Subject: new books : bilingualism

john benjamins publishing would like to call your attention to the following new titles in the field of language acquisition : government and code switching explaining american finnish helena halmari 1997 xvi , 276 pp . studies in bilingualism , 12 us / canada : cloth : 1 55619 546 x price : us $ 89 . 00 rest of the world : cloth : 90 272 4118 x price : hfl . 178 , - - john benjamins publishing web site : http : / / www . benjamins . com for further information via e-mail : service @ benjamins . com bilingual codeswitching is a complex , multifaceted phenomenon , which calls for explanations on several different linguistic levels . this volume focuses on one such level : the level of syntax . an explanation for the regularities and consistencies in the codeswitching patterns of american finns in their spontaneous conversations is sought for in the universal grammar - based principle of government as realized in case-assignment and agreement relations . a bulk of the finnish - english intrasentential data get their explanation on the structural , hierarchical level , but this level of syntax is found to be interestingly intertwined with sociolinguistic , psycholinguistic , and discourse levels , which all contribute to variation in codeswitching patterns . the proposed principle of government is seen as one important explanation in typologically certain kinds of language pairs such as finnish and english ; however , this principle is not treated as a monolithic constraint , bur rather as the leading tendency which is occasionally overridden by other than syntactic forces . the volume is intended as a complement - not as a contradiction - to earlier explanations of codeswitching phenomena . its main message is : while all linguistic levels contribute to the construction of bilingual speech , the importance of syntax can not be ignored . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - bernadette martinez - keck tel : ( 215 ) 836-1200 publicity / marketing fax : ( 215 ) 836-1204 john benjamins north america e-mail : bernie @ benjamins . com po box 27519 philadelphia pa 19118-0519 check out the john benjamins web site : http : / / www . benjamins . com
