Chapter 6. Comparative concepts are not a different kind of thing
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Tabea Reiner
Abstract
This contribution challenges the by now established notion of comparative concepts; in particular, it can be read as a (delayed) response to Haspelmath (2010). Like Haspelmath’s original paper, the present one is theoretical in essence, with examples used primarily for illustration. My main point is that Haspelmath’s comparative concepts are, despite his claims to the contrary, simply crosslinguistic categories. This point has been made before; however, I offer two new ingredients to the argument: first, an explicit definition of the crucial term instantiation, allowing, among other things, a reaction to Haspelmath’s (2018b) newest defence of comparative concepts, and second, an alternative approach involving multiple monotonic inheritance. The contribution as a whole, though being theoretical, strives to argue as framework-neutrally as possible; in particular I remain agnostic about the existence and nature of Universal Grammar in any sense.
Abstract
This contribution challenges the by now established notion of comparative concepts; in particular, it can be read as a (delayed) response to Haspelmath (2010). Like Haspelmath’s original paper, the present one is theoretical in essence, with examples used primarily for illustration. My main point is that Haspelmath’s comparative concepts are, despite his claims to the contrary, simply crosslinguistic categories. This point has been made before; however, I offer two new ingredients to the argument: first, an explicit definition of the crucial term instantiation, allowing, among other things, a reaction to Haspelmath’s (2018b) newest defence of comparative concepts, and second, an alternative approach involving multiple monotonic inheritance. The contribution as a whole, though being theoretical, strives to argue as framework-neutrally as possible; in particular I remain agnostic about the existence and nature of Universal Grammar in any sense.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Linguistic categories, language description and linguistic typology – An overview 1
- Chapter 2. Towards standardization of morphosyntactic terminology for general linguistics 35
- Chapter 3. Universal underpinnings of language-specific categories 59
- Chapter 4. Typology of functional domains 101
- Chapter 5. Theories of language, language comparison, and grammatical description 137
- Chapter 6. Comparative concepts are not a different kind of thing 211
- Chapter 7. Essentials of the unityp research project 249
- Chapter 8. The non-universality of linguistic categories 279
- Chapter 9. Parts of speech, comparative concepts and Indo-European linguistics 313
- Chapter 10. Verbal vs. nominal reflexive constructions 367
- Chapter 11. The category ‘pronoun’ in East and Southeast Asian languages, with a focus on Japanese 389
- Subject index 411
- Language index 419
- Author index 421
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Linguistic categories, language description and linguistic typology – An overview 1
- Chapter 2. Towards standardization of morphosyntactic terminology for general linguistics 35
- Chapter 3. Universal underpinnings of language-specific categories 59
- Chapter 4. Typology of functional domains 101
- Chapter 5. Theories of language, language comparison, and grammatical description 137
- Chapter 6. Comparative concepts are not a different kind of thing 211
- Chapter 7. Essentials of the unityp research project 249
- Chapter 8. The non-universality of linguistic categories 279
- Chapter 9. Parts of speech, comparative concepts and Indo-European linguistics 313
- Chapter 10. Verbal vs. nominal reflexive constructions 367
- Chapter 11. The category ‘pronoun’ in East and Southeast Asian languages, with a focus on Japanese 389
- Subject index 411
- Language index 419
- Author index 421
