The Grammar of Identity: Intensifiers and Reflexives in Germanic Languages

by Volker Gast

Overview

English self-forms and related words from other Germanic languages (e.g. Dutch zelf, Swedish själv, etc.) are used in two different functions: as ‘intensifiers’ (e.g. The president himself made the decision) and as markers of reflexivity (John criticized himself). On the basis of a comparative syntactic and semantic analysis, this book addresses the question of why two such apparently different functions can be expressed by the same word. This question is answered by showing that both intensifying and reflexive self-forms can be analysed as expressing the concept of ‘identity’.

In the first part of The Grammar of Identity, the most central facts concerning the distribution of intensifiers in Germanic languages are surveyed and a detailed syntactic and semantic analysis is provided. It is shown that all instances of intensifiers can be analysed as expressions of an identity function. The second part of the book offers an analysis of reflexive self-forms which is based on recent theories of reflexivity, modifying these in some important respects. In particular, the distribution of reflexive self-forms is explained with reference to semantic properties of the sentential environment. In this way, it can be shown that reflexive self-forms – like intensifiers – can be analysed as expressions of an identity function. In addition to providing a thorough comparative description of the hitherto poorly described area of intensifiers in Germanic languages, this book offers an answer to a long standing question in descriptive and theoretical linguistics, namely why self-forms are used in two apparently different functions. By combining analytical methods from syntax, lexical semantics and sentence semantics the study moreover contributes to an understanding of the interaction between structure, meaning and context in a central area of lexico-grammar.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415394116
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/28/2006
Series:	Routledge Studies in Germanic Linguistics
Pages:	270
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Volker Gast

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. The Distribution and Morphology of Head-Adjacent Self 3. Head-Adjacent Intensifiers as Expressions of an Identity Function 4. The Syntax of Head-Distant Intensifiers 5. Combinatorial Properties of Head-Distant Intensifiers 6. The Interpretation of Head-Distant Intensifiers 7. Reflexivity and the Identity Function 8. The Grammar of Reflexivity in Germanic Languages

Editorial Reviews

"The Grammar of Identity is valuable for its thorough morphological, syntactic,
and semantic description of SELF in English and the other Germanic
languages, its insightful analysis of intensifiers, and its addition to the
•ngoing debate on the syntax of reflexives."

-Christopher D. Sapp, LINGUIST List

From the Publisher