Intransitive Predication (Oxford Studies in Typology and Linguistic Theory)

Leon Stassen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199258937 ISBN 13: 9780199258932

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA, 2004

Stassen makes a major contribution to the study of language typology with Intransitive Predication. Basing his analysis on a sample of 410 languages, he presents a universally applicable model for defining the domain of intransitive predication in natural languages. Intransitive predicates are defined in terms of four domains: events (Sarah is walking), classes (Sarah is a secretary), properties (Sarah is tall), and locations (Sarah is in the garden).

Review:

Review from previous edition It is difficult to do justice in a review to a book of this magnitude. The book provides a valuable set of data and convincing arguments to support the typology proposed ... A value of the book is that the proposed typology provides a solid foundation for future empirical investigation. The book is the second in a series on typology. I hope that subsequent volumes in the series will be of such a high quality. (Edith L Bavin, Linguistics Vol 35 1999)

Not only is Stassen to be commended for the amount of data on which his conclusions are based, but also for the degree of detail that makes this book an exemplar for linguistic typology.....This book is an important contribution to our understanding of intransitive predicates. (Michael Boutin, Notes on Linguistics Vol 3 2000)

Synopsis:

This book investigates cross-linguistic variation in one of the core domains of all natural languages. Leon Stassen views this domain as a 'cognitive space', the topography of which is the same for all languages. It is assumed to consist of four sub-domains, which correspond to a four-way distinction between the semantic classes of event predicates, property predicates, class predicates, and locational predicates. The book offers a typology of the structural manifestations of this domain, in terms of the nature and number of the formal strategies used in its encoding. The author discusses a number of abstract principles which can be employed in explaining the cross-linguistic variation embodied by the typology. In the final chapter he brings together the research results in a universally applicable model, which can be read as a 'flow-chart' for the encoding of intransitive predications in different language types.