Aspects of the Theory of Clitics (Oxford Studies in Theoretical Linguistics)

The first book to cover the grammar of clitics from all points of view, including their phonology, morphology, and syntax, and the first comprehensive survey of clitic phenomena for twenty years. Written with exceptional clarity and based on a course given to graduate students. This is the first book to cover the grammar of clitics from all points of view, including their phonology and syntax and relation to morphology. In the process, it deals with the relation of second position clitics to verb-second phenomena in Germanic and other languages, the grammar of contracted auxiliary verbs in English, noun incorporation constructions, and several other much discussed topics in grammar. Stephen Anderson includes analyses of a number of particular languages, and some of these - such as Kwakw'ala (“Kwakiutl”) and Surmiran Rumantsch - are based on his own field research. The study of clitics has broad implications for a general understanding of sentence structure in natural language. Stephen Anderson's clearly-written, wide-ranging, and original account will be of wide interest to scholars and advanced students of phonology, morphology, and syntax. "The study of clitics has broad implications for a general understanding of sentence structure in natural language. This is the first book to cover the grammar of clitics from all points of view, including their phonology and syntax and relation to morphology. In the process, it deals with the relation of second position clitics to verb-second phenomena in Germanic and other languages, the grammar of contracted auxiliary verbs in English, noun incorporation constructions, and several other much discussed topics in grammar. Stephen Anderson includes analyses of a number of particular languages, and some of these - such as Kwakw'ala ('Kwakiutl') and Surmiran Rumantsch - are based on his own field research What is a clitic? -- The phonology of cliticization -- Special clitics and their grammar -- Theories of special clitics -- An optimal theory of clitic positioning -- Verb second as alignment -- Pronominal clitics -- Clause structure and the grammar incorporation This work covers the grammar of clitics from all points of view, including their phonology, morphology and syntax. It also provides analyses of standard problems, such as English contracted auxiliaries and clitic doubling.