LINGUIST List 15.2419

Tue Aug 31 2004

Books: Syntax/Typology: Dixon, Aikhenvald

Editor for this issue: Neil Salmond <neillinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. lowri.jones, Adjective Classes: Dixon, Aikhenvald

Title: Adjective Classes
Subtitle: A cross-linguistic typology
Series Title: Explorations in Linguistic Typology

Publication Year: 2004
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
		http://www.oup.com/us
		http://www.oup.co.uk

Book URL: http://www.oup.co.uk/isbn/0-19-927093-7

Editor: R.M.W. Dixon, La Trobe University
Editor: Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, La Trobe University

Hardback: ISBN: 0199270937, Pages: 288, Price: U.K. � 60.00

			
Abstract:

This book shows that every language has an adjective class and
examines how these vary in size and character. The opening chapter
considers current generalizations about the nature and classification
of adjectives and sets out the cross-linguistic parameters of their
variation. Thirteen chapters then explore adjective classes in
languages from North, Central and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia,
and the Pacific. Studies of well-known languages such as Russian,
Japanese, Korean and Lao are juxtaposed with the languages of small
hunter-gatherer and slash-and-burn agriculturalist groups. All are
based on fine-grained field research. The nature and typology of
adjective classes are then reconsidered in the conclusion.

This pioneering work shows, among other things, that the grammatical
properties of the adjective class may be similar to nouns or verbs or
both or neither; that some languages have two kinds of adjectives, one
hard to distinguish from nouns and the other from verbs; that the
adjective class can sometimes be large and open, and in other cases
small and closed.


Lingfield(s):	Syntax
		Typology
		
Written In:	English (Language Code: ENG)


 See this book announcement on our website:
 http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=11291.