Designing an Artificial Language

                     Universals: Recommended reading

                            by Rick Morneau

                             April 8, 1992
                        Revised: July 28, 1994


First, a little history.  Somewhere around 1966, a well-know linguist
named Joseph Greenberg published a few books on the subject of "language
universals".  He was well-known and highly regarded for his earlier work
in classifying African languages.  (His most recent work, classifying
the native languages of the Americas, is also highly regarded, but much
more controversial than his earlier work.  The controversy rages on.)
Although sporadic work had been done in universals before Greenberg, he
not only brought it all together, but he also did a lot of original work
himself.

Basically, work in linguistic universals tries to find patterns that
exist across all natural languages.  As it turns out, many universals
are not truly universal, since exceptions to most patterns can often be
found (these exceptions, however, often indicate that a language is
undergoing a change from one pattern to another).  Regardless, these
patterns or tendencies can often reveal a lot about how languages change
and, more importantly, how change can be limited into following along
certain channels.  The forms that human languages can take are actually
quite limited, and the study of universals can show us what these
limitations are.

A study of linguistic universals can also be helpful to conlangers.
This is especially true if you are trying to develop a language that is
quite different from the natural language(s) you are familiar with.  A
study of universals can help you design a language that ends up being
speakable; i.e., one that is compatible with the grey stuff we've all
got between our ears.  If you "break the rules", so to speak, your
language may end up being unlearnable in any real sense, and will end up
being just a coding game rather than a real language.

Well, for those among you who are interested in learning more about
linguistic universals, here are some introductory books that you might
want to have a look at:

   1. Language Universals and Linguistic Typology: Syntax and
      Morphology [2nd ed.] by Bernard Comrie, Chicago University
      Press, 1989, paper $14.95.

      This is probably the best introduction to universals for
      the non-linguist.  Unlike most linguists, Comrie writes
      clearly and doesn't try to impress the reader with
      paragraph-length sentences.  (I recently joked with a
      colleague of mine who is a professional linguist.  I told
      her that Greenberg forgot the most important linguistic
      universal of all: Linguists can't write!  In a sort of
      round-about way, she actually agreed with me!  As it turns
      out, though, this is a tendency, rather than an absolute
      universal.  Greenberg himself is quite a good writer.
      IMHO :-)

   2. Typology and Universals, by William Croft, Cambridge
      University Press, 1990, paper $17.95.

      I recommend this book only if you have a fairly good
      background in linguistics.  Croft takes some of the earlier
      work done by typologists (especially Greenberg, Comrie, Givon,
      Bybee and Hawkins) and expands upon it in very insightful
      ways.  I suggest you read Comrie's book before you read this
      one.  By the way, Croft is a former student of Joseph
      Greenberg.

The following three books go into detail about three specific aspects of
language.  The titles should be self-explanatory.  All of them are quite
readable.

   3. Tense, by Bernard Comrie, Cambridge University Press,
      1985, paper $14.95.

   4. Aspect, by Bernard Comrie, Cambridge University Press,
      1976, paper $16.95.

   5. Mood and Modality, by F. R. Palmer, Cambridge University
      Press, 1986, paper $17.95.

The following two volumes are actually a study of the syntax of natural
language and the many forms it can take.  However, the books are so
heavily loaded with typological comparisons that they almost provide a
complete course in typology.  They are also quite readable, and I highly
recommend them:

   6. Syntax: A Functional-Typological Introduction, by T. Givon, John
      Benjamins Publishing Company,
	Volume I, 1984, paper $24.95
	Volume II, 1990, paper $24.95

Finally, I mention the following three volumes with some reluctance:

   7. Language Typology and Syntactic Description, edited by Timothy
      Shopen, Cambridge University Press, 1985,
	Volume I: Clause Structure, paper $29.95
	Volume II: Complex Constructions, paper $27.95
	Volume III: Grammatical Categories and the Lexicon, paper $29.95

I am reluctant to recommend the above because I found most of the papers
disappointing.  However, there are a few very good ones in the set.  If
you've got the bucks and the time to wade through a total of almost 1100
pages, then buy them.

All of the above books are also available in hardcover for the wealthy.
Prices are in US dollars and may have changed by the time you read this.
Addresses in the United States are:

      Cambridge University Press
      110 Midland Avenue
      Port Chester, NY 10573

      University of Chicago Press
      11030 S. Langley Avenue
      Chicago, IL 60628

      John Benjamins Publishing Company
      821 Bethlehem Pike
      Philadelphia, PA 19118

If you do order directly from the publisher, don't forget to add a few
bucks for postage and handling.


                          End of essay