This book is the first comprehensive comparative-historical survey of
patterns of alternation in the Romance verb which appear to be
'autonomously morphological': although they can be shown to be
persistent through time, they have long ceased to be conditioned by
any phonological or functional determinant. Some of these patterns are
well known in Romance linguistics, while others have scarcely been
noticed. The sheer range of phenomena which participate in these
patterns in any case far surpasses what Romance linguists had
previously realized. The patterns constitute a kind of abstract
'leitmotiv', running through the history of the Romance languages and
conferring on them a distinctive morphological physiognomy. Although
intended primarily as a novel contribution to comparative-historical
Romance linguistics, the book considers in detail the status of these
patterns which appear to be a matter of 'morphology by itself',
unsupported by determining factors external to the morphological
system. Particular attention is paid to the problem of their
persistence, self-replication, and reinforcement over time. Why do
abstract morphological patterns that quite literally 'do not make
sense' display such diachronic robustness? The evidence suggests that
speakers, faced with different ways of expressing semantically
identical material, seek out distributional templates into which those
differences can be deployed. In Romance the only available templates
happen to be 'morphomic', morphologically accidental, effects of old
sound changes or defunct functional conditionings. Those patterns are
accordingly exploited, and indeed reinforced, by being made maximally
predictable.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780191056390
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Vendor
OUP Oxford
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter