Morphology and Mind - A Unified Approach to Explanation in Linguistics

The central concern of this book is the explanation of linguistic form. It examines in detail certain cross-linguistic patterns in morphological systems, providing unified explanations of the observation that suffixes predominate over prefixes and the correlation between affix position and syntactic head position. The natural methodological consequence of such an approach is a move towards greater cooperation between the various subdisciplines of linguistics, as well as a greatly needed expansion of cross-disciplinary research. The author's broad training in theoretical morphology, formal and typological universals, and language processing, allows him to cross traditional boundaries and view the complex interactions between theoretical linguistic principles and cognitive mechanisms with considerable clarity of vision.

List of contents

1. Explanation in Linguistics 2. Morphological Regularity 3. Affixes and Heads 4. The Diachronic Link 5. Understanding Affixes 6. A Micro-Analysis of Historical Change

About the author

Hall, Christopher J.

Product details

• Authors: Christopher J Hall, Christopher J. Hall, Hall Christopher J.
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 21.11.2013
• EAN: 9780415724074
• ISBN: 978-0-415-72407-4
• No. of pages: 246
• Series: Routledge Library Editions: Linguistics
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics; LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / General, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General, Literature: history & criticism, Grammar, syntax & morphology, Grammar, syntax and morphology, Literature: history and criticism