Typological Hierarchies in Synchrony and Diachrony
Typological hierarchies are widely perceived as one of the most important results of research on language universals and linguistic diversity. Explanations for typological hierarchies, however, are usually based on the synchronic properties of the patterns described by individual hierarchies, not the actual diachronic processes that give rise to these patterns cross-linguistically. This book aims to explore in what ways the investigation of such processes can further our understanding of typological hierarchies. To this end, diachronic evidence about the origins of several phenomena described by typological hierarchies is discussed for several languages by a number of leading scholars in typology, historical linguistics, and language documentation. This evidence suggests a rethinking of possible explanations for typological hierarchies, as well as the very notion of typological universals in general. For this reason, the book will be of interest not only to the broad typological community, but also historical linguists, cognitive linguists, and psycholinguists.
[Typological Studies in Language, 121] 2018. vi, 434 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
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Part I. Setting the stage
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Synchronic vs. diachronic approaches to typological hierarchiesSonia Cristofaro and Fernando Zuniga | pp. 1–28
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Part II. Foundational issues
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Chapter 1. Evolutionary Phonology and the life cycle of voiceless sonorantsJuliette Blevins | pp. 29–58
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Chapter 2. The Obligatory Coding Principle in diachronic perspectiveDenis Creissels | pp. 59–110
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Chapter 3. Deconstructing teleology: The place of synchronic usage patterns among processes of diachronic developmentMarianne Mithun | pp. 111–128
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Part III. Hierarchical effects and their origins
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Chapter 4. The development of referential hierarchy effects in SahaptianSpike Gildea and Joana Jansen | pp. 129–190
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Chapter 5. Diachrony and the referential hierarchy in Old IrishAaron Griffith | pp. 191–216
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Chapter 6. From ergative case-marking to hierarchical agreement: A reconstruction of the argument-marking system of Reyesano (Takanan, Bolivia)Antoine Guillaume | pp. 217–256
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Chapter 7. The direction(s) of analogical change in direct/inverse systemsGuillaume Jacques and Anton Antonov | pp. 257–288
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Chapter 8. Are the Tupi-Guarani hierarchical indexing systems really motivated by the person hierarchy?Françoise Rose | pp. 289–308
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Chapter 9. Incipient hierarchical alignment in four Central Salish languages from the Proto-Salish middleZalmai ʔəswəli Zahir | pp. 309–342
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Part IV. Conflicting hierarchical patterns and how to deal with them
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Chapter 10. Deictic and sociopragmatic effects in Tibeto-Burman SAP indexationScott DeLancey | pp. 343–376
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Chapter 11. Morphosyntactic coding of proper names and its implications for the Animacy HierarchyJohannes Helmbrecht, Lukas Denk, Sarah Thanner and Ilenia Tonetti | pp. 377–402
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Chapter 12. Generic person marking in Japhug and other Gyalrong languagesGuillaume Jacques | pp. 403–424
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List for author index
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Language Index | pp. 429–431
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Subject Index | pp. 433–434
“In this review, I hope to have shown that the present volume is an immensely important contribution to linguistic typology as well as to functionally oriented traditions in linguistics. One may anticipate that its many valuable contributions will have considerable impact on future discussions pertaining to hierarchies, not least concerning the many intriguing problems connected with hierarchical alignment, and their role in linguistic description and theory.”
Eystein Dahl, Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt, in Journal of Historical Syntax, Vol. 5, Article 26 (2021)
Cited by (4)
Cited by four other publications
Chappell, Hilary & Shanshan Lü
2022. A semantic typology of location, existence, possession and copular verbs: areal patterns of polysemy in Mainland East and Southeast Asia. Linguistics 60:1 ► pp. 1 ff. 
Georgakopoulos, Thanasis & Stéphane Polis
2022. New avenues and challenges in semantic map research (with a case study in the semantic field of emotions). Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 41:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
Dahl, Eystein
2021. Introduction to the special thematic section. Journal of Historical Linguistics 11:2 ► pp. 209 ff.
Chappell, Hilary & Jean‐Christophe Verstraete
2019. Optional and alternating case marking: Typology and diachrony. Language and Linguistics Compass 13:3
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 28 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
Subjects
Main BIC Subject
CFK: Grammar, syntax
Main BISAC Subject
LAN009010: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Historical & Comparative