Defining Language Universals - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Defining Language Universals write by Bianca Stärk. This book was released on 2010. Defining Language Universals available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2004 im Fachbereich Anglistik - Linguistik, Note: 2,8, Universit t zu K ln (Anglistisches Institut), Veranstaltung: Morphosyntax English - German, 5 Quellen im Literaturverzeichnis, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Language is something uniquely human. Bertrand Russell stated in 1948 that "A dog cannot relate his autobiography; however eloquently he may bark, he cannot tell you that his parents were honest though poor" (Whaley 1997: 4). Language ist not only unique to humans and diverse but there are also commonalities between languages. About five thousand languages are spoken in the world today but there still is a basic unity that undelies their diversities. Many of the world's languages show similar principles. An example of such a similaritiy is word order. In some languages such as English, French and Italian the word order is subject, verb and object. This is the so called SOV order. Besides similarities like this, there also exist features between some languages, which are common to all human languages in the world and are called language universals. These language universals classify entire languages into categories which are then based on shared properties. Language universals are examined within the field of typology. Typology has the task of examining cross-linguistic patterns. This means that "all typological research is based on comparisons between languages" (Whaley 1997: 7). Through comparing different languages with each other, one necessarily comes into contact with universals, which hold true for a group of languages or even for all languages. This is how language universals are placed within the field of typology.
Language Universals
Language Universals - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Language Universals write by Morten H. Christiansen. This book was released on 2009-03-17. Language Universals available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Languages differ from one another in bewildering and seemingly arbitrary ways. For example, in English, the verb precedes the direct object ('understand the proof'), but in Japanese, the direct object comes first. In some languages, such as Mohawk, it is not even possible to establish a basic word order. Nonetheless, languages do share certain regularities in how they are structured and used. The exact nature and extent of these "language universals" has been the focus of much research and is one of the central explanatory goals in the language sciences. During the past 50 years, there has been tremendous progress, a few major conceptual revolutions, and even the emergence of entirely new fields. The wealth of findings and theories offered by the various language-science disciplines has made it more important than ever to work toward an integrated understanding of the nature of human language universals. This book is the first to examine language universals from a cross-disciplinary perspective. It provides new insights into long standing questions such as: What exactly defines the human capacity for language? Are there universal properties of human languages and, if so, what are they? Can all language universals be explained in the same way, or do some universals require different kinds of explanations from others? Language Universals is unique in starting with the assumption that the best way to approach these and related questions is through a dialogue between a wide range of disciplines, including linguistics, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, computer science and biology.
Language Universals and Linguistic Typology
Language Universals and Linguistic Typology - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Language Universals and Linguistic Typology write by Bernard Comrie. This book was released on 1989-07-15. Language Universals and Linguistic Typology available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Here, Comrie (linguistics, U. of Southern Cal.) is particularly concerned with syntactico-semantic universals, devoting chapters to word order, case marking, relative clauses, and causative constructions. This second edition takes full account of new research into generative grammatical theory. Acidic paper. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Sign Language and Linguistic Universals
Sign Language and Linguistic Universals - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Sign Language and Linguistic Universals write by Wendy Sandler. This book was released on 2006-02-02. Sign Language and Linguistic Universals available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Sign languages are of great interest to linguists, because while they are the product of the same brain, their physical transmission differs greatly from that of spoken languages. In this pioneering and original study, Wendy Sandler and Diane Lillo-Martin compare sign languages with spoken languages, in order to seek the universal properties they share. Drawing on general linguistic theory, they describe and analyze sign language structure, showing linguistic universals in the phonology, morphology, and syntax of sign language, while also revealing non-universal aspects of its structure that must be attributed to its physical transmission system. No prior background in sign language linguistics is assumed, and numerous pictures are provided to make descriptions of signs and facial expressions accessible to readers. Engaging and informative, Sign Language and Linguistic Universals will be invaluable to linguists, psychologists, and all those interested in sign languages, linguistic theory and the universal properties of human languages.
Explanations for Language Universals
Explanations for Language Universals - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Explanations for Language Universals write by Brian Butterworth. This book was released on 2014-07-24. Explanations for Language Universals available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle.
