Locative and existential predication
On forms, functions and neighboring domains
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Beschreibung
Locative and existential predications are fundamental linguistic constructions that exhibit significant formal overlap while serving distinct communicative functions. Locative clauses typically anchor a definite referent to a spatial context, whereas existential clauses introduce new, often indefinite, referents into discourse. Despite their central role in syntactic and typological research, the cross-linguistic diversity of these predications remains largely underexplored. This collective volume originates from workshops held in 2023 at the Annual SLE Meeting in Athens and the International Conference on Historical Linguistics in Heidelberg. It brings together in-depth analyses of locative and existential predications across a wide range of languages, drawing on diverse methodological and theoretical approaches. Rather than imposing a single framework, the volume deliberately allows for variation in how these constructions are defined and analyzed, reflecting the complexity and diversity of linguistic structures. A key theme of the book is the relationship between locative, existential, and possessive predication. Many of the included studies highlight the formal and functional connections between these domains, illustrating how different languages encode possession through structures that overlap with locative and existential constructions. The volume also challenges conventional assumptions about structural distinctions between these predications, showing that in many languages, such boundaries are blurred or even nonexistent. The introductory chapter reviews key findings from prior research and offers a refined typology of locative and existential predications. It also highlights the major insights from the remaining chapters, each of which provides a detailed empirical analysis of these constructions in one or several underdescribed languages. The contributions address (i) the structural and functional properties of locative and existential clauses, (ii) criteria for distinguishing these constructions in languages where formal differentiation is minimal, (iii) their frequency and usage in natural discourse, and (iv) grammaticalization pathways that link locative, existential, and possessive predication. By integrating data from a broad range of languages and perspectives, this volume advances our understanding of locative and existential predication and offers a foundation for future research in typology, syntax, and historical linguistics.
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Available via:
Books on Demand GmbH,
In de Tarpen 42,
22848 Norderstedt
Tel.: +49 40 - 53 43 35-0
Fax: +49 40 - 53 43 35-84
E-Mail buchhandel@bod.de
Web: www.bod.de
Autor*in
Chris Lasse Däbritz
Chris Lasse Däbritz is a science policy advisor at the Head Office of the German Science and Humanities Council. Until 2024, he was affiliated to the Institute of Finno-Ugric/Uralic Studies of the University of Hamburg, first as a research fellow in the research project INEL (Grammars, Corpora and Language Technology for Indigenous Northern Eurasian Languages; 2016-2022) and after that as the PI of a DFG-funded research project on the typology and information structure of locative and existential predications in languages of the Ob-Yenisei area. In 2020, he obtained his PhD in General Linguistics, with his thesis devoted to information structural patterns in Northwestern Siberian languages. In 2022, he published a corpus-based descriptive grammar of Dolgan. His research interests include Siberian languages, linguistic typology, non-verbal predication, as well as information structure, and beyond linguistics, current developments of research funding and peer review processes.