Overview
Intransitive Predication constitutes a major contribution to the study of typological linguistics and theoretical linguistics in general. Basing his analysis on a sample of 410 languages, Leon Stassen investigates cross-linguistic variation in one of the core domains of all natural languages. The author views this domain as a `cognitive space', the topography of which is the same for all languages. It is assumed to consist of four subdomains, which correspond to a four-way distinction between the semantic classes of event predicates, property predicates, class predicates, and locational predicates. Leon Stassen offers a typology of the structural manifestations of this domain, in terms of the nature and number of the formal strategies used in its encoding. He discusses a number of abstract principles which can be employed in explaining the cross-linguistic variation embodied by the typology. In the final chapter, he brings together the research results in a universally applicable model, which can be read as a `flow chart' for the encoding of intransitive predications in different language types.
Full Product Details
Author: Leon Stassen (Senior Lecturer, Department of General Linguistics, Senior Lecturer, Department of General Linguistics, The Catholic University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 16.50cm
, Height: 4.80cm
, Length: 24.40cm
Weight: 1.335kg
ISBN: 9780198236931
ISBN 10: 019823693
Pages: 792
Publication Date: 11 September 1997
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
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Reviews
The book is long, but readers will find the effort well worthwhile ... It is difficult to do justice in a review to a book of this magnitude. The book provides a valuable set of data and convincing arguments to support the typology proposed ... A value of the book is that the proposed typology provides a solid foundation for future empirical investigation. The book is the second in a series on typology. I hope that subsequent volumes in the series will be of such a high quality. Edith L Bavin, Linguistics Vol 35 1999
`The book is long, but readers will find the effort well worthwhile ... It is difficult to do justice in a review to a book of this magnitude. The book provides a valuable set of data and convincing arguments to support the typology proposed ... A value of the book is that the proposed typology provides a solid foundation for future empirical investigation. The book is the second in a series on typology. I hope that subsequent volumes in the series will be of such a high quality.' Edith L Bavin, Linguistics Vol 35 1999
