Explaining typologically unusual structures: the role of probability

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. The other end of universals: theory and typology of rara 1
4. Rarities in numeral systems 11
5. Additional rarities in the typology of numerals 61
6. Explaining typologically unusual structures: the role of probability 91
7. Right at the left edge: initial consonant mutations in the languages of the world 105
8. “Quirky” case: rare phenomena in case-marking and their implications for a theory of typological distributions 139
9. Negatives without negators 169
10. Accounting for rare typological features in formal syntax: three strategies and some general remarks 195
11. Rara and grammatical theory 223
12. Pairwise comparisons of typological profiles 241
13. Language endangerment, community size and typological rarity 255
14. Backmatter 279