This study investigates three different postmodifying adjective constructions in the English language. While English adjectives generally precede the entities they modify, they may also occur in postmodifying position. This study assumes that the different postmodifying constructions are a positional variation of attributive premodification. The support for this claim is derived from a detailed analysis of the general syntax and semantics of adjectives as well as a cross-check of previous theories with a wide range of actual language examples taken from computerized corpora. An approach from the Prague School 'Functional Sentence Perspective' enables this study to accomplish an integrated view of adjectival postmodification.

The unifying topic of this volume is the role of information structure, broadly conceived, as it interacts with the other levels of linguistic description, syntax, morphology, prosody, semantics and pragmatics.

other language families. --

This book reports on the results of a project whose aim was to give a detailed description of a number of syntactic properties of postmodifying clauses in the English NP, and study the way in which some of these properties are related to each other in a variety of text tyoes. The study is based on an examination of the Nijmegen Corpus, which consists of slightly over 130,000 words of running text. The structure of the NP is described basically in terms of four constituents: DeterminerPremodifierHeadPostmodifier No fewer than 2,430 occurrences of postmodifying clauses in NPs were analysed. A numerical coding scheme was designed, in which 26 different variable features were encoded, describing the properties the postmodifying clauses. These were processed and statistically analysed. The book discusses the methodology adopted and the results of the statistical analyses. Among the properties described are the function of NPs with postmodifying clauses, the structure of these NPs, the realisation and reference of the heads of these NPs, the specific types of postmodifying clause, the actual link words used, the clause patterns occurring in the postmodifying clauses, and the verb phrases in the postmodifying clauses.

This corpus study traces the history of MILLION in English. It focuses on the shift in word class/function from noun/noun-phrase head (three millions of dollars) to determinative/determiner (three million dollars). A chapter on morphosyntax/semantics probes the natural word class and function of number words and their historical categorization. A composite international diachronic corpus is used to map a broad taxonomy of MILLION phrases, and very-large-scale digital American and British newspaper archives are used to show when and where the syntactic shift took place. The tens of billions of datable words in these sources yield such robust results that key phases in the shift can be traced in unprecedented detail, uncovering surprising patterns in American/British differences and an avoidance strategy in the use of numeral and number-word expressions. Retarding and accelerating factors are treated in separate chapters.

Whatever kind of high-level language user you are – college or university student, serving language teacher, or advanced school learner – A Student’s Advanced Grammar of English (SAGE) offers you support, information, and further training. SAGE is a reference work as well as a programmed refresher course with exercises on the accompanying website, and a structured teaching aid. It serves as a spot-check in specific cases of uncertainty. But it also answers broader queries and provides comprehensive insights into the major structural areas of English. Its concern is not simply grammar, but above all usage. SAGE is easy to comprehend and non-specialist in method. All grammatical terminology is explained in a simple and straightforward manner. On the other hand, SAGE takes account of current research in language studies. In catering especially for the user with a native German background, SAGE treats many areas of English from a contrastive point of view, highlighting those phenomena which cause typical problems in a German-based learning context. The second edition has been thoroughly revised.

Fully updated and revised, this fourth edition of Halliday's Introduction to Functional Grammar explains the principles of systemic functional grammar, enabling the reader to understand and apply them in any context. Halliday's innovative approach of engaging with grammar through discourse has become a worldwide phenomenon in linguistics. Updates to the new edition include: Recent uses of systemic functional linguistics to provide further guidance for students, scholars and researchers More on the ecology of grammar, illustrating how each major system serves to realise a semantic system A systematic indexing and classification of examples More from corpora, thus allowing for easy access to data Halliday's Introduction to Functional Grammar, Fourth Edition, is the standard reference text for systemic functional linguistics and an ideal introduction for students and scholars interested in the relation between grammar, meaning and discourse.