The Typology of Adjectival Predication (Empirical Approaches to Language Typology [EALT] Book 17)

Research on language universals and research on linguistic typology are not antagonistic, but rather complementary approaches to the same fundamental problem: 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. Acknowledgements Abbreviations Part One: General background 1. Introduction 1.1. General observations 1.2. Two perspectives on adjectival encoding in language 1.3. Prototypical adjectivals 1.4. Outline of the following chapters 2. Adjectival encoding in language: The standard approach 2.1. Introduction 2.2. Adjectives, adjectival Nouns and adjectival Verbs: Some observations 2.3. The problematic word class status of adjectivals 3. Adjectival encoding in language: Nouniness and verbiness 3.1. “Nouny” and “verby” adjectivals 3.2. Explaining the nouny-verby split 3.3. The perspective of the present study Part Two: A typology of predicative adjectival constructions 4. Preliminaries 4.1. The language sample 4.2. The typological basis 4.3. The construction of the typology 5. Nouny adjectivals in type-A languages 5.1. Criteria for nouniness 5.2. The use of an overt copula in adjectival and nominal predicates 5.3. Zero marking in adjectival and nominal predicates 5.4. A peculiar manifestation of nouniness: “Possessive” constructions 6. Verby adjectivals in type-A languages 6.1. Criteria for verbiness 6.2. Person marking in adjectival and verbal predicates 6.3. Zero marking in adjectival and verbal predicates 7. Adjectival predication in type-B languages 7.1. Introduction 7.2. Person marking languages 7.3. Copula languages 7.4. Zero marking languages Part Three: Towards an explanation of the nouny-verby split 8. The Tense Hypothesis 8.1. Introduction 8.2. Summarizing the major results of the typological investigation 8.3. The Tensedness Parameter 8.4. The Tense Hypothesis 8.5. Nouny languages 8.6. Verby languages 8.7. Mixed languages 8.8. Type-B languages 8.9. Concluding observations Notes Appendix A: Alphabetical listing of the sample Appendix B: Genetic and areal stratification of the sample References Index of languages Index of names Index of subjects

The series is a platform for contributions of all kinds to this rapidly developing field. General problems are studied from the perspective of individual languages, language families, language groups, or language samples. Conclusions are the result of a deepened study of empirical data. Special emphasis is given to little-known languages, whose analysis may shed new light on long-standing problems in general linguistics.

This text investigates the ways in which the adjectival predication is expressed in the languages of the world. Based on a survey of 115 languages, it puts forward a typology of predicative adjectival constructions, which involves a distinction between "noun-like" and "verb-like" adjectivals.