LINGUIST List 14.3357

Fri Dec 5 2003

Books: Historical Linguistics: Peterson

Editor for this issue: Madhavi Jammalamadaka <madhulinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. lincom.europa, Grammatical Relations in Pali and the Emergence of Ergativity

Title: Grammatical Relations in Pali and the Emergence of Ergativity
in Indo-Aryan
Series Title: LINCOM Studies in Indo-European Linguistics 01
			
Publication Year: 2003
Publisher: Lincom GmbH www.lincom-europa.com
 http://lincom.at		 
			
Author: John M. Peterson, University of Munich 

Paperback: ISBN: 3895860875, Pages: 240, Price: EUR 65
 			
Abstract:

This book is a detailed study of the grammatical relations of Pali, a
Middle Indo-Aryan language which is also the canonical language of the
therava-da-Buddhists of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. On the basis of
this data, the author takes a new look at the concept of 'subject' in
Pali, as well as the emergence of ergativity in Indo-Aryan. The book
includes a summary of much of the previous literature on the syntax of
Old and Middle Indo-Aryan, as well as that of a number of works
dealing with the origin of ergativity in Indo-Aryan and the concept of
'subject' in general.
	Following this is a detailed look at the treatment of various
grammatical operations in the major verbal constructions of Pali -
i.e., the finite categories, the periphrastic perfect and the
gerundival construction. These include coordination and subordination,
the control of reflexivization and pronominalization, as well as a
description of the coding properties and the dispensability of the
various arguments in each construction.
	Unlike most previous studies, the author comes to the
conclusion that the present-day ergative constructions of most
Indo-Aryan languages do not result from an earlier passive
construction. Instead, he proposes a model for the periphrastic
perfect which in many ways resembles that of the more familiar
development of the perfect in west European languages.

2nd printing. (also see the LINCOM webshop: lincom.at). Course
discounts available!

Lingfield(s):
		 Historical Linguistics 
		Indo-European Linguistics (Historical Linguistics)

Written In: English (Language Code: ENG)


 See this book announcement on our website: 
 http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=8289.