New challenges in typology

Mehr zum Buch

This volume features sixteen chapters by typologists and field linguists who completed their Ph.D. theses in the early 2000s. The authors tackle significant theoretical questions in linguistics, utilizing a wealth of previously unfamiliar data. The aim is to expand typological horizons by revisiting existing frameworks with larger language samples, exploring previously overlooked domains, and emphasizing linguistic diversity. It seeks to strengthen connections between typology and areal linguistics while bridging gaps with historical linguistics and sociolinguistics. The papers examine a range of grammatical phenomena, including foot and stress, tone, infixation, inflection versus derivation, word formation, polysynthesis, suppletion, person marking, reflexives, alignment, transitivity, tense-aspect-mood systems, negation, interrogation, converb systems, and complex sentences. Additionally, they address broader methodological and theoretical issues such as reconstruction, markedness, semantic maps, templates, and the use of parallel corpora. The contributions illustrate the increasingly intertwined nature of traditional linguistic fields, advocating for a cross-linguistic approach. This work appeals to typologists, field linguists, and any linguists interested in theoretical issues across various subfields.