ELLIPSIS IN SLAVIC: THE SYNTAX-DISCOURSE INTERFACE (RUSSIAN, POLISH, DIRECT OBJECTS, VERBS).
- 364 p.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 59-03, Section: A, page: 0805. Adviser: LEONARD BABBY.
Thesis (PH.D.)--PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, 1998.
This dissertation explores the ellipsis of direct objects and verbs in Russian and Polish. It shows that, in order to achieve maximal explanatory and predictive power, we must construct a theory of ellipsis that incorporates generative syntactic and functional approaches to language. The degree to which syntactic, lexico-semantic, and discourse factors affect ellipsis in a given configuration depends largely upon the nature and placement of the ellipted category's antecedent, which may be syntactically overt or pragmatically understood. When the antecedent is syntactically overt, ellipsis possibilities are determined primarily by the nature and placement of the antecedent in conjunction with the lexico-semantic properties of the overt categories in the sentence or clause complex; discourse factors play a role only in certain non-sentential clause complexes. When the antecedent is pragmatically understood, ellipsis possibilities are determined primarily by the interaction of lexico-semantic and discourse factors; syntactic factors play little or no role. The goals of this dissertation are both descriptive and theoretical. On a descriptive level, extensive examples of ellipsis in Russian and Polish are categorized and explained, leading to generalizations that will provide non-native speakers with predictive power regarding the correct employment of ellipsis in these languages. On a theoretical level, Russian and Polish data are incorporated into the cross-linguistic work on ellipsis carried out within generative syntactic (Government and Binding Theory) and functional frameworks.