Language complexity as an evolving variable (Oxford University Press, 2009)
Includes bibliographical references and index
Preface; Interlinear glosses; The contributors; 1. A linguistic axiom challenged; 2. How much grammar does it take to sail a boat?; 3. On the evolution of complexity: sometimes less is more in East and mainland Southeast Asia; 4. Testing the assumption of complexity invariance: the case of Elfdalian and Swedish; 5. Between simplification and complexification: non-standard varieties of English around the world; 6. Implicational hierarchies and grammatical complexity; 7. Sociolinguistic typology and complexification; 8. Linguistic complexity: a comprehensive definition and survey
This fascinating book challenges the idea that languages are equally complex. Eighteen scholars look at evidence from a wide range of times and places. They consider the links between linguistic structure and change and social complexity. Their conclusions challenge conventional ideas about the nature of language and contemporary theory. - ;This book presents a challenge to the widely-held assumption that human languages are both similar and constant in their degree of complexity. For a hundred years or more the universal equality of languages has been a tenet of faith among most anthropologis