The Syntax of Welsh: A Transformational Study of the Passive (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, Series Number 18)

This is a full-length study of a Celtic language from the standpoint of modern linguistic theory. Dr Awbery particularly discusses a topic - the passive form of the verb - which has itself been of central interest in previous work on transformational grammar. She is thus able to test certain tenets of transformational theory against data from a previously unconsidered language. The results are significant, and argue clearly for a separation of syntactic and semantic analysis; constructions which are related syntactically are shown to have no necessary semantic relation, and the type of description which can reveal one set of relationships is not able to reveal the other. The book is therefore a contribution both to linguistic theory and to the study of the Welsh language. Each step in the argument is carefully explained and documented, and no prior knowledge of Welsh is assumed. Cover......Page 1 Frontmatter......Page 2 Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Dedication......Page 9 Introduction......Page 10 1.1 Simple active sentences......Page 14 1.2 Periphrastic forms......Page 22 1.3 The derivation of these forms......Page 28 1.4 Parallelisms with other embeddings......Page 40 1.5 Uninflected verbs as tenseless verbs......Page 48 1.6 Conclusions......Page 55 2.1 Active and passive pairs......Page 56 2.2 The surface structure analysis......Page 57 2.3 The deep structure analysis......Page 62 2.4 The tranformational derivation......Page 66 2.5 Variations of the passive......Page 78 2.6 Possessive pronoun deletion......Page 85 2.7 Conclusions......Page 97 3.1 Sentence conjunction......Page 99 3.2 Phrasal conjunction......Page 104 3.3 Tensed embeddings......Page 112 3.4 Cyclic and postcyclic rules......Page 123 3.5 Conclusions......Page 128 4.1 Restrictions on the verb......Page 129 4.2 Restrictions on embeddings......Page 133 4.3 Restrictions on pronouns......Page 139 4.4 Additional syntactic restrictions......Page 148 4.5 Idioms......Page 151 4.6 Conclusions......Page 153 5.1 Impersonal passives......Page 155 5.2 The relationship with the passive page......Page 166 5.3 Passive adjectives......Page 179 5.4 The relationship with the passive......Page 192 5.5 Picture nouns......Page 197 5.6 The relationship with the passive......Page 206 5.7 Conclusions......Page 207 6.1 Constructions with cael and gan......Page 209 6.2 The cael passive......Page 219 6.3 Conclusions......Page 227 7 - CONCLUSIONS......Page 228 1 The theoretical framework......Page 234 2 Formalising transformations......Page 237 3 Abbreviatory variables......Page 239 Notes......Page 242 Bibliography......Page 247 Index......Page 250 Cambridge Studies in Linguistics 18. dw, 1976 stamp damage to biblio pg