Chapters in this book

1. Prelim pages i
2. Table of contents v
3. Introduction: The problem of language complexity vii
4. I. Typology and theory
5. Complexity in linguistic theory, language learning and language change 3
6. Grammatical complexity in cross-linguistic perspective 23
7. Complexity trade-offs between the subsystems of language 43
8. Complexity trade-offs in core argument marking 67
9. Assessing linguistic complexity 89
10. How complex are isolating languages? 109
11. Complexity in isolating languages: Lexical elaboration versus grammatical economy 133
12. Grammatical resources and linguistic complexity: Sirionó as a language without NP coordination 153
13. II. Contact and change
14. Why does a language undress? Strange cases in Indonesia 167
15. Morphological complexity as a parameter of linguistic typology: Hungarian as a contact language 191
16. Language complexity and interlinguistic difficulty 217
17. Complexity in nominal plural allomorphy: A contrastive survey of ten Germanic languages 243
18. III. Creoles and pidgins
19. The simplicity of creoles in a cross-linguistic perspective 265
20. Complexity in numeral systems with an investigation into pidgins and creoles 287
21. Explaining Kabuverdianu nominal plural formation 305
22. Complexity and simplicity in minimal lexica: The lexicon of Chinook Jargon 321
23. Index of languages 341
24. Index of authors 345
25. Index of subjects 349