Transitivity, Valency, and Voice

This book explores three central concepts in clausal structure: transivity, valency, and voice. Denis Creissels draws up a novel theoretical and terminological framework to study the considerable cross-linguistic variation observed in these phenomena and to compare their manifestations in the grammars of individual languages.

List of contents

• 1: Introduction


• 2: Participant roles and participant coding


• 3: Syntactic transitivity


• 4: The transitive construction


• 5: Transitive-intransitive alignment


• 6: Impersonal and anti-impersonal constructions


• 7: Transitive coding and valency


• 8: Voice alternations


• 9: Passivization and S-denucleativization


• 10: Antipassivization


• 11: Decausativization, reflexivization, reciprocalization, and middle voices


• 12: Causativization


• 13: Non-causative A/S-nucleativization


• 14: Applicativization


• 15: Flexivalency alternations


• 16: The noncausal-causal alternation, the psych alternation, and the undirected-directed alternation


• 17: Noun incorporation, transitivity, and valency


• 18: Conclusion

About the author

Denis Creissels is Professor Emeritus at the University of Lyon. Until his retirement in 2008 he taught general linguistics at the University of Grenoble (1971-1996) and the University of Lyon (1996-2008). His research focuses on linguistic diversity, the description of less-studied languages, and morphosyntactic typology, and he has carried out fieldwork on West African languages (Baule, Manding, Balanta, Soninke, Jóola), Southern Bantu languages (Tswana), and Daghestanian languages (Akhvakh). His many publications include the widely-used Syntaxe génerale. Une introduction typologique (Hermès, 2006).

Summary

This book explores three central concepts in clausal structure: transivity, valency, and voice. Denis Creissels draws up a novel theoretical and terminological framework to study the considerable cross-linguistic variation observed in these phenomena and to compare their manifestations in the grammars of individual languages.

Product details

• Authors: Denis Creissels, Denis (Professor Emeritus of General Li Creissels
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 29.10.2024
• EAN: 9780198899570
• ISBN: 978-0-19-889957-0
• No. of pages: 846
• Series: Oxford Studies in Typology and Linguistic Theory
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics; LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Semantics, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Grammar & Punctuation, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Syntax, Grammar, syntax & morphology, Historical & comparative linguistics, Grammar, syntax and morphology, Semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics, Historical and comparative linguistics, Semantics, discourse analysis, etc