Download or read book Language Change and Typological Variation Grammatical universals and typology written by Edgar C. Polomé and published by Study of Man. This book was released on 1999 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: PREFACE: Grammatical AbbreviationsBibliographical Abbreviations.I. UNIVERSAL ISSUES:Paolo Ramat: On Categories and CategorizationsPieter A. M. Seuren: Topic and CommentRobert Longacre: A Footnote to Lehmann?s OV/VO Typology. II. TYPOLOGICAL ISSUES:A. CATEGORIES AND RELATIONS: Theodora Bynon: Schleicher?s Reconstruction of a Sentence?Back to Pre Pre Indo EuropeanFrancisco R. Adrados: Hacia una tipologia de las combinaciones de rasgos linguisticosHenrik Birnbaum: On the Relationship of Typology and Genealogy in Language Classification?Some Theoretical Considerations and Applications to Indo EuropeanAnthony Aristar: Typology and the Saussurean Dichotomy. B. CONSTITUENT ORDER: Subhadra Kumar Sen: On the Syntax of the Anitta TextDouglas Mitchell: Lehmann?s Use of Syntactic TypologyMichael Clyne: Typology and Language Change in Bilingualism and Trilingualism. C. ALIGNMENT & CONTENTIVE TYPE: Bridget Drinka: Alignment in Early Proto Indo EuropeanHelena Kurzova: Syntax in the Indo European Morphosyntactic TypeGeorgij A. Klimov: On the Pre accusative Component of the Structure of the Kartvelian LanguagesKarl Horst Schmidt: On Congruence in Languages of Active TypologyLaszlo Deszo: On the Structuring of Early Indo European in Areal Typological PerspectiveBernard Comrie & Maria Polinsky: Gender in Historical Perspective?Radial Categories Meet LanguageBrigitte Bauer: Impersonal Habet constructions in Latin?At the Crossroads of Indo European InnovationCarol F. Justus: Indo European 'have??a Grammatical Etymology.

Download or read book Language Change and Typological Variation Grammatical universals and typology written by Edgar C. Polomé and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Typology and Universals written by William Croft and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002-11-21 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comparison of the grammars of human languages reveals systematic patterns of variation. Typology and universals research uncovers those patterns to formulate universal constraints on language and seek their exploration. In this essential textbook, William Croft presents a comprehensive introduction to the method and theory used in studying typology and universals. The theoretical issues discussed range from the most fundamental to the most abstract. The book provides students and researchers with extensive examples of language universals in phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. This second edition has been thoroughly rewritten and updated to reflect advances in typology and universals in the past decade, including: new methodologies such as the semantic map model and questions of syntactic argumentation; discussion of current debates over deeper explanations for specific classes of universals; and comparison of the typological and generative approaches to language.

Download or read book Explanation in typology written by Karsten Schmidtke-Bode and published by Language Science Press. This book was released on with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume provides an up-to-date discussion of a foundational issue that has recently taken centre stage in linguistic typology and which is relevant to the language sciences more generally: To what extent can cross-linguistic generalizations, i.e. statistical universals of linguistic structure, be explained by the diachronic sources of these structures? Everyone agrees that typological distributions are the result of complex histories, as “languages evolve into the variation states to which synchronic universals pertain” (Hawkins 1988). However, an increasingly popular line of argumentation holds that many, perhaps most, typological regularities are long-term reflections of their diachronic sources, rather than being ‘target-driven’ by overarching functional-adaptive motivations. On this view, recurrent pathways of reanalysis and grammaticalization can lead to uniform synchronic results, obviating the need to postulate global forces like ambiguity avoidance, processing efficiency or iconicity, especially if there is no evidence for such motivations in the genesis of the respective constructions. On the other hand, the recent typological literature is equally ripe with talk of "complex adaptive systems", "attractor states" and "cross-linguistic convergence". One may wonder, therefore, how much room is left for traditional functional-adaptive forces and how exactly they influence the diachronic trajectories that shape universal distributions. The papers in the present volume are intended to provide an accessible introduction to this debate. Covering theoretical, methodological and empirical facets of the issue at hand, they represent current ways of thinking about the role of diachronic sources in explaining grammatical universals, articulated by seasoned and budding linguists alike.

Download or read book Studies on Universal Grammar and Typological Variation written by Artemis Alexiadou and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 1997-02-13 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The articles of the present volume consist of generative analyses dealing with several current topics of discussion and debate in syntactic theory, such as clitics, word order, scrambling, directionality, movement. The data in the volume are drawn from a number of typologically diverse languages (e.g. Arabic, Berber, Dutch, Gaelic, Greek, Malagasy).

Download or read book Language Change Variation and Universals written by Peter W. Culicover and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-26 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores how human languages become what they are, why they differ from one another in certain ways but not in others, and why they change in the ways that they do. Given that language is a universal creation of the human mind, the puzzle is why there are different languages at all: why do we not all speak the same language? Moreover, while there is considerable variation, in some ways grammars do show consistent patterns: why are languages similar in those respects, and why are those particular patterns preferred? Peter Culicover proposes that the solution to these puzzles is a constructional one. Grammars consist of constructions that carry out the function of expressing universal conceptual structure. While there are in principle many different ways of accomplishing this task, languages are under press to reduce constructional complexity. The result is that there is constructional change in the direction of less complexity, and grammatical patterns emerge that more efficiently reflect conceptual universals. The volume is divided into three parts: the first establishes the theoretical foundations; the second explores variation in argument structure, grammatical functions, and A-bar constructions, drawing on data from a variety of languages including English and Plains Cree; and the third examines constructional change, focusing primarily on Germanic. The study ends with observations and speculations on parameter theory, analogy, the origins of typological patterns, and Greenbergian 'universals'.

Download or read book The Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures written by Susanne Maria Michaelis and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-09-05 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Atlas presents commentaries and colour maps showing how 130 linguistic features - phonological, syntactic, morphological, and lexical - are distributed among the world's pidgins and creoles. Designed and written by the world's leading experts, it is a unique resource of outstanding value for linguists of all persuasions throughout the world.

Download or read book Word Order Universals written by John A Hawkins and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 1983-12-28 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Word Order Universals is a detailed account of word order universals and their role in theories of historical change. The starting point is the Greenberg data set, which is comprised of a sample of 142 languages for certain limited co-occurrences of basic word orders, and a 30-language sample for more detailed information. In the Language Index, the 142 have been expanded to some 350 languages. Using the original Greenberg samples and the Expanded Sample, an alternative set of descriptive word order statements is provided. Comprised of eight chapters, this book begins with an introduction to the theory of word order universals, encompassing topics such as word order variation across languages and theories of universal grammar. The reader is then introduced to the work of Joseph Greenberg and Theo Vennemann on word order universals; implicational universals in Greenberg's data and the Expanded Sample; and the predictions made by implicational and distributional universals for word order change. Reformulated universals for historical reconstruction are also discussed, along with some laws of reconstruction derived from synchronic universals. The final chapter is devoted to the Expanded Sample, with particular reference to its quantities as well as its typological and genetic classification. This monograph will be a useful resource for specialists in grammar and linguistics.

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Universal Grammar written by Ian Roberts and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-01-12 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook provides a critical guide to the most central proposition in modern linguistics: the notion, generally known as Universal Grammar, that a universal set of structural principles underlies the grammatical diversity of the world's languages. Part I considers the implications of Universal Grammar for philosophy of mind and philosophy of language, and examines the history of the theory. Part II focuses on linguistic theory, looking at topics such as explanatory adequacy and how phonology and semantics fit into Universal Grammar. Parts III and IV look respectively at the insights derived from UG-inspired research on language acquisition, and at comparative syntax and language typology, while part V considers the evidence for Universal Grammar in phenomena such as creoles, language pathology, and sign language. The book will be a vital reference for linguists, philosophers, and cognitive scientists.

Download or read book The Linguistic Typology of Templates written by Jeff Good and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-03-11 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book represents the first comprehensive examination of templatic constructions - namely, linguistic structures involving unexpected linear stipulation - in both morphology and syntax from a typological perspective. It provides a state-of-the-art overview of the previous literature, develops a new typology for categorizing templatic constructions across grammatical domains, and examines their cross-linguistic variation by employing cutting-edge computational methods. It will be of interest to descriptive linguists seeking to gain a better sense of the diversity of the world's templatic constructions, theoretical linguists developing restrictive models of possible templates, and typologists interested in the attested range of patterns of linear stipulation and the application of new kinds of multivariate methods to cross-linguistic data. The new typological framework is illustrated in detail via a number of case studies involving languages of Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and numerous other templatic constructions are also considered over the course of the book.

Download or read book Possible and Probable Languages written by Frederick J. Newmeyer and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2005 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this important and pioneering book Frederick Newmeyer takes on the question of language variety. He considers why some language types are impossible and why some grammatical features are more common than others. The task of trying to explain typological variation among languages has been mainly undertaken by functionally-oriented linguists. Generative grammarians entering the field of typology in the 1980s put forward the idea that cross-linguistic differences could be explained by linguistic parameters within Universal Grammar, whose operation might vary from language to language. Unfortunately, this way of looking at variation turned out to be much less successful than had been hoped for. Professor Newmeyer's alternative to parameters combines leading ideas from functionalist and formalist approaches which in the past have been considered incompatible. He throws fresh light on language typology and variation, and provides new insights into the principles of Universal The book is written in a clear, readable style and will be readily understood by anyone with a couple of years' study of linguistics. It will interest a wide range of scholars and students of language, including typologists, historical linguists, and theorists of every shade.

Download or read book Variation in Language System and Usage based Approaches written by Aria Adli and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2015-07-24 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Where is the locus of language variation? In the grammar, outside the grammar or somewhere in between? Taking up the debate between system- and usage-based approaches, this volume provides new discussions of fundamental issues of language variation. It includes several highly insightful theoretical contributions as well as innovative empirical studies considering different types of data, the role of priming in language change and rare phenomena.

Download or read book Aspects of Typology and Universals written by Walter Bisang and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2014-09-05 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first volume of "Studia typologica" contains the full length documentation og the plenary lectures of the Mainz Summer School on Typology 1998.

Download or read book Defining Language Universals written by Bianca Stärk and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2006-11-20 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2004 im Fachbereich Anglistik - Linguistik, Note: 2,8, Universität zu Köln (Anglistisches Institut), Veranstaltung: Morphosyntax English - German, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Language is something uniquely human. Bertrand Russell stated in 1948 that “A dog cannot relate his autobiography; however eloquently he may bark, he cannot tell you that his parents were honest though poor” (Whaley 1997: 4). Language ist not only unique to humans and diverse but there are also commonalities between languages. About five thousand languages are spoken in the world today but there still is a basic unity that undelies their diversities. Many of the world’s languages show similar principles. An example of such a similaritiy is word order. In some languages such as English, French and Italian the word order is subject, verb and object. This is the so called SOV order. Besides similarities like this, there also exist features between some languages, which are common to all human languages in the world and are called language universals. These language universals classify entire languages into categories which are then based on shared properties. Language universals are examined within the field of typology. Typology has the task of examining cross-linguistic patterns. This means that “all typological research is based on comparisons between languages” (Whaley 1997: 7). Through comparing different languages with each other, one necessarily comes into contact with universals, which hold true for a group of languages or even for all languages. This is how language universals are placed within the field of typology.

Download or read book Language Change Variation and Universals written by Peter W. Culicover and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores how human languages become what they are, why they differ from one another in certain ways but not in others, and why they change in the ways that they do. Given that language is a universal creation of the human mind, the puzzle is why there are different languages at all: why do we not all speak the same language? Moreover, while there is considerable variation, in some ways grammars do show consistent patterns: why are languages similar in those respects, and why are those particular patterns preferred? Peter Culicover proposes that the solution to these puzzles is a constructional one. Grammars consist of constructions that carry out the function of expressing universal conceptual structure. While there are in principle many different ways of accomplishing this task, languages are under press to reduce constructional complexity. The result is that there is constructional change in the direction of less complexity, and grammatical patterns emerge that more efficiently reflect conceptual universals. The volume is divided into three parts: the first establishes the theoretical foundations; the second explores variation in argument structure, grammatical functions, and A-bar constructions, drawing on data from a variety of languages including English and Plains Cree; and the third examines constructional change, focusing primarily on Germanic. The study ends with observations and speculations on parameter theory, analogy, the origins of typological patterns, and Greenbergian 'universals'.

Download or read book Linguistic Universals and Language Change written by Jeff Good and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-01-24 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book leading scholars examine and assess rival explanations for linguistic universals and the effectiveness of different models of language change. They illustrate their arguments with a very wide range of reference to the world's languages.

Download or read book Linguistic Universals and Language Variation written by Peter Siemund and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2011 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The volume explores the relationship between linguistic universals and language variation. Its contributions identify the recurrent patterns and principles behind the complex spectrum of observable variation. The volume bridges the gap between cross-linguistic variation, regional variation, diachronic variation, contact-induced variation as well as socially conditioned variation. Moreover, it addresses fundamental methodological and theoretical issues of variation research. The volume brings together internationally renowned specialists of their fields while, at the same time, offering a platform for gifted and highly talented young researchers. The authors come from different theoretical backgrounds and through their work illustrate a rich array of scientific methods. All authors share a strong belief in empirically founded theoretical work. The contributions span a high number of languages and dialects from many parts of the world. They are extremely broad in their empirical coverage addressing an impressive selection of grammatical domains.