Language Complexity

Typology, contact, change

Editors

Matti Miestamo | University of Helsinki

Kaius Sinnemäki | University of Helsinki

Fred Karlsson | University of Helsinki

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027231048 | EUR 110.00 | USD 165.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027291356 | EUR 110.00 | USD 165.00

Language complexity has recently attracted considerable attention from linguists of many different persuasions. This volume – a thematic selection of papers from the conference Approaches to Complexity in Language, held in Helsinki, August 2005 – is the first collection of articles devoted to the topic. The sixteen chapters of the volume approach the notion of language complexity from a variety of perspectives. The papers are divided into three thematic sections that reflect the central themes of the book: Typology and theory, Contact and change, Creoles and pidgins. The book is mainly intended for typologists, historical linguists, contact linguists and creolists, as well as all linguists interested in language complexity in general. As the first collective volume on a very topical theme, the book is expected to be of lasting interest to the linguistic community.

[Studies in Language Companion Series, 94] 2008. xiv, 356 pp.

Publishing status: Available
Published online on 1 July 2008

https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.94

Table of Contents

Introduction: The problem of language complexity

Fred Karlsson, Matti Miestamo and Kaius Sinnemäki | pp. vii–xiv

I. Typology and theory

Complexity in linguistic theory, language learning and language change

Wouter Kusters | pp. 3–22

Grammatical complexity in cross-linguistic perspective

Matti Miestamo | pp. 23–41

Complexity trade-offs between the subsystems of language

Gertraud Fenk-Oczlon and August Fenk | pp. 43–65

Complexity trade-offs in core argument marking

Kaius Sinnemäki | pp. 67–88

Assessing linguistic complexity

Patrick Juola | pp. 89–108

How complex are isolating languages?

David Gil | pp. 109–131

Complexity in isolating languages: Lexical elaboration versus grammatical economy

Elizabeth M. Riddle | pp. 133–151

Grammatical resources and linguistic complexity: Sirionó as a language without NP coordination

Östen Dahl | pp. 153–163

II. Contact and change

Why does a language undress? Strange cases in Indonesia

John H. McWhorter | pp. 167–190

Morphological complexity as a parameter of linguistic typology: Hungarian as a contact language

Casper de Groot | pp. 191–215

Language complexity and interlinguistic difficulty

Eva Lindström | pp. 217–242

Complexity in nominal plural allomorphy: A contrastive survey of ten Germanic languages

Antje Dammel and Sebastian Kürschner | pp. 243–262

III. Creoles and pidgins

The simplicity of creoles in a cross-linguistic perspective

Mikael Parkvall | pp. 265–285

Complexity in numeral systems with an investigation into pidgins and creoles

Harald Hammarström | pp. 287–304

Explaining Kabuverdianu nominal plural formation

Angela Bartens and Niclas Sandström | pp. 305–320

Complexity and simplicity in minimal lexica: The lexicon of Chinook Jargon

Päivi Juvonen | pp. 321–340

Index of languages | pp. 341–344

Index of authors | pp. 345–348

Index of subjects | pp. 349–356

“Language complexity is complex! But these top-class linguistics scholars have made startling and brilliant progress towards untangling the complexity - this book is a giant leap forward.”

Peter Trudgill, Fribourg University

“The collection covers a wide range of languages from practically all parts of the world. Many phyla, areas and types are represented in the 'sample' from which the examples are drawn. The same holds for the situations and constellations in which complexity has to be measured. There are diachronic and synchronic studies, comparative and cross-linguistic investigations alongside studies of individual languages. The contributions are empirically well informed. Moreover, the theoretically-minded reader is not disappointed either as the disputed concept of complexity calls for reflections on theory and methodology which are characteristic of many of the articles. [..]I can strongly recommend this book to every linguist who is interested in questions of typological equivalence of language structures.”

Thomas Stolz, University of Bremen, in STUF 62, 2009

“The collections covers a wide range of languages from practically all parts of the world. Many phyla, areas and types are represented in the 'sample' from which the examples are drawn. The same holds for the situations and constellations in which complexity has to be measured. There are diachronic and synchronic studies, comparative and cross-linguistic investigations alongside studies of individual languages. The contributions are empirically well informed. Moreover, the theoretically-minded reader is not disappointed either as the disputed concept of complexity calls for reflections on theory and methodology which are characteristic of many of the articles. [...] No matter how unclear the notion of complexity is, I strongly recommend this book to every linguist who is interested in questions of typological equivalence of language structures.”

Thomas Stolz, University of Bremen, in STUF 62(3): 241-242, 2009

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