Strategies of subordination in Vedic
Pages: 304
ISBN: 9788846482020
Edition: 1a edizione 2007
Publisher code: 1095.57
Availability: Buona
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This book discusses the problem of subordination in a language that is notoriously poor in subordinates, such as Vedic. The construction considered as being the typical subordinate in Vedic studies (i.e. a finite clause marked by verbal accent and by a conjunction derived from the stem of the relative pronoun yá-) presents syntactic and semantic properties which are at odds with traditional definitions of subordination. An increasing grammaticalization of the subordinating linkage appears in the Rig-Veda, from implicit to explicit nexus, from particles to subordinators, from adjunction to embedding, and from assertion to presupposition. Accordingly, Vedic hypotaxis provides evidence for a theoretical view of subordination as a continuum of features partially shared with parataxis. Vedic hypotaxis is traditionally studied according to a structuralist approach. However, our analysis shows that the spread of Vedic hypotaxis is sensitive to semantic considerations.
The syntactically loose construction of yá-clauses preferably extends to relations implying separate states of affairs, with different arguments and different time reference for main clause and subordinate clause. Hypotaxis is earlier used for adverbial relations than for completive relations, which imply a tighter semantic integration between the two clauses, and which resort to compact structures such as nominalizations. This study is addressed to historical linguists and to typologists, who will find glosses for Vedic material.
Carlotta Viti is a Post-Doc research fellow at the University of Pisa. She spent periods of study at the School of African and Oriental Studies in London and at the Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie in Leipzig. She is mainly interested in linguistic typology, historical syntax, and discourse pragmatics. She has presented contributions to various journals and meetings on these subjects.
The syntactically loose construction of yá-clauses preferably extends to relations implying separate states of affairs, with different arguments and different time reference for main clause and subordinate clause. Hypotaxis is earlier used for adverbial relations than for completive relations, which imply a tighter semantic integration between the two clauses, and which resort to compact structures such as nominalizations. This study is addressed to historical linguists and to typologists, who will find glosses for Vedic material.
Carlotta Viti is a Post-Doc research fellow at the University of Pisa. She spent periods of study at the School of African and Oriental Studies in London and at the Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie in Leipzig. She is mainly interested in linguistic typology, historical syntax, and discourse pragmatics. She has presented contributions to various journals and meetings on these subjects.
Preface
Introduction
(Objective; The framework; Subordination according to the functional-typological approach; Hallmarks of subordination in Vedic; Previous studies on Vedic subordination; A functional approach to Vedic subordination; Data: The Rig-Veda; Organization of the present study)
Heterogeneous structures of clause linkage
(Evolution of subordinating strategies; Verbal accentuation; Particles; Relativizers)
Relative clauses
(The correlative diptych; The relative pronoun; The Accessibility Hierarchy; Phenomena of attraction; Nominal RCs; Functional properties: restrictive vs. appositive RCs; Preferred types of ARCs in the Rig-Veda; Preferred types of RRCs in the Rig-Veda; Different domains for RRCs and ARCs; "Restrictive compounds" in the Rig-Veda; Iconicity of Vedic relativization; Evolution of RCs and compounding in Old Indian)
The temporal relation
(Semantics of temporal clauses; Strategies of succession; Strategies of simultenaity-succession; Strategies of simultaneity; Tense, aspect and actionality in Vedic; Competition between the subordinators yada and yádi)
The conditional relation
(Semantics of conditional clauses; Morpho-syntactis strategies of conditionals; Given conditionals; Hypothetical conditionals; Counterfactual conditionals; Relationship between conditionals and temporals)
The causal relation
(Grammatical sources; Semantics of Vedic causal clauses; Automorphism between cause and purpose)
The purposive relation
(Disparity between finite and non-finite structures; Nominal features of the Vedic infinitive; The influence of pragmatics on the distribution of the infinitive; Double datives; Purposive clauses marked by a particle; Evolution from purposive nominalizations to purposive finite clauses; Purposive clauses marked by a relativizer; Cognitive markedness of purposive and consecutive relations)
The concessive relation
(Rarity of concessive subordinate clauses; Semantics of concession; Morpho-syntactic structures for CCs and CCCs; Concession in the noun phrase; Basic values of the concessive particles cid and caná; The semantics of contrast in the conjunction ca "and"; Cognitive markedness of the adversative relation)
Completive relations
(Semantics of complementation; Development of hypotaxis for completive relations; Utterance predicates; Predicates of knowledge; Propositional attitude predicates; Predicates of fearing; Pretence predicates; Achievement predicates; Immediate perception predicates; Modal predicates; Desiderative predicates; Phasal predicates; Manipulative predicates; Morpho-syntactic binding of complementation in Old Indian)
Conclusions
(Prospect; Summary of the study; The relevance ofVedic for a theory of subordination)
Index of translated passages
Index of subjects
References.
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