Linguistic Universals

The discovery of 'linguistic universals' - the properties thatall languages have in common - is a fundamental goal of linguisticresearch. Linguists face the task of accounting for why languages,which apparently differ so greatly from one another on the surface,display striking similarities in their underlying structure. Thisvolume brings together a team of leading experts to show howdifferent linguistic theories have approached this challenge.Drawing on work from both formal and functional perspectives, itprovides a comprehensive overview of the most notable work onlinguistic universals - with chapters on syntax, semantics,phonology, morphology and typology - and explores a range ofcentral issues, such as the relationship between linguisticuniversals and the language faculty, and what linguistic universalscan tell us about our biological make-up and cognitive abilities.Clear and succinct, it will be invaluable to anyone seeking agreater understanding of the phenomenon that is human language.