Preferred argument structure
Subtitle: grammar as architecture for function
By: edited by John W. Du Bois, Lorraine E. Kumpf, William J. Ashby
Series: Studies in discourse and grammar -- v. 14; Studies in discourse and grammar -- v. 14.
Publisher: John Benjamins Pub. Co.
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Amsterdam; Philadelphia
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Number of pages: 458
ISBN-13: 9789027296139
Subjects: Comparative and general Grammar; LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES; Linguistics; Argument structure; Grammaire compare e et ge ne rale; Syntax; Grammar & Punctuation; Grama tica comparada
Description: Preferred Argument Structure offers a profound insight into the relationship between language use and grammatical structure. In his original publication on Preferred Argument Structure, Du Bois (1987) demonstrated the power of this perspective by using it to explain the origins of ergativity and ergative marking systems. Since this work, the general applicability of Preferred Argument Structure has been demonstrated in studies of language after language. In this collection, the authors move beyond verifying Preferred Argument Structure as a property of a given language. They use the methodolog.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Description based on print version record.
Table of contents: title: Preferred Argument Structure; Dedication page; Title page; LCC page; Table of contents; Preface; Abbreviations; Introduction; Argument structure; Preferred Argument Structure across time and space; The lexicon in interaction; Genre and Preferred Argument Structure; Issues in the comparative argument structure analysis inMayan narratives; New light on information pressure; Beyond Preferred Argument Structure; Multiple constraints on reference form; Argument splits in Finnish grammar and discourse; Core arguments and the inversion of the nominal hierarchy in Roviana.