Existential Constructions across Languages
Résumé
The volume reflects the centrality of the existential construction
in current linguistic research and offers studies that both
consolidate and challenge established research agendas.
It addresses (i) a variety of constructions related to ‘prototypical’
existentials (including the have-possessive construction),
and investigates (ii) the relationships between locative, existential,
and information structure, (iii) the quantification of the pivot and
(iv) the issue of negative existentials. It brings together different
and complementary approaches (functional, cognitive, pragmatic,
typological, comparative, diachronic, philosophical) based
on a wide variety of data sources. The contributions illustrate
how the so-called existential construction can take a variety of
forms – more or less grammaticalized – and functions – ranging
from the expression of literal existence to that of localization and
discursive focus – in a wide range of languages. The book will be
valuable for linguists, researchers or students, interested in the
cross-linguistic manifestations of existential constructions at the
interface between syntax, semantics, and information structure.