Impersonal Constructions
：A cross-linguistic perspective
( Studies in Language Companion Series )
Publication subTitle ：A cross-linguistic perspective
Publication series ： Studies in Language Companion Series
Author： Andrej Malchukov Anna Siewierska
Publisher： John Benjamins Publishing Company
Publication year： 2011
E-ISBN: 9789027287168
P-ISBN(Paperback): 9789027205919
Subject： H04 grammar
Language： ENG
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Description
The book is undoubtedly a welcome and useful contribution to language typology. Impersonal constructions have not been subject to a detailed and comprehensive cross-linguistic analysis before, and this volume successfully fills this gap. The editors can be praised for having been able to establish a good balance between descriptive and theoretical studies, as well as between synchronic and diachronic perspectives. The cross-linguistic coverage of the volume is almost comprehensive, with a slight bias towards Africa and Eurasia and a regrettable lack of Papuan and South and Meso American languages. Inclusion of several papers dealing with whole language families or areas instead of individual languages, thus addressing issues of intra-genetic and areal typology, is also an example to be followed.