The Grammar of Identity: Intensifiers and Reflexives in Germanic Languages

by Volker Gast

Book Overview

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

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1138868310
• ISBN13: 9781138868311
• Release Date: April 2015
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 258 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.2"