The Grammar of Possession
Inalienability, incorporation and possessor ascension in Guaraní
The Grammar of Possession: Inalienability, incorporation and possessor ascension in Guaraní, is an exhaustive study of linguistic structures in Paraguayan Guaraní which are directly or indirectly associated with the semantic domain of inalienability. Constructions analyzed in the book include adnominal and predicative possessive constructions, noun incorporation, and possessor ascension. Examples are drawn from a rich data base that incorporate native speaker intuitions and resources in the construction of illustrative linguistic forms as well as the analysis of the communicative use of the forms under study. The book provides a complete picture of inalienability as a coherent integrated system of grammatical and semantic oppositions in a language that has received little attention in the theoretical linguistic literature.
The analysis moves from general principles to specific details of the language while applying principles of Cognitive Grammar and Functional Linguistics. There is an explicit aim to uncover the particularities of form-meaning connections, as well as the communicative and discourse functions of the structures examined. Other approaches are also considered when appropriate, resulting in a theoretically informed study that contains a rich variety of considerations.
The analysis moves from general principles to specific details of the language while applying principles of Cognitive Grammar and Functional Linguistics. There is an explicit aim to uncover the particularities of form-meaning connections, as well as the communicative and discourse functions of the structures examined. Other approaches are also considered when appropriate, resulting in a theoretically informed study that contains a rich variety of considerations.
[Studies in Language Companion Series, 33] 1996. xvi, 274 pp.
Publishing status:
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
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Figures and Tables | p. xi
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List of Abbreviations | p. xiii
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Acknowledgments | p. xv
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1. Introduction | p. 1
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1.1. Aims and Assumptions
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1.2. About the Language
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Part One: The Alienable/Inalienable Distinction in the Grammar of Possession
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Introduction to Part One | p. 21
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2. The Alienability/Inalienability Opposition in Language | p. 23
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2.1. General Overview
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2.2. Inalienability viewed as a Formal Phenomenon
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2.3. Inalienability as a Semantic Phenomenon
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2.4. Motivational Pressures in the Expression of Inalienability
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3. The Alienability/Inalienability Contrast in Guaraní Possessive Constructions | p. 45
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3.1. A Schematic Characterization of Possession
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3.2. Possession at the Nominal Level
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3.3. Non-Verbal Predicative Construction
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3.4. Verbal Predicative Construction
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3.5. The Equational Possessive Construction
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3.6. Summary and Conclusions
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Part Two: The Expression of Maximal Inalienability: Incorporation and Possessor Ascension
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Introduction to Part Two | p. 95
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4. Noun Incorporation in Guaraní: Formal and Semantic Aspects | p. 99
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4.1. The Phenomenon of NI: General Background
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4.2. Constraints on Incorporability
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4.3. Non-body-part Incorporation in Guaraní
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4.4. Incorporation as a Lexicalization Process
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4.5. Remarks on Object Placement and Incorporation
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4.6. Concluding Remarks
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5. Incorporation of Body-part Terms | p. 129
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5.1. The Phenomenon of Pa: General Overview
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5.2. The NI+PA Construction: General Structural Considerations
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5.3. Grammatical Function of the Incorporated Body-Part Term
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5.4. Motivation for Overt Mention of Body-Part Terms
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5.5. Semantic boundaries of the NI+PA Construction
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5.6. Concluding Remarks
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6. The Discourse Function of the NI+PA Construction | p. 165
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6.1. NI+Pa as a Discourse Coherence and Topic Maintenance Device
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6.2. NI+PA as an Evaluative Device
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6.3. Body-Parts as Individuated Entities in Discourse
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6.4. Concluding Remarks
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7. Conclusions | p. 199
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7.1. Summary of Results
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7.2. Further Research Issues
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7.3. Contribution to the Field of Linguistics
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Appendix A: Semantic Classification of Guaraní Lexical Roots | p. 209
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Appendix B: Inventory of Conventionalized Incorporated Structures | p. 227
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Appendix C: Text of Guaraní Folk Tale Analyzed in Section 6.2 | p. 241
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Notes | p. 247
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“The study is an important and very welcome addition to the literature on possession, both by the data on Guaraní and by its many intelligent and important reflexions on inalienability in general. An not the least by its anchoring of grammatical structures in discourse, which, after all, provides their raison d’être.”
Michael Herslund, Acta Linguistica Hafniensia, Volume 31
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2019. Grammatical Voice,
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Kim, Sang-Yoon
2017. A Contrastive Study on Spanish and Korean Possessives. Iberoamérica 19:2 ► pp. 125 ff.
Zubizarreta, Maria Luisa & Roumyana Pancheva
2017. A formal characterization of person-based alignment. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 35:4 ► pp. 1161 ff.
Zubizarreta, María Luisa & Roumyana Pancheva
2017. A note on the syntax of possession in Paraguayan Guaraní. In Boundaries, Phases and Interfaces [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 239], ► pp. 86 ff.
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Bossong, Georg
2009. The Typology of Tupi-Guarani as Reflected in the Grammars of Four Jesuit Missionaries. Historiographia Linguistica 36:2-3 ► pp. 225 ff.
Kemmerer, David
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Kemmerer, David
2023. Ownership language informs ownership psychology. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 46
Payne, Doris L.
2003. Review of Baron, Herslund & Sørensen (2001): Dimensions of possession. Functions of Language 10:1 ► pp. 109 ff.
NIKOLAEVA, IRINA
2001. Secondary topic as a relation in information structure. Linguistics 39:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
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Subjects
Main BIC Subject
CF: Linguistics
Main BISAC Subject
LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General