The_Grammar_of_Identity_Intensifiers_and_Reflexives_in_Germanic_Languages_.pdf

The Grammar of Identity

English self -forms and related words from other Germanic languages (e.g. Dutch zelf,

Swedish själv, etc.) are used in two different functions: as ‘intensifiers’ (e.g. The

president himself made the decision ) and as markers of reflexivity ( John criticized

himself). On the basis of a comparative syntactic and semantic analysis, this book

addresses the question of why two such apparently different functions can be expressed

by the same word. This question is answered by showing that both intensifying and

reflexive self -forms can be analysed as expressing the concept of ‘identity’.

In the first part of The Grammar of Identity, the most central facts concerning the

distribution of intensifiers in Germanic languages are surveyed and a detailed syntactic

and semantic analysis is provided. It is shown that all instances of intensifiers can be

analysed as expressions of an identity function. The second part of the book offers an

analysis of reflexive self -forms which is based on recent theories of reflexivity,

modifying these in some important respects. In particular, the distribution of reflexive

self -forms is explained with reference to semantic properties of the sentential

environment. In this way, it can be shown that reflexive self -forms—like intensifiers—

can be analysed as expressions of an identity function.

In addition to providing a thorough comparative description of the hitherto poorly

described area of intensifiers in Germanic languages, this book offers an answer to a long

standing question in descriptive and theoretical linguistics, namely why self -forms are

used in two apparently different functions. By combining analytical methods from

syntax, lexical semantics and sentence semantics the study moreover contributes to an

understanding of the interaction between structure, meaning and context in a central area

of lexico-grammar.

Volker Gast is currently a researcher and lecturer at the Free University of Berlin. His

research interests include language comparison, the semantics of function words and the

syntax-semantics interface.

Routledge Studies in Germanic Linguistics

Edited by Ekkehard König and Johan van der Auwera

Free University Berlin, Germany and Antwerp University, Belgium

1 Negative Contexts

Collocation, polarity and multiple negation

Ton van der Wouden

2 When-Clauses and Temporal Structure

Renaat Declerck

3 The Meaning of Topic and Focus

The 59th Street bridge accent

Daniel Büring

4 Aspectual Grammar and Past-Time Reference

Laura A.Michaelis

5 The Grammar of Irish English

Language in Hibernian style

Markku Filppula

6 Intensifiers—a Comparison of English and German

Peter Siemund

7 Stretched Verb Constructions in English

David Allerton

8 Negation in Non-Standard British English

Gaps, regularizations and asymmetries

Lieselotte Anderwald

9 Language Processing in Discourse

A key to felicitous translation

Monika Doherty

10 Pronominal Gender in English

Peter Siemund

11 The Grammar of Identity

Intensifiers and reflexives in Germanic languages

Volker Gast

The Grammar of Identity

Intensifiers and reflexives in Germanic languages

Volker Gast

LONDON AND NEW YORK

First published 2006

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY10016

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa Business

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007.

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utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now

known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in

any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing

from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gast, Volker

The grammar of identity: Intensifiers and reflexives in Germanic languages/

Volker Gast

p. cm.

1. Germanic languages—Pronoun. 2. Germanic languages—Reflexives.

3. Germanic languages—Intensification. 4. Grammar, Comparative and general—

Reflexives. 5. Grammar, Comparative and general—Intensification. I. Title

PD 261.G37 2006

430’.0455–dc22 2006010657

ISBN 0-203-96618-X Master e-book ISBN

ISBN10: 0-415-39411-2 (Print Edition)

ISBN13: 978-0-415-39411-6

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