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In Modularity in Language, Etsuyo Yuasa investigates exceptions and idiosyncrasies in various complex clauses in Japanese and English within the framework of multi-modular approaches to grammar. She proposes original analyses of various complex clauses in Japanese and English, which deviate from the norms of other complex clauses in the same language or in other languages, and shows how these cases of syntax-semantics mismatch justify the independence (or 'autonomy') of different levels of grammatical structures.
Yuasa's significant contribution is the incorporation of the notion of 'construction' from Construction Grammar into multi-modular approaches to grammar. She claims that the idiosyncratic cases examined in this study are instances of constructional and categorial mismatches where a syntactic representation of a prototypical construction is paired with a semantic representation of another prototypical construction.
Modularity in Language is aimed at those interested in grammatical theories in general, the parallel architecture of grammar (including Lexical-Functional Grammar, Autolexical Grammar, Representational Modularity), Constructional Grammar, syntax/semantics interface, and Japanese linguistics.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1. What this book is about
1.2. Regularity and idiosyncrasies in grammar
1.3. Multi-modular approaches to grammar
1.4. The notion of autonomy and mismatch revisited
1.5. The notion of construction in multi-modular approaches of grammar
1.6. Organization of this study
Chapter 2: Correspondence and mismatch
2.1. Prototypes
2.2. Mismatch
Chapter 3: Coordination-subordination mismatch
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Properties of coordination and subordination
3.3. Constructions with mixed properties
3.4. Analysis
3.5. Conclusion
Chapter 4: Dependency mismatch I - Nonrestrictive relative clause
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Properties of subordinate structures and independent structures
4.3. Mixed properties of nonrestrictive relative clauses
4.4. Analysis
4.5. Implication
Chapter 5: Dependency mismatch II - performative adverbial clauses
5.1. Mixed properties of performative adverbial clauses in English
5.2. Mixed properties in Japanese adverbial clauses
5.3. Analysis
5.4. Conclusion
Chapter 6: Categorial mismatch
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Properties of nouns and subordinating conjunction markers in Japanese
6.3. Mixed properties of some subordinating conjunction markers
6.4. Analysis
6.5. Source of categorial mismatches: grammaticalization
6.6. Conclusion
Chapter 7: Conclusion
7.1. Constructional approach to mismatch
7.2. Nature of each level of grammar
7.3. Interrelations among constructions
7.4. Future direction of multi-modular approaches to grammar
References
About the author
Etsuyo Yuasa is Professor at the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures of Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
