| The Hittite Demonstratives: Studies in Deixis, Topics and Focus 1., Aufl. Edition Contributor(s): Goedegebuure, Petra (Author) |
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ISBN: 3447102284 ISBN-13: 9783447102285 Publisher: Harrassowitz OUR PRICE: $118.75 Product Type: Hardcover Published: September 2014 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Foreign Language Study | Ancient Languages (see Also Latin) - Language Arts & Disciplines | Linguistics - General - Foreign Language Study | Miscellaneous |
| Dewey: 491.998 |
| Series: Studien Zu Den Bogazkoy-Texten |
| Physical Information: 1.6" H x 7" W x 9.6" (2.86 lbs) 610 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In order to mitigate the lack of context inherent to the study of dead languages, the author has developed a descriptive model that combines (a) cognitive approaches to reference, (b) a theory of information structure, and (c) typological studies on demonstratives. With the help of this model the author not only provides for the first time a thorough description of the long-known demonstratives ka- "this" and apa- "that", but also identifies a third demonstrative, asi "that, yonder". This identification has led to a reappraisal of the distal semantics of apa-: apa- does not mark remote objects at all but points at objects in the vicinity of the addressee. In short, the Hittite demonstratives are not distance- but person-based. As a third person pronoun, apa- also expresses emphasis. A detailed analysis within the framework of information structure shows, for example, that apa- in preverbal position marks a referent as the Contrastive Focus of its clause (in "the dog (not the cat) chased the horse", dog is in Contrastive Focus). Non-contrastive focal apa-, on the other hand, always occurs in initial position. The addition of information structure to the grammatical description of Hittite thus provides a better understanding of the meaning effects of word order variation in this SOV language. |