Canonical Morphology and Syntax

This is the first book to present Canonical Typology, a framework for comparing constructions and categories across languages. The canonical method takes the criteria used to define particular categories or phenomena (eg negation, finiteness, possession) to create a multidimensional space in which language-specific instances can be placed. In this way, the issue of fit becomes a matter of greater or lesser proximity to a canonical ideal. Drawing on the expertise of world class scholars in the field, the book addresses the issue of cross-linguistic comparability, illustrates the range of areas - from morphosyntactic features to reported speech - to which linguists are currently applying this methodology, and explores to what degree the approach succeeds in discovering the elusive canon of linguistic phenomena.

• | Author: Dunstan Brown
• | Publisher: OUP UK
• | Publication Date: Mar 22, 2013
• | Number of Pages: 336 pages
• | Binding: Hardback or Cased Book
• | ISBN-10: 0199604320
• | ISBN-13: 9780199604326