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Earlier empirical studies on valency have looked at the phenomenon either in individual languages or a small range of languages, or have concerned themselves with only small subparts of valency (e.g. transitivity, ditransitive constructions), leaving a lacuna that the present volume aims to fill by considering a wide range of valency phenomena across 30 languages from different parts of the world. The individual-language studies, each written by a specialist or group of specialists on that language and covering both valency patterns and valency alternations, are based on a questionnaire (reproduced in the volume) and an on-line freely accessible database, thus guaranteeing comparability of cross-linguistic results. In addition, introductory chapters provide the background to the project and discuss its main characteristics and selected results, while a series of featured articles by leading scholars who helped shape the field provide an outside perspective on the volume’s approach. The volume is essential reading for anyone interested in valency and argument structure, irrespective of theoretical persuasion, and will serve as a model for future descriptive studies of valency in individual languages.

Dependency grammar. --- Language and languages --- Foreign languages --- Languages --- Anthropology --- Communication --- Ethnology --- Information theory --- Meaning (Psychology) --- Philology --- Linguistics --- Valence (Linguistics) --- Grammar, Comparative and general --- Mathematical linguistics --- Syntax --- Valency, Verb Classes, Argument Alternations.

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Comparative linguistics

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This rich volume deals comprehensively with cross-linguistic variation in the morphosyntax of ditransitive constructions: constructions formed with verbs (like give) that take Agent, Theme and Recipient arguments. For the first time, a broadly cross-linguistic perspective is adopted. The present volume, consisting of an overview article and twenty-odd in-depth studies of ditransitive constructions in individual languages from different continents, arose from the conference on ditransitive constructions held at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig) in 2007. It opens with the editors' survey article providing an overview of cross-linguistic variation in ditransitive constructions, followed by the questionnaire on ditransitive constructions, compiled by the editors in order to elicit various properties of these patterns. The editors' overview discusses formal properties of ditransitive constructions as well as behavioral (or syntactic) and lexical properties (i.e., the extension of ditransitive constructions across different verb classes). The volume includes 23 contributions describing properties of ditransitive constructions in languages from all over the world, written by leading experts. Care has been taken that the contributions to the volume will be representative of structural, geographic and genealogical diversity in the domain of ditransitive constructions. Thus the present volume provides a unique source of information on typological diversity of ditransitive constructions. It is expected that it will be of central interest to all scholars and advanced students of linguistics, especially to those working in the field of language typology and comparative syntax.

Lexicology. Semantics --- Comparative linguistics --- Grammar --- Grammar, Comparative and general --- Generative grammar. --- Semantics. --- Transitivity. --- Verb. --- Generative grammar --- Semantics --- Formal semantics --- Semasiology --- Semiology (Semantics) --- Information theory --- Language and languages --- Lexicology --- Meaning (Psychology) --- Verb --- Transitivity (Grammar) --- Grammar, Generative --- Grammar, Transformational --- Grammar, Transformational generative --- Transformational generative grammar --- Transformational grammar --- Psycholinguistics --- Transitivity --- Verb phrase --- Verbals --- Reflexives --- Derivation --- Linguistics --- Philology --- Functional Grammar. --- Language Typology. --- Syntax.

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The volume contains a selection of papers originally presented at the symposium on “Areal patterns of grammaticalization and cross-linguistic variation in grammaticalization scenarios” held on 12-14 March 2015 at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. The papers, written by leading scholars combining expertise in historical linguistics and grammaticalization research, study variation in grammaticalization scenarios in a variety of language families (Slavic, Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman, Bantu, Mande, "Khoisan", Siouan, and Mayan). The volume stands out in the vast literature on grammaticalization by focusing on variation in grammaticalization scenarios and areal patterns in grammaticalization. Apart from documenting new grammaticalization paths, the volume makes a methodological contribution as it addresses an important question of how to reconcile universal outcomes of grammaticalization processes with the fact that the input to these processes is language-specific and construction-specific.

Linguistics --- Grammaticalization. --- Grammaticalization --- Grammar, Comparative and general --- Semantics --- Syntax --- historical linguistics --- areal patterns in grammaticalization --- grammaticalization --- variation in grammaticalization scenarios --- methodology --- Copula (linguistics) --- Demonstrative --- Morphology (linguistics) --- Perfective aspect --- Verb --- Yucatec Maya language