The universal structure of categories : towards a formal typology

Bibliographic Information

The universal structure of categories : towards a formal typology

Martina Wiltschko

(Cambridge studies in linguistics, 142)

Cambridge University Press, 2022, c2014

  • : pbk

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Note

First published: 2014

Includes bibliographical references (p. 327-351) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Using data from a variety of languages such as Blackfoot, Halkomelem, and Upper Austrian German, this book explores a range of grammatical categories and constructions, including tense, aspect, subjunctive, case and demonstratives. It presents a new theory of grammatical categories - the Universal Spine Hypothesis - and reinforces generative notions of Universal Grammar while accommodating insights from linguistic typology. In essence, this new theory shows that language-specific categories are built from a small set of universal categories and language-specific units of language. Throughout the book the Universal Spine Hypothesis is compared to two alternative theories - the Universal Base Hypothesis and the No Base Hypothesis. This valuable addition to the field will be welcomed by graduate students and researchers in linguistics.

Table of Contents

  • 1. The universal structure of categories
  • 2. A history of ideas behind the spine
  • 3. The universal spine as a heuristic for the identification of grammatical categories
  • 4. Anchoring categories in independent clauses
  • 5. Anchoring categories in dependent clauses
  • 6. Nominal anchoring categories
  • 7. Categories that introduce a point of view
  • 8. Towards a formal typology.

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