Approaches to the Typology of Word Classes (Empirical Approaches to Language Typology [EALT], 23)

The history of word class research is characterized by two extreme positions. Up to the 19th century, it was believed that word classes were invariably of the Latin or Greek type and universal. In contrast to that, in the 20th century, the view prevailed that every language had its own specific and unique word class system. In the last decades, however, it has become apparent that despite the large number of word classes and word class systems there are typological restrictions with regard to the conceptualization of semantic features and morphosyntactic structures. This text approaches word classes and their categorial manifestations from the perspective of typology and language universals research. The authors in this volume discuss word class categorization in general (Part I), as well as word classes and word class systems of individual languages (Part II) from a typological-universal viewpoint and from diachronic and cross-linguistic perspectives. Research on language universals and research on linguistic typology are not antagonistic, but rather complementary approaches to the same fundamental the relationship between the amazing diversity of languages and the profound unity of language. Only if the true extent of typological divergence is recognized can universal laws be formulated. In recent years it has become more and more evident that a broad range of languages of radically different types must be carefully analyzed before general theories are possible. Typological comparison of this kind is now at the centre of linguistic research. The series empirical approaches to language typology presents a platform for contributions of all kinds to this rapidly developing field. The distinctive feature of the series is its markedly empirical orientation. All conclusions to be reached are the result of a deepened study of empirical data. General problems are focused on from the perspective of individual languages, language families, language groups, or language samples. Special emphasis is given to the analysis of phenomena from little known languages, which shed new light on long-standing problems in general linguistics. The series is open to contributions from different theoretical persuasions. It thus reflects the methodological pluralism that characterizes the present situation. Care is taken that all volumes be accessible to every linguist and, moreover, to every reader specializing in some domain related to human language. A deeper understanding of human language in general, based on a detailed analysis of typological diversity among individual languages, is fundamental for many sciences, not only for linguists. Therefore, this series has proven to be indispensable in every research library, be it public or private, which has a specialization in language and the language sciences. To discuss your book idea or submit a proposal, please contact Birgit Sievert. A Dynamic Model Of Part-of-speech Differentiation / Jan Anward -- Word Classes And Sentential Functions / D.n.s. Bhat -- Parts Of Speech As Language Universals And As Language-particular Categories / William Croft -- Kinship Verbs / Nicholas Evans -- Syntactic Categories, Cross-linguistic Variation And Universal Grammar / David Gil -- When Can A Language Have Adjectives? An Implicational Universal / Jan Rijkhoff -- Grammaticalisation And Part-of-speech Systems / Petra M. Vogel -- Lexical Prototypes As A Universal Basis For Cross-linguistic Identification Of Parts Of Speech / Anna Wierzbicka -- Modal Particles In German: Word Classification And Legacy Beyond Grammaticalisation / Werner Abraham. Edited By Petra M. Vogel, Bernard Comrie. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.