This monograph is written from a specific perspective on the scientific study of language, a position that holds that linguistic theory must be held accountable to the diversity of the world’s languages. In this view, theoretical hypotheses about the nature of language, whether synchronic or diachronic, must be tested against a wide range of languages and language types. This position entails what Ken Hale has called the “the confirmatory function of linguistic diversity” (Hale 2000: 168).
The possibility of expressing negation is a very basic property of human language. All natural languages possess it. However, there is a certain amount of variation in the linguistic means employed for this purpose. This variation is not only found between different languages but also between the various diachronic stages within one language.
The papers comprising this volume focus on a broad range of acquisition phenomena (subject dislocation, structural case, word order, determiners, pronouns, quantifiers and logical words) from different languages and language combinations.
AN INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE is ideal for use at all levels and in many different areas of instruction, including education, languages, psychology, anthropology, English, teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), and linguistics. All chapters in this best-seller have been revised to reflect recent discoveries and new understanding of linguistics and languages. The best-selling classic, known for its comprehensive and balanced coverage, has been updated to reflect the most current research in the field of linguistics.
This volume of new work explores the forms and functions of serial verbs. The introduction sets out the cross-linguistic parameters of variation, and the final chapter draws out a set of conclusions. These frame fourteen explorations of serial verb constructions and similar structures in languages from Asia, Africa, North, Central and South America, and the Pacific. Chapters on well-known languages such as Cantonese and Thai are set alongside the languages of small hunter-gatherer and slash-and-burn agriculturalist groups.
