Subjects and Universal Grammar
An Explanatory Theory

This book examines the 'subject' of a sentence, and how it displays similarities across typologically different languages.

Yehuda N. Falk (Author)

9780521858540, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 August 2006

258 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.55 kg

The 'subject' of a sentence is a concept that presents great challenges to linguists. Most languages have something which looks like a subject, but subjects differ across languages in their nature and properties, making them an interesting phenomenon for those seeking linguistic universals. This pioneering volume addresses 'subject' nature from a simultaneously formal and typological perspective. Dividing the subject into two distinct grammatical functions, it shows how the nature of these functions explains their respective properties, and argues that the split in properties shown in 'ergative' languages (whereby the subject of intransitive verbs is marked as an object) results from the functions being assigned to different elements of the clause. Drawing on data from a typologically wide variety of languages, including English, Hebrew, Tagalog, Inuit and Acehnese, it explains why, even in the case of very different languages, certain core properties can be found.

1. On subjects and explanation
2. Most prominent argument
3. Pivot
4. Long distance dependencies
5. Control constructions
6. Universality
7. Competing theories.

Subject Areas: Linguistics [CF]