Pronouns

Erscheinungsjahr 2003
ISBN: 978-0-19-926912-9
Verlag: OUP Oxford

Buch, Englisch, 332 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 669 g

Reihe: Oxford Studies in Typology and Linguistic Theory

On the basis of a cross-linguistic study of over 250 languages, this book brings to light several fascinating characteristics of pronouns. It argues that these words do not form a single category, but rather two different categories called 'personal pronouns' and 'proforms'. It points out several differences between the two, such as the occurrence of a dual structure among proforms but not among personal pronouns. These differences are shown to derive from the
distinct functions that the two categories have to perform in language.

The book also shows that the so-called interrogative pronouns of familiar languages do not actually have interrogation as their meaning. One can only assign the meaning of indefiniteness to them. Further, the notion of indefiniteness that can be associated with these and other pronouns is quite different from the one that can be associated with noun phrases. Other interesting aspects of this book include the postulation of certain typological distinctions like 'two-person' and 'three-person'
languages and 'free-pronoun' and 'bound-pronoun' languages.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bhat, Darbhe Narayana Shankara

Shankara Bhat, D. N.

Bhat, D. N. S.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Semantik & Pragmatik
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Grammatik, Syntax, Morphologie

Über Autor(innen)

D. N. S. Bhat retired in 1995 as Research Scientist, University Grants Commission, at the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore. He has been Professor of Linguistics in Manipur University, Imphal and International School of Dravidian Linguistics, Tiruvananthapuram, and Reader in Tibeto-Burman linguistics in Deccan College, Pune. He was also a British Council Fellow and a Research Associate in the Language Universals Project of Stanford University. He has
written several books both in English and Kannada, which include The Prominence of Tense, Aspect and Mood (1999), The Adjectival Category (1994), Grammatical Relations (1991), Referents of Noun Phrases (1979), and The Syntax and Semantics of Kannada Sentences (in Kannada,
1978).