Nigel Fabb

ENGLISH SUFFIXATION IS CONSTRAINED ONLY BY SELECTIONAL RESTRICTIONS

This article discusses English suffixation is constrained only by selectional restrictions.

The difference between English restrictive and nonrestrictive relative clauses

A nonrestrictive relative clause (henceforth NRR) is shown in (I) and a restrictive relative clause (henceforth RR) in (2). (1) The swans, which are white, are in that part of the lake. (2) The swans which are white are in that part of the lake. Example (1) implies that all the swans under discussion are white. Example (2) implies that the white swans are being distinguished from some other not white swans which are also under discussion. There are many superficial differences between restrictive and nonrestrictive relative clauses; in this paper I show that there is no need for construction-specific stipulations which distinguish between them. The differences arise from the fact that the RR is a modifier, while the NRR is not, and in fact has no syntactic relation to its host/antecedent. Co-indexing (involving a referential index) between the relative clause and its antecedent is central to this account. I examine the requirement that a relative pronoun must have an antecedent, which in the case of a NRR is the sole manifestation of the relationship between the relative clause and its host), and suggest that this holds at a level of discourse structure.

Reduplication and Object Movement in Ewe and Fon

This article examines two alternations which are found in the Gbe languages of West Africa.

Verse constituency and the locality of alliteration

This paper formulates a generalisation about a difference between alliteration and rhyme in verse: alliteration is subject to a locality constraint which does not hold for rhyme. Alliteration holds only within a verse constituent or between adjacent verse constituents. To demonstrate this, I describe the major verse traditions which involve systematic alliteration. This discussion is placed in the context of a more general account of a distinction between inherent form (exemplified by linguistic form, and possibly some kinds of metrical form) and communicated form (a self-description licensed by evidence provided by the text). Though it is subject to a locality constraint (reminiscent in some ways of a linguistic constraint), alliteration is nevertheless an instance of communicated form.

What is poetry? Language and memory in the poems of the world

Poetry, defined as language divided into lines, is found in most known human cultures. This book argues that each line fits as a whole unit into the limited capacity of human working memory, and that metre, rhyme, alliteration and parallelism are dependent on the line and are processed in working memory. Referring to over 130 literatures, many with analyzed examples, the book surveys the forms of poetry and how it is performed, including sung and signed literatures. Various kinds of poetic form are distinguished and explained, and complex forms such as metre and rhyme are separated into parts which have different relations to memory and psychology. These approaches to poetry which focus on language, form and memory help us understand why poetry is a particularly valued way of using language.

The metres of ‘Dover Beach’

‘Dover Beach’ is an iambic text which has four different lengths of line. I apply the Bracketed Grid theory of metrical form to the text and show that the four lengths of line can all be generated by a variant form of the iambic pentameter rules, and thus are all related at a more abstract level. I then show that the text is organized in a way which, in relevance theoretic terms, implicates that it is iambic pentameter in the conventional sense, and that this implicated form partially competes with the determinate metrical form generated by the metrical rules. I conclude that the possibility of competition between two distinct kinds of literary form, as illustrated by ‘Dover Beach’, can be a characteristic source of complexity in a literary text.

Metrical rules and the notion of ‘maximum’: a reply to Derek Attridge

Attridge (2003) is in effect an argument against generative metrics, focusing on the notion of ‘stress maximum’. He argues that ‘stress maximum’ is inadequate on its own terms, which I will show is incorrect when we use a fuller definition (based on the original definition from Halle and Keyser, 1966). His solution is to present metre as control directly over the phonetics of the text, but I will show that metre controls metrical elements (maxima) rather than phonetic elements (stressed syllables).

Weak monosyllables in iambic verse and the communication of metrical form

Generative theories of English iambic pentameter can explain the distribution of prominent syllables (strong syllables in polysyllables) but are not well suited to explaining the complementary facts about the distribution of non-prominent syllables (such as the articles). This paper shows that non-prominent syllables are regularly distributed but less regularly than prominent syllables, and suggests that these facts are not well suited to a generative metrical account. Instead, these regularities are explained by understanding the organisation of the verseline as constituting ostensive evidence for its metrical type, in keeping with the general requirement for verbal art to draw attention to its own form.

How to write essays and dissertations : a guide for English literature students

The first book that literature students should read, this guide reveals the distinct set of skills, conventions and methods of essay and dissertation writing. Taking students through the various stages of writing, from planning to final submission, it offers specific guidelines and a lively, detailed commentary on actual examples of student work at each stage.

Linguistic Theory, Linguistic Diversity and Whorfian Economics

I begin this chapter by illustrating what theoretical linguists do and why generative linguistics in particular has argued that linguistic data is more abstract and more complex than at first appears. I then illustrate language diversity by comparing aspects of two languages, English and Ma’di, an East African language. Sections 1.2 and 1.3 focus on specific aspects of linguistic data, which are chosen to illustrate general points about linguistic theory and linguistic diversity. In Section 1.4, I briefly note several different theories of linguistic diversity which explore why languages vary and whether variation is limited by internal (psychological) or external (cultural) factors. In Section 1.5, I examine the ‘Whorfian’ hypothesis that linguistic form has a causal relation with thought and behaviour, summarize some of the relevant psycholinguistic work and then examine some articles by economists which claim causal relations between linguistic and social variation. Based in part on what I have said about linguistic theory and linguistic diversity, and in particular the abstractness of linguistic data, I will argue that the economists’ claims cannot be sustained. In the final part of the chapter I discuss some ways in which stylistic variation within a language might affect thought.