
The Evolution of Negation
Beyond the Jespersen Cycle
De Gruyter Mouton (Publisher)
Published on 1. January 2012
Book
Mixed media product
VI, 350 pages
978-3-11-219214-6 (ISBN)
Article is exhausted; no reprint
Description
Why do languages change? The proposal that the grammar of negation evolves according to cycles is looked at from the behaviour of negative items and constructions, mainly through the history of English and French. The studies show that the variation within a language at any given point of history is too great for cycles to be invoked as an autonomous mechanism of grammar change. Instead, variation may be understood by looking at the patterns of evolution of individual (families of) items.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Berlin
Germany
Target group
Professional and scholarly
US School Grade: College Graduate Student
Illustrations
Includes a print version and an ebook
Dimensions
Height: 23 cm
Width: 15.5 cm
ISBN-13
978-3-11-219214-6 (9783112192146)
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Pierre Larrivée, Aston University, Coventry, UK; Richard Ingham, Birmingham City University, UK.