Impersonal Constructions
A cross-linguistic perspective
Editors
Andrej L. Malchukov | Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Institute for Linguistic Studies, St. Petersburg & Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz
This volume offers a much needed typological perspective on impersonal constructions, which are here viewed broadly as constructions lacking a referential subject. The contributions to this volume deal with all types of impersonality, namely constructions featuring nonagentive subjects, including those with experiential predicates (A-impersonals), presentational constructions with a notional subject deficient in topicality (T-impersonals), and constructions with a notional subject lacking in referential properties (R-impersonals), i.e. both meteo-constructions and man-constructions. The typological discussion benefits from a good coverage of impersonality in European languages, but also includes considerations of several African, American, South-East Asian, Australian, and Oceanic languages. The variation in the cross-linguistic realization of impersonality and the diachronic pathways leading to and from impersonality documented in this volume point to a novel perspective on impersonals as transitional structures or an intermediate stage of a more basic diachronic change be it from transitive to intransitive, or from active to passive, or participant-to event-centered construction.
[Studies in Language Companion Series, 124] 2011. ix, 641 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
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List of contributors | pp. vii–x
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IntroductionAndrej L. Malchukov and Anna Siewierska | pp. 1–16
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Part I. Impersonal constructions: Typological and theoretical aspects
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Towards a typology of impersonal constructions: A semantic map approachAndrej L. Malchukov and Akio Ogawa | pp. 17–54
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Overlap and complementarity in reference impersonals: Man-constructions vs. third person plural-impersonals in the languages of EuropeAnna Siewierska | pp. 57–90
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Verbs of motion: Impersonal passivization between unaccusativity and unergativityWerner Abraham | pp. 91–126
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On the distribution of subject properties in formulaic presentationals of Germanic and Romance: A diachronic-typological approachVolker Gast and Florian Haas | pp. 127–166
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Part II. Impersonal constructions: Diachronic studies
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Impersonal constructions and accusative subjects in Late LatinMichela Cennamo | pp. 167–188
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From passive to impersonal: A case study from Italian and its implicationsAnna Giacalone Ramat and Andrea Sansó | pp. 189–228
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Passive to anticausative through impersonalization: The case of Vedic and Indo-EuropeanLeonid Kulikov | pp. 229–254
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Part III. Cross-linguistic variation in Impersonal constructions: Case studies
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The Maa (Eastern Nilotic) Impersonal constructionDoris L. Payne | pp. 255–284
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Impersonal constructions in Jóola-BanjalAlain Christian Bassène and Denis Creissels | pp. 285–306
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Impersonal configurations and theticity: The case of meteorological predications in AfroasiaticAmina Mettouchi and Mauro Tosco | pp. 307–322
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Revisiting impersonal constructions in Modern Hebrew: Discourse-based perspectivesRuth A. Berman | pp. 323–356
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The elephant in the room: The impersonal -ne/-te construction in PolishAnna Kibort | pp. 357–394
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Meteorological verbs in Uralic languages – are there any impersonal structures to be foundMerja Salo | pp. 395–438
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Impersonal constructions in KetEdward J. Vajda, Andrey Nefedov and Andrej L. Malchukov | pp. 439–458
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Impersonal verbs in Central Alaskan Yupik (Eskimoan)Osahito Miyaoka | pp. 459–488
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Impersonals in InnuLynn Drapeau | pp. 489–516
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A diachronic study of the impersonal passive in AinuAnna Bugaeva | pp. 517–546
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Referential impersonal constructions in MandarinYi Yan and Anna Siewierska | pp. 547–580
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Impersonal constructions in some Oceanic languagesClaire Moyse-Faurie | pp. 581–606
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Impersonal constructions in Umpithamu and the Lamalamic languagesJean-Christophe Verstraete | pp. 607–626
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Author index | pp. 627–632
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Language index | pp. 633–636
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Language index | pp. 637–642
“The book is undoubtedly a welcome and useful contribution to language typology. Impersonal constructions have not been subject to a detailed and comprehensive cross-linguistic analysis before, and this volume successfully fills this gap. The editors can be praised for having been able to establish a good balance between descriptive and theoretical studies, as well as between synchronic and diachronic perspectives. The cross-linguistic coverage of the volume is almost comprehensive, with a slight bias towards Africa and Eurasia and a regrettable lack of Papuan and South and Meso American languages. Inclusion of several papers dealing with whole language families or areas instead of individual languages, thus addressing issues of intra-genetic and areal typology, is also an example to be followed.”
Peter M. Arkadiev, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow on Linguist List 23.1803, 2012
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This list is based on CrossRef data as of 03 february 2023. 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
BIC Subject: CFK – Grammar, syntax
BISAC Subject: LAN009000 – LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General