book: Non-verbal Predication in the World’s Languages
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Non-verbal Predication in the World’s Languages

A Typological Survey Volume 1: Eurasia, North America, South America
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Comparative Handbooks of Linguistics [CHL]
Non-verbal Predication in the World’s Languages
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2026
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About this book

The notion of predication is usually associated with the lexical class of verbs. However, the predicate function may also be expressed by Noun / Adjective / Adverb / Quantifier Phrases:

a. John is a doctor. b. The man is old. c. The boys are in the garden. d. Sam's friends are many.

Natural languages do, with respect to non-verbal predication, what they are expected to do in any compartment of grammar: they sharply diverge in their behavior.
This book offers a wide typological overview of how languages deal with non-verbal predication (henceforth: NVP). After the pioneering works by Hengeveld (1992) and Stassen (1997), no other work has attempted to provide a comprehensive overview of this pervasive syntactic phenomenon. Hence, the need for this book.
The introductory chapter highlights the main features to be considered:

  • the lexical and morphosyntactic nature of the predicate.
  • the morphological expression of NVP.
  • the semantic types of NVP.

The bulk of the book consists of a collection of papers, written by well-known specialists, targeting different languages or language families, thus offering a rich array of typological data.
This book will be of interest to typologists, syntacticians of any theoretical creed, and students of linguistics at large.

Author / Editor information

Pier Marco Bertinetto, Pisa, Italy; Luca Ciucci, Passau, Germany; Denis Creissels, Lyon, France.

Supplementary Materials

Topics

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    Frontmatter

    I
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    List of the Authors

    V
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    Acknowledgments

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    Contents

    IX
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  • Part I: Setting the stage
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    1 Non-verbal predication: An analytical framework

    1
    Denis Creissels, Pier Marco Bertinetto and Luca Ciucci
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    2 A diachronic view on non-verbal predication

    57
    Caterina Mauri and Andrea Sansò
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    3 Crucial issues in non-verbal predication: A questionnaire

    87
    Denis Creissels, Pier Marco Bertinetto and Luca Ciucci
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  • Part II: Case studies
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    4 Non-verbal predication in Caijia and Waxiang: A Southeast Asian perspective

    91
    Shanshan Lü and Hilary Chappell
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    5 Non-verbal predication in Siyuewu Khroskyabs

    129
    Yunfan Lai
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    6 Non-verbal predication in Uralic

    155
    Rigina Ajanki and Johanna Laakso
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    7 Non-verbal predication in Turkic languages

    195
    Elisabetta Ragagnin
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    8 Non-verbal predication in the so-called Paleosiberian languages

    239
    Brigitte Pakendorf
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    9 Non-verbal predication in Tungusic languages

    275
    Brigitte Pakendorf
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  • North America
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    10 Non-verbal predication in the Yupik-Inuktitut-Unangan (Eskimo-Aleut) family

    313
    Marianne Mithun and Carl Christian Olsen
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    11 Non-verbal predication in Western Apache (Athabaskan/Dene), with comparisons to Hän Athabaskan

    353
    Willem J. de Reuse
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    12 Non-verbal predication in Algonquian languages

    385
    Fernando Zúñiga
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    13 Non-verbal predication in Lushootseed (Salishan)

    429
    David Beck
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    14 Non-verbal predication in Uto-Aztecan languages from northwestern Mexico

    463
    Zarina Estrada-Fernández and Albert Alvarez Gonzalez
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  • South America
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    15 Verbless clauses and copula clauses in Arawak languages

    505
    Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald
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    16 Non-verbal predication in Tupian, especially Tupí-Guaraní languages

    541
    Wolf Dietrich
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    17 Non-verbal predication in Zaparoan languages

    581
    Lev Michael and Christine Beier
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    18 Non-verbal predication in Chicham

    625
    Simon E. Overall
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    19 Non-verbal predication in the Pano languages of Western Amazonia

    653
    Pilar M. Valenzuela and Roberto Zariquiey
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    20 Non-verbal predication in Guaycuruan and Mataguayan

    697
    Alejandra Vidal and Verónica Nercesian
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    21 Non-verbal predication in Old Zamuco

    743
    Luca Ciucci
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
November 6, 2025
eBook ISBN:
9783110730982
Hardcover published on:
November 6, 2025
Hardcover ISBN:
9783110736328
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Front matter:
14
Main content:
784
Illustrations:
22
Coloured Illustrations:
3
Tables:
65
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110730982
eBook ISBN: 9783110730982
Hardcover ISBN: 9783110736328
Keywords for this book
Language Typology; Non-Verbal Predication; Copula Clauses
Audience(s) for this book
Scholars interested in Language Typology, Syntax and Semantics and Linguistics in General.
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