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Synopsis
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).
Booknews
Basing his analysis on a database of over 400 languages, Stassen (general linguistics, U. of Nijmegen, the Netherlands) investigates cross-linguistic variation in a "cognitive space"<-->a core domain of all natural languages. For advanced students in comparative linguistics, the author offers a typology of the structural options of this domain, and theoretical principles which can be employed in explaining the variation embodied by the typology. His research results culminate in a model for the encoding of intransitive predications in different language types. An index of languages serves readers who wish to focus on a particular language/language family. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.