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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>(Apologies for cross-postings)<BR></DIV>
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<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>New Publication by Mouton de
Gruyter!!!!</SPAN><SPAN lang=EN-US></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN
lang=EN-US>----------------------------------------------------------------------</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>William B. McGregor </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>Verb Classification in Australian
Languages</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>2002. 23 x 15,5 cm. XIV, 495
pages.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>Cloth. EUR 108,- /sFr 173,- /approx. US$
108.00</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>ISBN 3-11-017141-4</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>(Empirical Approaches to Language
Typology 25)</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>Noun classification has always been
popular among linguists, and there is an immense body of literature on the
topic; yet the corresponding phenomenon of verbal classification remains largely
unknown and little explored. This book deals with systems of verb classification
in Australian Aboriginal languages, with a particular focus on languages of the
north-west of the continent. Most of these languages distinguish two types of
verbal construction: a simple verb construction consisting of an inflecting verb
(often belonging to a closed word class), and a compound verb construction
consisting of an almost invariant verbal element (uninflecting verb) together
with an inflecting verb. In the latter construction, it is argued, the
inflecting verb serves as a verbal classifier, categorising the uninflecting
verb and its conceptual referent.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>The book has three main objectives: the
first is to provide a description of the main formal and semantic
characteristics of verb classification systems in Australia, identifying the
main parameters of consistency and variation. The second is to make some
proposals concerning their historical origins and subsequent development,
culminating in their degrammaticalisation in some languages. It is suggested
that the verbal conjugation class systems characteristic of Pama-Nyungan
languages of the southern and eastern parts of the continent have historical
origins in classifying compound verb constructions, thus challenging the
received account according to which they developed via reanalysis of root-final
consonants as conjugation markers: the latter derive, rather, from classifying
inflecting verbs. The third aim is to put forward some suggestions regarding the
grammatical relationships involved in verb classification, in an attempt to
situate it within the wider context of related grammatical phenomena such as
complex predicate constructions, serial verb constructions, noun incorporation,
etc., and to identify what is essential to the grammatical phenomenon of
classification.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>CONTENTS: </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>1. Introduction </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>2. The Gooniyandi verb classifier system
</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>3. CVC-based verb category systems
</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>4. Comparison of verb category systems
</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>5. Verb class systems:
conjugations</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>6. The grammar of verb superclassifying
constructions </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>7. Related grammatical phenomena
</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>8. Evolution of verb classification in
Australia</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>9. Verb classification in discourse: a
preliminary investigation</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>10. Conclusions</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>For more information please contact the
publisher:</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>Mouton de Gruyter</SPAN><SPAN
lang=EN-US></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN lang=EN-US>Genthiner Str. 13</SPAN></P>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>************************************************<BR>Prof. William
McGregor,<BR>Aarhus Universitet,<BR>Institut for Lingvistik,<BR>Nobel
Park,<BR>Jens Chr. Skous Vej 7<BR>DK-8000 Aarhus C<BR>Denmark<BR>Ph. 45 89 42 65
59<BR>Fax 45 89 42 65 70<BR>e:mail: <A
href="mailto:linwmg@hum.au.dk">linwmg@hum.au.dk</A><BR><A
href="http://www.hum.au.dk/lingvist/linwmg/">http://www.hum.au.dk/lingvist/linwmg/</A><BR>************************************************</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>