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Malayalam Verbs

Functional Structure and Morphosemantics
  • Amanda Swenson
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2019
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Studies in Generative Grammar [SGG]

About this book

This book, using Malayalam as a case study, provides an in-depth exploration of how inflectional suffixes should be separated from the verb and the implications this has for the syntax and semantics. Past work has proposed that Malayalam lacks a Tense Phrase and tense morphology, i.e. is ‘tenseless’. However, this book shows that Malayalam behaves differently from other tenseless languages and that it does have tense morphology. It also provides evidence that there is a Tense Phrase in the syntax. In addition, it examines what have been called the two 'imperfectives' and argues that one is a type of progressive, while the other is a pluractional marker and shows that Malayalam lacks perfect morphology and a Perfect Phrase in, minimally, Universal perfects. With respect to finiteness, among other things, it argues that Conjunctive Participles are best analyzed as a type of absolutive adjunct and that -athu ‘gerunds’ involve nominalization above the Tense Phrase-level. This book will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in cross-linguistic variation in Tense-Aspect-Modality and/or the morphosyntax or morphosemantics of Dravidian languages.

Author / Editor information

Amanda Swenson, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, USA

Reviews

"MV is the first major study of the Malayam verbal system since McAlpin (1973) and, as such, fills in a gap in the literature on Dravidian verbal systems to advance our understanding of what factors are involved in the analysis of the Malayam verb." Sanford B. Steever in: LINGUIST List 31.1836, Jun 03 2020, https://linguistlist.org/issues/30/30-4139.html

Topics

Frontmatter

Publicly Available Download PDF 		I
Preface

Publicly Available Download PDF 		VII
Contents

Publicly Available Download PDF 		IX
1. Introduction

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2. The Puzzle of Tense in Malayalam: A Cross-linguistic Perspective

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3. Tense in Malayalam: Debunking Potential Arguments from Non-finite Forms

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4. Viewpoint Aspect in Malayalam

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5. Cross-linguistic variation in the perfect

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6 .The Syntax and Semantics of Copulas in Malayalam

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7. Conclusion

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References

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Author index

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Language index

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Subject index

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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
September 23, 2019
eBook ISBN:
9781501510144
Hardcover published on:
September 23, 2019
Hardcover ISBN:
9781501516917
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Front matter:
11
Main content:
270
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501510144
eBook ISBN: 9781501510144
Hardcover ISBN: 9781501516917
Keywords for this book
Tense;  Aspect;  Perfect;  Dravidian 
Audience(s) for this book
Libraries, Researchers, and Students
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