Features

A unique examination of the features of language: how features vary between languages and also how they work.

Greville G. Corbett (Author)

9781107661080, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 October 2012

338 pages, 10 b/w illus. 14 tables
24.5 x 17.4 x 1.5 cm, 0.67 kg

'Greville Corbett's astonishing linguistic erudition is deployed here in an indispensable, encyclopedic, theoretically thoughtful overview of a topic that linguists have too often treated in an ad hoc way. Corbett believes, correctly, that it is truly important that theoretical linguists should be clear on the facts about the range of features and values found in the languages of the world.' Geoffrey Pullum, University of Edinburgh

Features are a central concept in linguistic analysis. They are the basic building blocks of linguistic units, such as words. For many linguists they offer the most revealing way to explore the nature of language. Familiar features are Number (singular, plural, dual, …), Person (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and Tense (present, past, …). Features have a major role in contemporary linguistics, from the most abstract theorizing to the most applied computational applications, yet little is firmly established about their status. They are used, but are little discussed and poorly understood. In this unique work, Corbett brings together two lines of research: how features vary between languages and how they work. As a result, the book is of great value to the broad range of perspectives of those who are interested in language.

List of figures
List of tables
Preface
Abbreviations
1. Why features?
2. Formal perspectives: the internal structure of features
3. Features for different components
4. Justifying particular features and their values
5. Typology
6. Canonical typology and features
7. Determining feature values: a case study on case
8. Feature-value mismatches
9. Conclusions
Appendix: standards and implementations
Reference
Author index
Language index
Subject index.

Subject Areas: Grammar, syntax & morphology [CFK], Linguistics [CF]