Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Volume 56 Issue 3

Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik

Volume 56 Issue 3

Contents
Journal Overview

Titelei

March 15, 2014 Page range: I-II

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March 15, 2014 Page range: III-III

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Introduction

Volker Gast, Ekkehard König March 15, 2014 Page range: 213-214

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Adjectival constructions involving measure phrases in English and German

Günter Rohdenburg March 15, 2014 Page range: 215-236

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Abstract

This paper surveys the major English-German contrasts associated with the type four metres long . German makes use of an increased inventory of relevant colloca-tions and favours the attributive position. English generally employs a larger set of less explicit structures. For instance, the English type can occur as an opaque noun phrase in contexts not matched by German, and the attributive use in German is regularly rendered by an English structure lacking an adjective. A special section explores the erroneous equation of examples like meterdicke Mauern and metre-thick wall s.

On a contrast between English and German copular sentences

Carsten Breul March 15, 2014 Page range: 237-254

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Abstract

English and German show a contrast in subject-verb agreement in copular sentences of the type The winner is me / Der Gewinner bin ich . The paper presents an analysis of this contrast and suggests ingredients of an explanation for it. The key assumption is that the syntactic subject function is conversely realized by the pre- and postcopular DPs in English as opposed to German sentences of this type. The account of how this difference in the realization of the subject function comes about makes crucial use of considerations concerning grammatical case and inflectional morphology. Information structural aspects are taken into account in order to come to terms with the constituent order peculiarities displayed by copular sentences.

Symmetric verbs and constraints on passivization: An English-German comparison

Florian Haas March 15, 2014 Page range: 255-268

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Abstract

Constraints on passivization have mainly been formulated in terms of semantic properties of verbs and their arguments. Comparative data from English and German suggest that at least in some areas of the lexicon other factors are at work as well. Dif-ferent uses of the English verb meet have been investigated with respect to their occur-rence in the active and passive diatheses. It turns out that there are striking differences between these uses, for some (near) categorical and for others in terms of frequency. A comparison to their German counterparts, each realized as a formally distinct lexeme and each conforming to the general frequency distribution of actives and passives in German, reveals that semantic and pragmatic motivations cannot sufficiently account for the distribution in English. I propose that verb senses and voice values are associated in such a way that semantic ambiguities are minimized.

Verb-noun compounds in English and German

Volker Gast March 15, 2014 Page range: 269-282

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Abstract

This paper provides a comparative analysis of verb-noun compounds and their distribution in English and German. It is shown that two major generalizations are pos-sible along the endocentric/exocentric dimension: While the types of endocentric V-N compounds found in English form a subset of the relevant types found in German, exo-centric V-N compounds constitute a substantial lexical class in English but not in German. The distribution of the two major types of V-N compounds is considered against the background of competing expressions such as V- ing N compounds (in English) and synthetic compounds of the type N-V- er (in both languages under comparison). The differences in the inventories of types are related to aspects of external language history (language contact), but the role of language-internal factors is also considered, in par-ticular the greater disposition of English to allow conversion.

Constraints on relational-adjective noun constructions: A comparative view on English, German and French

Lutz Gunkel, Gisela Zifonun March 15, 2014 Page range: 283-302

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Abstract

In English and French relational adjectives occurring in construction with deverbal nominalizations can be thematically associated with subject as well as object ar-guments. By contrast, in German object-related readings of relational adjectives seem to be inadmissible. The greater flexibility of English and French in terms of the thematic interpretability of relational adjectives also shows up with respect to ‘circumstantial’ thematic roles like directionals, locatives and instrumentals. It is arguably due to the common Latin heritage of English and French, since in Latin relational adjectives repre-senting subject or object arguments of nominalizations are widely attested. However, even in English and French object-related readings are confined to result nominalizations, a restriction we suggest to account for in terms of the more ‘noun-like’ character of result nominalizations in contrast to process nominalizations. Moreover, since argument-related interpretations of relational adjectives can always be overridden by appropriate agentive/patientive phrases, relational adjectives cannot be analyzed as occupying an ar-gument position, but rather as modifying the semantic role associated with it.

Temporal prepositions in English and German: A contrastive study

Ekkehard König March 15, 2014 Page range: 303-315

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Abstract

This paper gives a short overview of the main contrasts in the structure, meanings and uses of temporal prepositions in English and German. It is shown, in particular, that the deictic components of many prepositions and their uses in English ( ago , come , since , in , etc.) are absent in their German counterparts. Among the lexical differentiations made in only one language special attention is given to the one between the two prepositions by and until in English, both of which are generally translated by the preposition bis in German. It is shown that this differentiation in English and its absence in German have a number of interesting consequences for the translation of time ad-verbials from one language into the other.

The authors of this issue

March 15, 2014 Page range: 316-316

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About this journal

Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik (ZAA) is a peer-reviewed journal that traditionally reflects the entire spectrum of English and American language, literature and culture. Particular attention will also be paid to the new literatures in English, the development of linguistic varieties outside Britain and North America, the culture of ethnic minorities and the relationship between anglophone and neighbouring cultural areas. The journal also welcomes contributions which examine theoretical and interdisciplinary issues in literary, linguistic and socio-cultural research. Thus, ZAA invites contributions concerning a wide range of research on current issues, survey articles featuring recent developments in the fields of culture, literature and language, research reports as well as proposals concerning new directions within the discipline. For two of the journal’s four annual issues articles may be submitted in the field of literary and cultural studies; the remaining two issues will be reserved for special topics, one in literature and culture, the other in linguistics.