Adjective Classes

A Cross-Linguistic Typology

Edited by R.M.W. Dixon and Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald

Explorations in Linguistic Typology

392 pages | numerous tables | 234x156mm

978-0-19-927093-4 | Hardback | 16 September 2004

Also available as: Paperback

Price: £132.00

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Pioneering book on the adjectives of the world's languages
Based on original research
First of an important new series

This book shows that every language has an adjective class and examines how these vary in size and character. The opening chapter considers current generalizations about the nature and classification of adjectives and sets out the cross-linguistic parameters of their variation. Thirteen chapters then explore adjective classes in languages from North, Central and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Studies of well-known languages such as Russian, Japanese, Korean and Lao are juxtaposed with the languages of small hunter-gatherer and slash-and-burn agriculturalist groups. All are based on fine-grained field research. The nature and typology of adjective classes are then reconsidered in the conclusion.

This pioneering work shows, among other things, that the grammatical properties of the adjective class may be similar to nouns or verbs or both or neither; that some languages have two kinds of adjectives, one hard to distinguish from nouns and the other from verbs; that the adjective class can sometimes be large and open, and in other cases small and closed.

The book will interest scholars and advanced students of language typology and of the syntax and semantics of adjectives.

Each book in this series focuses on an aspect of language that is of current theoretical interest and for which there has not previously or recently been any full-scale cross-linguistic study. The series is for typologists, fieldworkers, and theory developers at graduate level and above. The books will be suited for use as the basis for advanced seminars and courses. The subjects of next three volumes will be serial verb constructions, complementation, and grammars in contact.

Readership: Students and scholars of language, typology, syntax and semantics, and linguistic anthropologists.

The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.

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Adjective Classes

A Cross-Linguistic Typology

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