An analysis of Standard Average European, a European linguistic area, looks at 11 of its features (definite, indefinite articles, have-perfect, participial passive, antiaccusative prominence, nominative experiencers, dative external possessors, negation/negative pronouns, particle comparatives, A-and-B conjunction, relative clauses, verb fronting…

A discussion of areal linguistics and Amazonian languages looks at common properties of Amazonian languages, the occurrence, origins, and development of evidentiality systems in a number of those languages, and patterns of grammatical diffusion. Concludes that communities in the Amazonian linguistics area share common beliefs, mental attitudes,…

A study took features identified by specialists as typical for the Balkan and Meso-American linguistic areas and counted them for each relevant language. The resulting ranking of languages reflects the extent to which each language exemplifies the areal type, which was then plotted on isopleth maps. Both rankings and maps are useful in…

Argues that with regard to an important part of verbal morphosyntax (Tense-Aspect-Mood or TAM), it is possible to speak of a Standard Average European. Focus is on origins and evolution of TAM-markers, or TAM-auxiliation, suggesting that particular verb structures provide conceptual sources for auxiliation, and that it has an areal configuration…

The typological position of the Basque language is examined from an explicitly historical perspective, exploring the degree to which it has undergone typological assimilation into its Indo-European neighbors during the last 2,000 years. Phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon are considered. (MSE)

Gives an account of converb (adverbial participle or gerund) systems in eight languages from Paleoasiatic and Altaic families spoken in northeastern Siberia. The rich converbal system is not the only relevant and peculiar feature common to the languages, but it is not common in other languages. The characteristics of converbs are described, and…

A new and important part of the training and education of English as a second language teachers is the course in "Language Policy," which centers on the relationship between politics and language teaching in developing countries, i.e., on language planning. A better understanding and more knowledge might be had by including static and…

This publication of proceedings, most in English and some in Chinese, of a conference on Chinese languages and linguistics include the following papers: "On Rule Effect and Dialect Classification" (Chin-Chuan Cheng); "Cross-Linguistic Typological Variation, Grammatical Relations, and the Chinese Language" (Bernard Comrie);…