All Questions
Tagged with grammar morphology
20 questions
1
vote
0
answers
50
views
Verification of R. Dixon's bound/free split prediction
In his book, 'Ergativity', R. Dixon makes a prediction on page 95:
if there is a split between bound and free forms, the former will
follow an accusative pattern, the latter - an ergative pattern.
...
- 451
1
vote
1
answer
69
views
In Arabic what is the difference in the usage of the perfect tense negative and imperfect tense jussive.(as their translation is same in English.) [closed]
For eg : لَمْ يَكْتُبْ and مَا کَتَبَ both means "he did not write."
So how would I know which one i should use?
- 13
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What's a grammatical feature?
This is not a naif question asked by a layman just out of curiosity. I am presently editing a book by a colleague which is devoted to the notion of grammatical feature (with a special focus on ...
- 2,679
2
votes
2
answers
933
views
What is the difference between compound words and derivational words?
I know that compound words are made up with two small words, but is "tax-free" or "timeless" compound word? How about "thought-free"?
- 605
-3
votes
1
answer
112
views
How definitive are "patterns" in grammar across languages?
So when you learn a new language from English like Spanish in school, they make it seem like "hey there's these clear patterns and rules once learned you'll master spanish". So you learn the verb ...
- 4,438
4
votes
3
answers
578
views
Is the concept of grammatical function related to inflexion?
Studying the book Understanding Morphology by Martin Haspelmath, I arrived at this fragment:
The importance of the latter part of the definition is seen in paradigms like insula. Although there are ...
- 263
1
vote
1
answer
857
views
Grammatical case vs semantic case
I'm not sure what these terms mean. In my lecture notes I wrote that grammatical case is used to show the syntactic functions of a nominal syntagm, depending on its relation to the verb. Semantic case,...
- 939
1
vote
1
answer
228
views
Is there such thing as a 'half-plural'?
If yes, does any language have this feature?
By 'half-plural' I mean, somewhere between singular and plural, but not dual, trial, or quadral.
- 465
-1
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Is *grandmother* a compound?
"Grand is used in a specialized sense in kin terms like grandmother or grandson to indicate a further degree of lineal distance beyond that expressed in the head. Such forms can themselves be modified ...
- 17
1
vote
0
answers
744
views
What are the main features of an agglutinative language?
As I was beginning to study some Esperanto, it immediately became clear that the language used the same morphemes without significant modification. Therefore, on further research, concluded that it ...
Csx12
1
vote
1
answer
241
views
Difference between forms of the georgian verbs with and/or without objective version vowel
I was studying the complicted verbal morphology of Georgian language, when I came across the description of versioners in Hewit's Georgian: A Structural Reference Grammar. In discussing the Objetive ...
- 775
-1
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Greek - Arabic language relation
Is there a valid, known link (academic source or even speculation) regarding the Greek and Arabic language, when it comes to syntactic- grammatical or morphological cohesion? I ve only come across ...
- 33
-1
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Can anyone explain the difference between nominal and pronominal cases?
Like the title says, can anyone give an explanation on the difference between nominal and pronominal cases?
- 131
2
votes
4
answers
219
views
Languages that have morphological distinction between independent clauses with implicit subjects and independent clauses with explicit subjects?
Many languages permit an independent clause to lack an explicit subject (known as null-subject languages). Consider the following sentences taken from Spanish.
Tú eres mi amiga. (You are my friend). [...
- 127
1
vote
3
answers
4k
views
Most regular and irregular languages
I would like to know which natural languages are grammatically the most regular and irregular. There are several titbit articles on the web but none are definitive or explanatory.
By regular, I want ...
- 157
2
votes
1
answer
274
views
How should I organize my grammar?
So I'm doing a grammar for my conlang (constructed language). My conlang is a very verb-heavy/polysynthetic language. E.g. subordinate clauses are marked on the verb. To create a conditional clause -...
- 81
4
votes
4
answers
733
views
Does Euro-English exist?
There is debate on the existence of this variety within the expanding circle, I think it exists in as much as we can categorise other varieties (i.e. Singlish falls under the 'Asian-English' label).
...
- 135
3
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Help with syntax trees for sentences [closed]
I am trying to understand syntax trees for sentences, i have been working through linguistics by myself and am having trouble understanding the structure of syntax trees (English is my second language)...
- 31
3
votes
2
answers
7k
views
What are the constituent morphemes in 'preposition'?
The word preposition. I am trying to break down a series of words into their constituent morphemes and am having trouble with the word 'preposition'.
I can obviously see that the 'pre-' is a morpheme ...
- 31
8
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Agglutination in Proto-Indo-European
Based on numerous sources, it seems clear that Proto-Indo-European was
Productively agglutinative with non-root morphemes (and perhaps some specific roots that are also able to act like bound ...
- 111