The Linguistic Typology of Templates

This first comprehensive study of linguistic templatic constructions in morphology and syntax employs cutting-edge computational methods to study templates typologically.

Jeff Good (Author)

9781108707732, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 13 June 2019

338 pages, 63 b/w illus. 25 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.5 kg

'This book serves as an important gateway into a more productive cross-linguistic understanding of these constructions across a broad range of structural domains. It will quickly become a standard reference for typological investigations of seemingly unrelated templatic phenomena.' Kristine A. Hildebrandt, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville

This book represents the first comprehensive examination of templatic constructions - namely, linguistic structures involving unexpected linear stipulation - in both morphology and syntax from a typological perspective. It provides a state-of-the-art overview of the previous literature, develops a new typology for categorizing templatic constructions across grammatical domains, and examines their cross-linguistic variation by employing cutting-edge computational methods. It will be of interest to descriptive linguists seeking to gain a better sense of the diversity of the world's templatic constructions, theoretical linguists developing restrictive models of possible templates, and typologists interested in the attested range of patterns of linear stipulation and the application of new kinds of multivariate methods to cross-linguistic data. The new typological framework is illustrated in detail via a number of case studies involving languages of Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and numerous other templatic constructions are also considered over the course of the book.

1. Defining template
2. A typological description language for templates
3. Typologizing templates: case studies
4. Typologizing templates: comparison
5. Moving forward.

Subject Areas: Sign languages, Braille & other linguistic communication [CFZ], Writing systems, alphabets [CFLA], Grammar, syntax & morphology [CFK]