On the syntax of comparative clauses in Vedic Sanskrit … like someone eating the foam off the water
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Mark Hale
Abstract
This paper focusses on the relationship between two aspects of the syntax of a particular type of iva comparison clause in mantra Vedic - one with negation in the matrix. Specifically, we examine the relationship between the structural position of the comparison clause relative to the matrix clause and the positive or negative interpretation of the comparison clause itself. We find that when the iva clause is syntactically dominated by matrix negation, the iva clause is interpreted as “positive”, whereas when the iva clause is not syntactically dominated by the matrix clause, it is interpreted as “negative”. This distribution not only mirrors parallel comparison clauses in living languages but also provides evidence for the prosodic force of both caesura and line boundary.
Abstract
This paper focusses on the relationship between two aspects of the syntax of a particular type of iva comparison clause in mantra Vedic - one with negation in the matrix. Specifically, we examine the relationship between the structural position of the comparison clause relative to the matrix clause and the positive or negative interpretation of the comparison clause itself. We find that when the iva clause is syntactically dominated by matrix negation, the iva clause is interpreted as “positive”, whereas when the iva clause is not syntactically dominated by the matrix clause, it is interpreted as “negative”. This distribution not only mirrors parallel comparison clauses in living languages but also provides evidence for the prosodic force of both caesura and line boundary.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter i
- Preface vii
- Contents xi
- Acknowledgements xiii
- On the syntax of comparative clauses in Vedic Sanskrit … like someone eating the foam off the water 1
- Some questions about yád in Vedic 23
- A statistical model of syntactic and nonsyntactic factors affecting relative clause placement in Hindi 43
- Optionality and variation in agreement in some participles in Hindi-Urdu 77
- A cross-linguistic approach to sentential subjects in Kannada 119
- Relation between animacy and case marking in Eastern Indo-Aryan languages 173
- Participles with a semantic void in Koints 191
- Competition between vectored verbs and factored verbs in Hindi-Urdu, Marathi and Gujarati 207
- How similarly do Hindi rakhnā and Japanese oku PUT behave as a V2? A corpus-based comparative analysis 243
- The use of vector verbs in early modern Tamil 261
- Reflexive and reciprocal marking in Mising 291
- Reciprocals in Kokborok — A Case of Syntactic Convergence 311
- A cognitive semantic analysis of locative and spatial constructions in Bangla 339
- Revisiting Pāṇini’s generative power 361
- Hindi root allomorphy: Insights from phonological and morphosyntactic theory 381
- Lexeme and speech syllables in English and Hindi. A case for syllable structure 415
- List of contributors 463
- List of contributors 469
- Index of languages 477
- Index of subjects 479
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter i
- Preface vii
- Contents xi
- Acknowledgements xiii
- On the syntax of comparative clauses in Vedic Sanskrit … like someone eating the foam off the water 1
- Some questions about yád in Vedic 23
- A statistical model of syntactic and nonsyntactic factors affecting relative clause placement in Hindi 43
- Optionality and variation in agreement in some participles in Hindi-Urdu 77
- A cross-linguistic approach to sentential subjects in Kannada 119
- Relation between animacy and case marking in Eastern Indo-Aryan languages 173
- Participles with a semantic void in Koints 191
- Competition between vectored verbs and factored verbs in Hindi-Urdu, Marathi and Gujarati 207
- How similarly do Hindi rakhnā and Japanese oku PUT behave as a V2? A corpus-based comparative analysis 243
- The use of vector verbs in early modern Tamil 261
- Reflexive and reciprocal marking in Mising 291
- Reciprocals in Kokborok — A Case of Syntactic Convergence 311
- A cognitive semantic analysis of locative and spatial constructions in Bangla 339
- Revisiting Pāṇini’s generative power 361
- Hindi root allomorphy: Insights from phonological and morphosyntactic theory 381
- Lexeme and speech syllables in English and Hindi. A case for syllable structure 415
- List of contributors 463
- List of contributors 469
- Index of languages 477
- Index of subjects 479
