An Areal Typology of Agreement Systems

Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-1-108-41308-4
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 215 Seiten, Format (B × H): 151 mm x 225 mm, Gewicht: 304 g

Surveying over 300 languages, this typological study presents new theoretical insights into the nature of agreement, as well as empirical findings about the distribution of agreement patterns in the world's languages. Focussing primarily on agreement in gender, number and person, but with reference to agreement in other smaller categories, Ranko Matasovic aims to discover which patterns of agreement are widespread and common in languages, and which are rather limited in their distribution. He sheds new light on a range of important theoretical questions such as what agreement actually is, what areal, typological and genetic patterns exist across agreement systems, and what problems in the analysis of agreement remain unresolved.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Matasovic, Ranko

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Grammatik, Syntax, Morphologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Historische & Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft, Sprachtypologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction; 2. What is agreement?; 3. Domains of agreement and categories involved; 4. Problems with agreement; 5. Grammatical, ambiguous and anaphoric agreement; 6. Marginal agreement; 7. The sample of languages; 8. Areal and genetic patterns in agreement systems; 9. Typological correlations in agreement systems; 10. Diachronic patterns in the development of agreement; 11. Conclusions.

Über Autor(innen)

Matasovic, Ranko
Ranko Matasovic is Professor of Comparative Linguistics in the University of Zagreb and a Fellow of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He has published thirteen books in Croatia and abroad, including Gender in Indo-European (2004) and Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (2009).