This is a book about comparison in linguistics in general, rather than 'contrastive analysis' as a distinct branch of linguistics. It addresses the question 'Does the analytical apparatus used by linguists allow comparisons to be made across languages?' Four major domains are considered in turn: derivational morphology, syntax, semantics & pragmatics, and discourse. Contributions cover a broad spectrum of linguistic disciplines, ranging from contrastive linguistics and linguistic typology to translation studies and historical linguistics.

Contents Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction; D.Willems, B.Defrancq, T.Colleman & D.Noël PART 1: SEMANTICS Semantic Primes Within and Across Languages; C.Goddard A Semantic Map for Imperative-Hortatives; J.van der Auwera, N.Dubrushina & V.Goussev PART 2: SYNTAX Basic Word Order in Formal and Functional Linguistics and the Typological Status of 'Canonical' Sentence Types; F.J.Newmeyer Division of Labour: The Role-Semantic Function of Basic Order and Case; B.Primus PART 3: MORPHOLOGY Action and Agent Nouns in French and Polysemy; P.Sleeman & E.Verheugd-Daatzelaar Deverbal Nouns and the Agentive Dimension Across Languages; F.Devos & J.Taeldeman Deverbal Nouns in Russian: In Search of a Dividing Line; K.Paykin PART 4: DISCOURSE Contrastive Analysis Across Time: Issues in Historical Dialogue Analysis; A.H.Jucker Contrastive Textlinguistics and Translation Universals; A.Chesterman Genre and Multimodality: Expanding the Context for Comparison across Languages; J.Bateman & J.Delin Language Index Index