Describing Morphosyntax
A Guide for Field Linguists

This book is a guide for linguistic fieldworkers who wish to write a description of the morphology and syntax of one of the world's many under-documented languages.

Thomas E. Payne (Author)

9780521588058, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 9 October 1997

430 pages, 17 tables 67 exercises
22.8 x 15.3 x 2.3 cm, 0.593 kg

"...Describing Morphosyntax is an excellent guide not only for field linguists but also for all linguists who are interested in fascinating aspects of grammar." Word

Current estimates are that around 3,000 of the 6,000 languages now spoken may become extinct during the next century. Some 4,000 of these existing languages have never been described, or described only inadequately. This book is a guide for linguistic fieldworkers who wish to write a description of the morphology and syntax of one of these many under-documented languages. It uses examples from many languages both well known and virtually unknown; it offers readers one possible outline for a grammatical description, with many questions designed to help them address the key topics. The appendices offer guidance on text and elicited data, and on sample reference grammars which readers might wish to consult.

Acknowledgments
List of abbreviations
Introduction
1. Demographic and ethnographic information
2. Morphological typology
3. Grammatical categories
4. Constituent order typology
5. Noun and noun-phrase operations
6. Predicate nominals and related constructions
7. Grammatical relations
8. Voice and valence adjusting operations
9. Other verb and veb-phrase operations
10. Pragmatically marked structures
11. Clause combinations
12. Conclusions: the language in use
Appendices
References
Index of languages, language families, and language areas
Subject index.

Subject Areas: Historical & comparative linguistics [CFF]