Final published version
Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSN › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSN › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
}
TY - CHAP
T1 - Word classes
AU - Hollmann, Willem Bernardus
PY - 2019/11/14
Y1 - 2019/11/14
N2 - This overview of (theoretical approaches to) English word classes is built around widely-accepted criticisms of “traditionalist” definitions of word classes, which have been characterised—mainly by structuralists, going back to Bloomfield (1933)—as purely notional and overly simplistic. Bloomfield and his followers argue that these definitions must be replaced by distributional ones. Following careful analysis of the arguments of both traditional grammarians and structuralist linguists, the chapter presents a more nuanced picture. Traditional grammarians did not rely only on notional criteria, and where they used them, they sometimes did so in a seemingly rather sophisticated manner. Furthermore, structuralists rely less on pure distributionalism than they claim they do. Finally, there are other current theoretical approaches beyond structuralism, including generative, cognitive, functional-typological and psycholinguistic accounts. The chapter argues that there are strengths and weaknesses in each, and points to some recent work in which insights from different approaches are beginning to come together.
AB - This overview of (theoretical approaches to) English word classes is built around widely-accepted criticisms of “traditionalist” definitions of word classes, which have been characterised—mainly by structuralists, going back to Bloomfield (1933)—as purely notional and overly simplistic. Bloomfield and his followers argue that these definitions must be replaced by distributional ones. Following careful analysis of the arguments of both traditional grammarians and structuralist linguists, the chapter presents a more nuanced picture. Traditional grammarians did not rely only on notional criteria, and where they used them, they sometimes did so in a seemingly rather sophisticated manner. Furthermore, structuralists rely less on pure distributionalism than they claim they do. Finally, there are other current theoretical approaches beyond structuralism, including generative, cognitive, functional-typological and psycholinguistic accounts. The chapter argues that there are strengths and weaknesses in each, and points to some recent work in which insights from different approaches are beginning to come together.
KW - word classes
KW - notional criteria
KW - distributional criteria
KW - traditional grammarians
KW - structuralist linguistics
KW - generative linguistics
KW - cognitive linguistics
KW - functional typology
KW - psycholinguistics
M3 - Chapter (peer-reviewed)
SN - 9780198755104
T3 - Oxford Handbooks
BT - The Oxford Handbook of English Grammar
A2 - Aarts, Bas
A2 - Bowie, Jill
A2 - Popova, Gergana
PB - Oxford University Press
CY - Oxford
ER -