Date: 07-Dec-2009 From: Paul Peranteau <paulbenjamins.com> Subject: More Support for More-Support: Mondorf E-mail this message to a friend
Title: More Support for More-Support
Subtitle: The role of processing constraints on the choice between synthetic and
analytic comparative forms
Series Title: Studies in Language Variation 4
Published: 2009
Publisher: John Benjamins
http://www.benjamins.com/
Author: Britta Mondorf
Electronic: ISBN: 9789027289278 Pages: Price: Europe EURO 95.00
Electronic: ISBN: 9789027289278 Pages: Price: U.S. $ 143.00
Hardback: ISBN: 9789027234841 Pages: Price: Europe EURO 95.00
Hardback: ISBN: 9789027234841 Pages: Price: U.S. $ 143.00
Abstract:
This book provides the most comprehensive account so far of novel and hitherto unexplained factors operative in the choice between synthetic (prouder) and analytic (more proud ) comparatives. It argues that the underlying motivation in using the analytic variant is to mitigate processing demands - a compensatory strategy referred to as more -support. The analytic variant is claimed to be better suited to environments of increased processing complexity - presumably owing to its ability to facilitate early phrase structure recognition, the more transparent one-to-one relation between form and function and possibly because the degree marker more can serve as a structural signal foreshadowing cognitive complexity. A bird's eye view of 24 determinants reveals that the processing effort which triggers the analytic comparative emanates from structures that are phonologically, morphologically, syntactically, lexically, semantically or pragmatically complex. By bridging the gap between corpus-based variation research and psycholinguistic and typological approaches, the book breaks new ground in uncovering the functional motivation behind the continued variability of synthetic-analytic contrasts.
Linguistic Field(s):
Morphology
Psycholinguistics
Sociolinguistics
Syntax
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