
The Evolution of Negation
Description
Alles über E-Books | Antworten auf Fragen rund um E-Books, Kopierschutz und Dateiformate finden Sie in unserem Info- & Hilfebereich.
Why do grammars change? The cycle of negation proposed by Jespersen is crucially linked to the status of items and phrases. The definition of criteria establishing when a polarity item becomes a negative element, and the identification of the role of phrases for the evolution of negation are the two objectives pursued by the contributions to this volume.
The contributions look at the emergence of negative items, and their relation within a given sentence, with particular reference to English and French. The comparative perspective supports the documentation of the fine-grained steps that shed light on the factors that (i) determine change and those that (ii) accompany actuation, which are considered through a dialogue between functionalist and formalist approaches. By looking at the place of negation in the architecture of the sentence, they take up the debate as to the relevance of phrasal projections and consider the role of features. Focusing on the make-up of individual items makes it possible to re-conceptualise the Jespersen cycle as the apparent result of the documented evolution patterns of individual (series of) items. This novel perspective is solidly grounded on an extensive use of the complete, up to date bibliography, and will contribute to shape future research.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions

Persons
Content
2 - Is there a Jespersen cycle? [Seite 8]
3 - Negative words and related expressions: A new perspective on some familiar puzzles [Seite 30]
4 - Negative words and negation in French [Seite 68]
5 - Secondary negation and information structure organisation in the history of English [Seite 84]
6 - Looking high and low for NegP in early English [Seite 122]
7 - Ne-drop and indefinites in Anglo-Norman and Middle English [Seite 152]
8 - Looking at Middle English through the mirror of Anglo-Norman [Seite 172]
9 - Ne-absence in declarative and yes/no interrogative contexts: Some patterns of change [Seite 186]
10 - The early absence of the French negative marker ne [Seite 216]
11 - Atoms of negation: An outside-in micro-parametric approach to negative concord [Seite 228]
12 - "Atoms of negation: An outside-in micro-parametric approach to negative concord." Discussion [Seite 280]
13 - Negative polarity and the quantifier cycle: Comparative diachronic perspectives from European languages [Seite 292]
14 - Indefinite pronouns, synchrony and diachrony: Comments on Willis [Seite 332]
15 - Subject index [Seite 354]
16 - Language index [Seite 356]
System requirements
File format: PDF
Copy protection: Watermark-DRM (Digital Rights Management)
System requirements:
- Computer (Windows; MacOS X; Linux): Use the free software Adobe Reader, Adobe Digital Editions, or any other PDF viewer of your choice (see eBook Help).
- Tablet/Smartphone (Android; iOS): Install the free app Adobe Digital Editions or another reading app for eBooks, e.g., PocketBook (see eBook Help).
- E-reader: Bookeen, Kobo, Pocketbook, Sony, Tolino and many more (only limited: Kindle).
The file format PDF always displays a book page identically on any hardware. This makes PDF suitable for complex layouts such as those used in textbooks and reference books (images, tables, columns, footnotes). Unfortunately, on the small screens of e-readers or smartphones, PDFs are rather annoying, requiring too much scrolling.
This eBook uses Watermark-DRM, a „soft” copy protection. This means that there are no technical restrictions to prevent illegal distribution. However, there is a personalised watermark embedded in the eBook that can be used to identify the purchaser of the eBook in the event of misuse and to provide evidence for legal purposes.
For more information, see our eBook Help page.