The Growth and Maintenance of Linguistic Complexity

The Growth and Maintenance of Linguistic Complexity

Author: Östen Dahl

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 358

ISBN-13: 9789027230812

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This book studies linguistic complexity and the processes by which it arises and is maintained, focusing not so much on what one can say in a language as how it is said. Complexity is not seen as synonymous with “difficulty” but as an objective property of a system — a measure of the amount of information needed to describe or reconstruct it. Grammatical complexity is the result of historical processes often subsumed under the rubric of grammaticalization and involves what can be called mature linguistic phenomena, that is, features that take time to develop. The nature and characteristics of such processes are discussed in detail, as well as the external and internal factors that favor or disfavor stability and change in language.


A Vedic Grammar for Students, Including a Chapter on Syntax and Three Appendixes

A Vedic Grammar for Students, Including a Chapter on Syntax and Three Appendixes

Author: Arthur Anthony Macdonell

Publisher:

Published: 2015-02-12

Total Pages: 524

ISBN-13: 9781294989424

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