LINGUIST List 11.1742

Mon Aug 14 2000

Books: Typology/Morphology/Syntax

Editor for this issue: Scott Fults <scottlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Jae Jung Song, Linguistic Typology: Morphology and Syntax, Jae Jung Song

LINGUISTIC TYPOLOGY: Morphology and Syntax

By Jae Jung Song
Pearson Education: Harlow and London

August 2000, 406pp
ISBN 0-582-31220-5 (Hardback) �60.00
ISBN 0-582-31221-3 (Paperback) �19.99


There are generally estimated to be about 4,000 to 6,000 languages in
the world. This number alone gives us an idea of the immense diversity
of languages of the world, but despite their differences, there also
has to be an underlying unity to human languages.

Linguistic typology is the study of the structural variation within
human language with a view to establishing limits on this variation
and seeking explanations for the limits. In this volume, Jae Jung Song
uses data from a wide range of languages to provide an up-to-date
critical introduction to linguistic typology. Focusing on major topics
ranging from basic word order to causative constructions, the book
demonstrates how systematic patterns can be uncovered, and limits on,
and explanations for, these systematic patterns can be sought and
formulated. Practical and methodological issues such as data
collection and language sampling are also discussed, as well as the
application of linguistic typology and a brief survey of major
European approaches to linguistic typology.

_Linguistic Typology_ will be essential reading for students involved
in linguistic typology and language universals, comparative morphology
and syntax, historical linguistics, first or second language
acquisition, and language and cognition.

Jae Jung Song is a Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of
Otago, New Zealand.

Pearson Education books are available from most booksellers, or can be
ordered direct from (Postage: add �2.50 for all orders under �50):

Pearson Education
Customer Services (Orders)
PO Box 88, Harlow
Essex CM19 5SR
United Kingdom
Fax: +44 (0) 1279 623627