Comparative Typology of English and German - Unifying the Contrasts

First published in 1986, this book draws together analyses of English and German. It defines the contrasts and similarities between the two languages and, in particular, looks at the question of whether contrasts in one area of the grammar is systematically related to contrasts in another, and whether there is any 'directionality' or unity to contrast throughout grammar as a whole. It is suggested that there is, and that English and German can serve as a case study for a more general typology of languages than we now have.
This volume will be of interest to a wide range of linguists, including students of Germanic languages; language typologists; generative grammarians attempting to 'fix the parameters' on language variation;' historical linguists; and applied linguists.

List of contents

Acknowledgements;  Preface;  Part One: An Overview of Some English/German Contrasts  1. Introduction: the Theoretical Interest of English/German Contrasts  2. Grammatical Morphology  3. Word Order Freedom  4. Basic Grammatical relations and their Semantic Diversity  5. Raising Structures  6. Extractions  7. Deletions  8. The Unity of English/German Contrasts: a Realignment in the Mapping between Form and Meaning  Part Two: The Position of the Verb in English and German  9. Verb-final Order in German  10. Leaking Behing the Verb in German  11. Verb-first Structures in English and German;  Overview and Further Prospects;  Notes;  References;  Index

About the author

Hawkins, John

Product details

• Authors: John Hawkins
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 02.02.2017
• EAN: 9781138919228
• ISBN: 978-1-138-91922-8
• No. of pages: 262
• Series: Routledge Library Editions: The English Language
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics; LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / General, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General, Language: history & general works, Grammar, syntax & morphology, Grammar, syntax and morphology, Language: history and general works