The Interaction of Modality and Negation: A Typological Study / Edition 1

by Ferdinand De Haan

Overview

First Published in 1997. This book is an updated version of the author's 1994 dissertation, submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Southern California. With updated references footnotes pointing to research published after May 1994, this study of modality showcases its long history. Yet, for many centuries it seemed to be the exclusive domain of philosophers. It was not recognized by linguists as a separate object for study until comparatively recent times. The author argues that the other component of this study, negation, has fared much better.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815328926
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/01/1997
Series:	Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics
Edition description:	REVISED
Pages:	270
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 Theories of Modality and Negation; Chapter 3 Basic Strategies for Ambiguity Resolution; Chapter 4 Negation and Scope in other Areas; Chapter 5 Word Order Correlations; Chapter 6 Conclusions: On the Representation of Scope in Natural Language;

Editorial Reviews

Examines how modal notions such as permission and obligation interact with negation in a variety of languages, focusing on how ambiguities of scope are resolved. Demonstrates that languages overwhelming use one of two strategies. Some, including English, Finnish, and Tamil, use different modal verbs for the different scope interpretations; others, including French, Russian, and Modern Greek, use two different places for the negation to surface. Shows that the first is semantic and the second syntactic, and that both are correlated with word order. Applies the findings to 75 languages and compares other scope resolutions. The dissertation was presented to the University of Southern California in 1994. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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