Struktuuride nimisõna/verb ja lingvistiline predikaat/argument evolutsioon
The Evolution of Noun/Verb and Linguistic Predicate/Argument Structures

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the genesis of grammar, specifically with the genesis of linguistic predicate/argument structure and with the question of possible evolutionary primacy of linguistic arguments over linguistic predicates. Nouns are linguistic arguments and verbs are linguistic predicates but the set of linguistic arguments and predicates is not restricted to nouns and verbs. The received view is that the first distinct word types were noun and verb (Heine, kuteva 2002; Hurford 2003a). Heine and kuteva (2007) have suggested that the first words were noun-like entities. The present paper submits ten new arguments that support this claim. The arguments are novel implications of the reviewed evidence which is made to bear on the evolution of the linguistic predicate/argument (e.g. noun/verb) structure. The paper concludes that the evidence for noun-like entities antedating other word types is overwhelming.

• Details
• Contents