LINGUIST List 13.2284

Thu Sep 12 2002

Books: Historical/English Ling: Rosenbach

Editor for this issue: Richard John Harvey <richardlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Julia Ulrich, Genitive Variation in English (TiEL 42)

New Publication from Mouton de Gruyter

>From the series
Topics in English Linguistics
Series Editors: Elizabeth Closs Traugott and Bernd Kortmann

Anette Rosenbach

GENITIVE VARIATION IN ENGLISH
Conceptual Factors in Synchronic and Diachronic Studies

2002. xi, 361 pages. Cloth.
Euro 64.00 / sFr 102,- / approx. US$ 64.00
ISBN 3-11-017370-0

(Topics in English Linguistics 42)

This monograph is an empirical study of a particular type of
grammatical variation, i.e. the genitive variation in English
(s-genitive vs. of-genitive). Comparing the results of a Modern
English experimental study and historical evidence for the development
of the genitive variation, the main empirical finding of this study is
that the s-genitive has become more productive again from late Middle
to Present-day English. Theoretically, an approach to grammatical
variation is proposed which places the choice of genitive construction
into the mind of individual language users and, in so doing, tries to
account for the observed change.


>From the Contents

1 Introduction
2 The structure of the s-genitive and the of-genitive: some theoretical
preliminaries
3 Grammatical variation
4 Factors: Animacy, topicality, and possessive relation
5 'Variation' versus 'choice'
6 Modern English data: experimental study
7 Historical development of the genitive variation
8 A diachronic scenario: the extension of the s-genitive from late
Middle to Modern English - economically-driven language change?
9 Summary and conclusion
10 Appendix

For more information please contact the publisher:
Mouton de Gruyter
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Fax: +49 30 26005 222
e-mail: wdg-infodegruyter.de


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