LINGUIST List 12.1009

Tue Apr 10 2001

Books: Typology

Editor for this issue: Naomi Ogasawara <naomilinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Kimberly Kahn, Typology: Indefinite Pronouns by Haspelmath

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
Martin Haspelmath, Max Planc Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany

(Oxford Studies in Typology and Linguistic Theory)

This book is the first comprehensive and encyclopaedic investigation
of indefinite pronouns (expressions like someone, anything, nowhere)
in the languages of the world. It shows that the range of variation in
the functional and formal properties of indefinite pronouns is subject
to a set of universal implicational constraints, and proposes
explanations for these universals.

Oxford Studies in Typology and Linguistic Theory offers a forum for
promoting research and analysis that is both typologically and
theoretically informed. Each book in the series will focus on a
particular topic, providing an overview of the available
cross-linguistic data and, at the same time, engaging such key
theoretical issues as the boundaries or limitations of different
approaches in dealing with typological data.

"...the book is clearly written and well edited, and the facts
provided offer a great deal of food for thought to anyone with an
interest in cross-linguistic work, whether such interest is confined
within the Germanic family alone or is taken with a broader
view."--American Journal of Germanic Linguistics and Literatures

"A welcome addition to the typological literature, this book is the
most comprehensive work to date devoted exclusively to the description
of indefinite pronouns in the world's languages....Haspelmath's
presentation offers generally interesting reading, giving us many
facts, testable universal claims, and tantalizing attempts at
explanation....the book can serve...as a useful reference
work."--Anthropological Linguistics

"One couldn't wish for a better book to inaugurate the series....The
book is highly recommended, not only to field workers who will find
that this study contains enough theoretical predictions to test
against the indefinite pronoun system in the language or languages
they are working on, but also to any linguist who wants to see a text
book example of a linguistic analysis....Anyone working on two or more
closely related languages should be required to read this
book."--Notes on Linguistics

1997 (paper April 2001) 384 pp.; 25 b/w figures, 1 map
0-19-829963-X paper $29.95
0-19-823560-7 cloth $72.00
Oxford University Press