Possessives in English: An Exploration in Cognitive Grammar

by John R. Taylor

Overview

John Taylor proposes a unitary account of the possessive morpheme. He takes as his theoretical framework Cognitive Grammar, as developed over the past 15 years by Ronald Langacker and others. In the earlier chapters of the book he introduces and motivates the conceptual apparatus of the theory, and in later chapters he develops a coherent account of the full range of possessive constructions in English.

A special feature of the book is that it offers wide-ranging critique of both traditional and more recent accounts of possessive expressions. Focusing particularly on Government and Binding theory, the author highlights the profound conceptual differences underlying the two theoretical approaches represented by GB and Cognitive Grammar, while also observing some points of convergence between them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198299820
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/22/2001
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	380
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	1370L (what's this?)

About the Author

University of Otago

Table of Contents

1. Preliminaries2. Theoretical Orientation3. Some Basic Notions of Cognitive Grammar4. Syntax in Cognitive Grammar5. The Constituent Structure of Prenominal Possessives6. Prenominal Possessives: Some Generative Approaches7. Specificity and Definiteness of Prenominal Possessives8. Possessors as Topics9. The Cue Validity of the Possessor10. Ing-nominalizations11. Possessive Compounds12. Other Possessive Constructions13. Possession

Editorial Reviews

"Possessives in English by John R.Traylor is a significant contribution to the study of the English possessive and seems destined to become one of the keystone texts for theory and research in cognitive grammar."-Chaoqun Xie, Fujian Teachers University, China

From the Publisher