompson

[Studies in Language Companion Series, 27] 1995. xx, 352 pp.

Subjects Discourse studies | Functional linguistics | Pragmatics | Typology

Discourse Particles: Descriptive and theoretical investigations on the logical, syntactic and pragmatic properties of discourse particles in German

Edited by Werner Abraham

[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 12] 1991. viii, 338 pp.

Subjects Discourse studies | Germanic linguistics | Pragmatics | Syntax | Theoretical linguistics

Topic, Focus and Configurationality: Papers from the 6th Groningen Grammar Talks, Groningen, 1984

Edited by Werner Abraham and Sjaak de Meij

[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 4] 1986. v, 349 pp.

Subjects Semantics | Syntax | Theoretical linguistics

On the Formal Syntax of the Westgermania: Papers from the 3rd Groningen Grammar Talks (3e Groninger Grammatikgespräche), Groningen, January 1981

Edited by Werner Abraham

[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 3] 1983. vi, 242 pp.

Subjects Germanic linguistics | Syntax | Theoretical linguistics

Studien zur Modernen Deutschen Lexikographie: Auswahl aus den Lexikographischen Arbeiten. Erweitert um drei Beiträge von Helene Malige-Klappenbach

Ruth Klappenbach (1911–1977)

[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 1] 1980. xxiii, 313 pp.

Subjects Germanic linguistics | Lexicography

Valence, Semantic Case, and Grammatical Relations: Workshop studies prepared for the 12th International Congress of Linguists, Vienna, August 29th to September 3rd, 1977

Edited by Werner Abraham

[Studies in Language Companion Series, 1] 1978. xiv, 729 pp.

Subjects Semantics | Syntax | Theoretical linguistics

Ut videam: Contributions to an understanding of linguistics. For Pieter Verburg on the occasion of his 70th birthday

Edited by Werner Abraham

[Not in series - Grüner, 123] 1975. 300 pp. + 1 photo.

Subjects Theoretical linguistics

Articles

Abraham, Werner. 2020. Chapter 1. Mood alternations in the history of German: The architecture of epistemic weakening. Brazilian Portuguese, Syntax and Semantics: 20 years of Núcleo de Estudos Gramaticais, Pires De Oliveira, Roberta, Ina Emmel and Sandra Quarezemin (eds.), pp. 33–66

Non-veridicality is at the heart of more than just the verbal subjunctive. The main distinction we drew is the free application of the subjunctive and the non-veridical mood in dependent sentences. Greek and the Romance languages are among the representatives of this syntactic-semantic design of… read more | Chapter

Abraham, Werner. 2020. From philosophical logic to linguistics: The architecture of information autonomy: Categoricals vs. Thetics revisited. Thetics and Categoricals, Abraham, Werner, Elisabeth Leiss and Yasuhiro Fujinawa (eds.), pp. 225–282

How are the logical terms of thetic and categorical judgments to be distinguished linguistically? The key questions are how judgments can be thought of in terms of linguistics and what the deeper lying reason is for distinguishing the two notions. In our search for an answer, we can be guided by… read more | Chapter

Abraham, Werner. 2020. Introduction : What this volume is about. Thetics and Categoricals, Abraham, Werner, Elisabeth Leiss and Yasuhiro Fujinawa (eds.), pp. 1–10

Chapter

Abraham, Werner. 2020. Chapter 8. Discourse particles in thetic judgments, in dependent sentences, and in non-finite phrases. Information-Structural Perspectives on Discourse Particles, Modicom, Pierre-Yves and Olivier Duplâtre (eds.), pp. 195–222

I survey the discourse effects and conditions of selection of the German modal (discourse) particles on the basis of different questions that have always been in the focus of analytical descriptions (cf. Whitt 2015), which, however, can be formulated more clearly today. Special attention will be… read more | Chapter

Abraham, Werner. 2019. What are the guiding principles in the evolution of language: Paradigmatics or syntagmatics?. Evolutionary Linguistic Theory 1:2, pp. 109–142

The main designs of modern theories of syntax assume a process of syntagmatic organization. However, research on first language acquisition leaves no doubt that the structured combination of single lexical items cannot begin until a critical mass of lexical items has been acquired such that the… read more | Article

Abraham, Werner. 2017. Chapter 6. Modal particles and Verum focus: New corollaries. Pragmatic Markers, Discourse Markers and Modal Particles: New perspectives, Fedriani, Chiara and Andrea Sansó (eds.), pp. 171–202

The paper pursues two goals: first, comparing the behavior of speech act adverbials with modal particles, and second, the kinship of verum focus and modal particles with respect to their function in discourse. I explore the main difference between German(ic) grammatical modal particles and lexical… read more | Chapter

Abraham, Werner and Elisabeth Leiss. 2017. Multiple case binding – The principled underspecification of case exponency. Contrastive Studies in Verbal Valency, Hellan, Lars, Andrej L. Malchukov and Michela Cennamo (eds.), pp. 27–82

Chapter

Abraham, Werner. 2014. The Upper German differential: main Austrian-Bavarian vs. (High) Alemannic differences. Bavarian Syntax: Contributions to the theory of syntax, Grewendorf, Günther and Helmut Weiß (eds.), pp. 305–336

This essay is essentially a list of phenomena taken from the two large dialect areas of what is called Upper German (for German Oberdeutsch, South German (SG henceforth), comprising Austrian and Bavarian dialects as well as High Alemannic). The author himself speaks natively (base and high school)… read more | Article

Abraham, Werner. 2014. Certainty: its conceptual differential in Accessible World Semantics. Certainty-uncertainty – and the Attitudinal Space in Between, Cantarini, Sibilla, Werner Abraham and Elisabeth Leiss (eds.), pp. 29–45

This paper marks an attempt at coming to grips with the notion of certainty and degrees thereof. Where certainty has to do with propositional truth, we have become aware of hefty criticism by philosophers critical of analytic philosophy, most prominently Richard Rorty (1967 in “The Linguistic… read more | Article

Abraham, Werner and Jadwiga Piskorz. 2014. A rare case of covert modality: Spoken Polish and the novel periphrastic past with mieć ‘have’. Modes of Modality: Modality, typology, and universal grammar, Leiss, Elisabeth and Werner Abraham (eds.), pp. 409–456

Our point of departure is a twofold observation. There is, first, a new periphrastic past in spoken Polish using a Slavic newcomer in this temporal construction, namely mieć “have”+P(ast) P(articiple) of a lexical verb. The Polish temporal paradigm is thus enriched by an analytic past form similar… read more | Article

Leiss, Elisabeth and Werner Abraham. 2014. Introduction. Modes of Modality: Modality, typology, and universal grammar, Leiss, Elisabeth and Werner Abraham (eds.), pp. 1–16

Article

Abraham, Werner. 2013. The developmental logic of the analytic past in German and Polish: An issue of universalism or areal contact?. In Search of Universal Grammar: From Old Norse to Zoque, Lohndal, Terje (ed.), pp. 175–194

Other than Russian, but to all appearances like Czech, Polish is developing a new auxiliary from mieć “have, possess” that it can use for the hitherto unknown analytic past. We aim to observe what the status of this innovation in Polish is: whether or not it is to be tracked back to a contact… read more | Article

Abraham, Werner. 2011. Spoken syntax in Cimbrian of the linguistic islands in Northern Italy- and what they (do not) betray about language universals and change under areal contact with Italo-Romance. Studies on German-Language Islands, Putnam, Michael T. (ed.), pp. 233–278

This article is on Cimbrian German, an old enclave dialect in Upper Italy surrounded by Italo-Romance dialects. Next to clear traces of German clausal syntax, it shows Romance characteristics, which could be due to borrowing from the surrounding Italo-Romance majority dialects. Pertinent literature… read more | Article

Abraham, Werner. 2011. Verbs of motion: Impersonal passivization between unaccusativity and unergativity. Impersonal Constructions: A cross-linguistic perspective, Malchukov, Andrej L. and Anna Siewierska (eds.), pp. 91–126

Motion verbs (VoM) are discussed as examples of exceptions to the definition of unaccusativity. The problem arises under impersonal passivization (IPass): VoM may, on the one hand, be subjected to impersonal passivization, but, on the other hand, they turn out as ergative verbs/unaccusatives in… read more | Article

Abraham, Werner. 2011. Preface. Theory of Language: The representational function of language, Bühler, Karl, pp. xiii–xlvii

Article

Abraham, Werner. 2010. Types of transitivity, intransitive objects, and untransitivity – and the logic of their structural designs: Ways to keep apart derivation in syntax and in the lexicon. Transitivity: Form, Meaning, Acquisition, and Processing, Brandt, Patrick and Marco García García (eds.), pp. 15–68

This discussion is on diathetic derivative relations between verbs and their distribution between the syntactic component and the lexicon. We investigate whether or not the lexicon of verbs can be based on derivative relations such that there is only one basic type of verb – let us assume,… read more | Article

Abraham, Werner. 2010. Unaccusative verbs in Chinese: Derivation in the lexicon or in syntax?. Structure Preserved: Studies in syntax for Jan Koster, Zwart, C. Jan-Wouter and Mark de Vries (eds.), pp. 1–12

Article

Abraham, Werner. 2008. On the logic of generalizations about cross-linguistic aspect-modality links. Modality–Aspect Interfaces: Implications and typological solutions, Abraham, Werner and Elisabeth Leiss (eds.), pp. 3–13

In what follows the attempt is made, in all due brevity and succinctness, to gain more solid insight into links between aspect and modality as observed to hold in German and other West and North Germanic languages in Abraham (1990a, b, 2001, 2002, 2005). The basic idea (developed in more detail in… read more | Article

Abraham, Werner. 2008. Review of Davis (2006): Comparative syntax of Old English and Old Icelandic. Studies in Language 32:4, pp. 997–999

Review

Abraham, Werner and Elisabeth Leiss. 2008. Introduction: Aspect-modality interfaces and interchanges across languages. Modality–Aspect Interfaces: Implications and typological solutions, Abraham, Werner and Elisabeth Leiss (eds.), pp. xi–xxiv

Miscellaneous

Abraham, Werner. 2007. Discourse binding: DP and pronouns in German, Dutch, and English. Nominal Determination: Typology, context constraints, and historical emergence, Stark, Elisabeth, Elisabeth Leiss and Werner Abraham (eds.), pp. 21–47

Grammatical determiners of various sorts are differently distributed in individual languages. We will list and investigate briefl y a few related and non-related languages to survey the lexical lexemes relating to Determiner (DemPro) status vs. Article status and pronominal anaphor (PersPro). A… read more | Article

Abraham, Werner. 2007. Kristin Melum Eide. 2005. Norwegian modals [Studies in Generative Grammar 74]. Studies in Language 31:4, pp. 911–914

Miscellaneous

Abraham, Werner. 2007. The discourse-functional crystallization of DP from the original demonstrative. Nominal Determination: Typology, context constraints, and historical emergence, Stark, Elisabeth, Elisabeth Leiss and Werner Abraham (eds.), pp. 241–256

In Abraham (this volume), grammatical determiners of various sorts were discussed in regard of the extent to which such determiners co-define anaphors in contexts reaching beyond the single clause. Making use of its findings, the present discussion shows how the defi nite article emerged in the… read more | Article

Abraham, Werner. 2007. Topic, focus and default vs. contrastive accent: typological differences with respect to discourse prominence. On Information Structure, Meaning and Form: Generalizations across languages, Schwabe, Kerstin and Susanne Winkler (eds.), pp. 183–203

Article

Abraham, Werner, Elisabeth Stark and Elisabeth Leiss. 2007. Introduction. Nominal Determination: Typology, context constraints, and historical emergence, Stark, Elisabeth, Elisabeth Leiss and Werner Abraham (eds.), pp. 1–20

Miscellaneous

Abraham, Werner. 2006. The compositional nature of the passive: Syntactic vs. event semantic triggers. "Argument Hypothesis" vs. "Aspect Hypothesis". Passivization and Typology: Form and function, Abraham, Werner and Larisa Leisiö (eds.), pp. 462–501

It is claimed that in languages without a synthetic passive verbal morphology, the passive diathesis is compositional derived by implication or radical underspecification rather than generated in a direct way. As finitizing auxiliaries, equivalents of BE/ESSERE or HAVE/HAB¯ERE are employed together… read more | Article

Abraham, Werner. 2006. Datives: structural vs. inherent — abstract vs. morphological — autonomous vs. combinatory — universally vs. language-specifically configured. Datives and Other Cases: Between argument structure and event structure, Hole, Daniel, André Meinunger and Werner Abraham (eds.), pp. 3–46

Article

Abraham, Werner. 2006. Introduction: Passivization and typology: Form vs. function - a confined survey into the research status quo. Passivization and Typology: Form and function, Abraham, Werner and Larisa Leisiö (eds.), pp. 1–27

Miscellaneous

Abraham, Werner. 2006. Dialect and typology: Where they meet — and where they don’t. Types of Variation: Diachronic, dialectal and typological interfaces, Nevalainen, Terttu, Juhani Klemola and Mikko Laitinen (eds.), pp. 243–267

Article

Abraham, Werner. 2006. Bare and prepositional differential case marking: The exotic case of German (and Icelandic) among all of Germanic. Case, Valency and Transitivity, Kulikov, Leonid, Andrej L. Malchukov and Peter de Swart (eds.), pp. 115–145

Article

Abraham, Werner and Elisabeth Leiss. 2006. The impersonal passive: voice suspended under aspectual conditions. Passivization and Typology: Form and function, Abraham, Werner and Larisa Leisiö (eds.), pp. 502–517

Article

Abraham, Werner. 2005. Dimova, Ana & Herbert-Ernst Wiegand (eds.) 2003. Wort und Grammatik. Festschrift für Pavel Petkov anläßlich seiner Emeritierung . Studies in Language 29:2, p.

Miscellaneous

Abraham, Werner. 2005. Clausia Maienborn (ed.) 2003. (A)Symmetrien – (A)Symmetries. Beiträge zu Ehren von Ewald Lang – Papers in Honor of Ewald Lang . Studies in Language 29:2, pp. 549–551

Miscellaneous

Abraham, Werner. 2004. VP-internal subjects as ‘unaccusatives’: Burzio’s ‘Object Account’ vs. the ‘Perfectivity Account’. The Composition of Meaning: From lexeme to discourse, Meulen, Alice G.B. ter and Werner Abraham (eds.), pp. 83 ff.

Article

Meulen, Alice G.B. ter and Werner Abraham. 2004. The composition of meaning. The Composition of Meaning: From lexeme to discourse, Meulen, Alice G.B. ter and Werner Abraham (eds.), pp. 1 ff.

Article

Abraham, Werner. 2003. The myth of doubly governing prepositions in German. Motion, Direction and Location in Languages: In honor of Zygmunt Frajzyngier, Shay, Erin and Uwe Seibert (eds.), pp. 19–38

Article

Abraham, Werner. 2002. Book notice: “The dictionary of historical and comparative linguistics” by R. L. Trask. Studies in Language 26:3, pp. 736–737

Miscellaneous

Abraham, Werner. 2002. Modal verbs: Epistemics in German and English. Modality and its Interaction with the Verbal System, Barbiers, Sjef, Frits Beukema and Wim van der Wurff (eds.), pp. 19–50

Article

Abraham, Werner. 2002. Introduction. Issues in Formal German(ic) Typology, Abraham, Werner and C. Jan-Wouter Zwart (eds.), pp. ix ff.

Miscellaneous

Abraham, Werner and László Molnárfi. 2002. German clause structure under discourse functional weight: Focus and antifocus. Issues in Formal German(ic) Typology, Abraham, Werner and C. Jan-Wouter Zwart (eds.), pp. 1–43

Article

Abraham, Werner. 2001. How far does semantic bleaching go: About grammaticalization that does not terminate in functional categories. Grammatical Relations in Change, Faarlund, Jan Terje (ed.), pp. 15–63

According to influential work on grammaticalization, the route grammaticalizing changes take is from lexical to functional categories (Lehmann 1985, van Gelderen 1993). It will be demonstrated on two grammatical relations that this is a too specific assumption. First, modal particles in German and… read more | Article