nam a22 c 4500 tsl.26/704009994 nljbp 241011112907.1 cr ||||||||||| 131217s1993 ne |||||||||||||||||eng|d 0093012679 9789027276858 (e-Book) nljbp eng nljbp nljbp P281 415 20 CF bicssc LAN009000 bisacsh Lord, Carol author Historical Change in Serial Verb Constructions Carol Lord Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1993 ©1993 1 online resource (x, 273 pp.) text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Typological Studies in Language 0167-7373 26 Includes bibliographical references and indexes. Preface -- Serial Verbs -- Locative verbs and prepositions -- Verbs and Recipient/Benefactive marking -- Comitative verbs, prepositions and conjunctions -- Verbs and object markers -- Beyond conventional case roles -- Complementizers and subordinating conjunctions -- Adverbs and auxiliaries from verbs -- Pragmatics, typology and teleology This work examines both historical and comparative evidence in documenting the sweep of diachronic change in the context of serial verb constructions. Using a wide range of data from languages of West Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, it demonstrates how shifts in meaning and usage result in syntactic, morphological and lexical change. The process by which verbs lose lexical semantic content and develop case-marking functions is described; it is argued that the change is directional, from verb to preposition (or postposition) to affix, along a grammaticalization continuum. This same grammaticalization process is shown to result in the development of complementizers, adverbial subordinators, conjunctions, adverbs and auxiliaries from verbs. Strong parallels across languages are found in the meanings of the verbs that become “defective” and in the functions they come to mark. The changes are documented in detail, with examples from a number of languages illustrating the effect of the changes on typology and word order, implications for the encoding of definiteness and aspect, and the relevance of notions such as discourse topic, foreground and transitivity. With respect to theoretical assumptions and terminology, the author has taken a relatively nonpartisan approach, and the discussion is accessible to students of language as well as of interest to theoreticians. Provided by publisher. Functional linguistics Historical linguistics Syntax Theoretical linguistics Lord, Carol author Hardbound version: Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1993 9789027229137 Paperback version: Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1993 9789027229144 DOI https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.26 JB e-Platform https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/books/9789027276858