Description
Book SynopsisSurveying over 300 languages, this typological study presents new theoretical insights into the nature of agreement, as well as empirical findings about the distribution of agreement patterns in the world''s languages. Focussing primarily on agreement in gender, number and person, but with reference to agreement in other smaller categories, Ranko Matasovic aims to discover which patterns of agreement are widespread and common in languages, and which are rather limited in their distribution. He sheds new light on a range of important theoretical questions such as what agreement actually is, what areal, typological and genetic patterns exist across agreement systems, and what problems in the analysis of agreement remain unresolved.
Table of Contents1. Introduction; 2. What is agreement?; 3. Domains of agreement and categories involved; 4. Problems with agreement; 5. Grammatical, ambiguous and anaphoric agreement; 6. Marginal agreement; 7. The sample of languages; 8. Areal and genetic patterns in agreement systems; 9. Typological correlations in agreement systems; 10. Diachronic patterns in the development of agreement; 11. Conclusions.
