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Texas German and English word order constructions in contact

Abstract

After reviewing previous accounts of Texas German (TxG) syntax, I define the basic word order constructions of English and German and identify which are identical across the languages (i.e. diaconstructions). Next, I analyze 300 TxG utterances and determine whether their syntax corresponds more closely to German, English, or German-English diaconstructions. Finally, I discuss sentences exhibiting unusual word order and how they demonstrate the need for a (Diasystematic) Construction Grammar approach.

Abstract

After reviewing previous accounts of Texas German (TxG) syntax, I define the basic word order constructions of English and German and identify which are identical across the languages (i.e. diaconstructions). Next, I analyze 300 TxG utterances and determine whether their syntax corresponds more closely to German, English, or German-English diaconstructions. Finally, I discuss sentences exhibiting unusual word order and how they demonstrate the need for a (Diasystematic) Construction Grammar approach.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface 1
  4. Part I. Constructions in contact
  5. Construction Grammar and language contact 5
  6. Grammar is community-specific 37
  7. Part II. Constructional variation and change in contact
  8. Towards a constructional analysis of the progressive aspect in Texas German 73
  9. Tense and aspect marking in (Low) German perfect constructions based on variety contact 115
  10. Distributional assimilation in constructional semantics 143
  11. Part III. Item-based patterns and constructional generalizations in contact
  12. Constructions as cross-linguistic generalizations over instances 181
  13. Texas German and English word order constructions in contact 211
  14. Part IV. Semantic frames in contact
  15. A constructional account of the modal particle ‘ja’ in Texas German 253
  16. Frames change in language contact environments 277
  17. Author index 311
  18. Index of constructions 313
  19. Subject index 315
Constructions in Contact
This chapter is in the book Constructions in Contact
https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.24.07dux

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface 1
  4. Part I. Constructions in contact
  5. Construction Grammar and language contact 5
  6. Grammar is community-specific 37
  7. Part II. Constructional variation and change in contact
  8. Towards a constructional analysis of the progressive aspect in Texas German 73
  9. Tense and aspect marking in (Low) German perfect constructions based on variety contact 115
  10. Distributional assimilation in constructional semantics 143
  11. Part III. Item-based patterns and constructional generalizations in contact
  12. Constructions as cross-linguistic generalizations over instances 181
  13. Texas German and English word order constructions in contact 211
  14. Part IV. Semantic frames in contact
  15. A constructional account of the modal particle ‘ja’ in Texas German 253
  16. Frames change in language contact environments 277
  17. Author index 311
  18. Index of constructions 313
  19. Subject index 315
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