Reciprocals and Reflexives ― Theoretical and Typological Explorations

This volume is presented with the goal of expanding the knowledge concerning cross-linguistic constructions of reciprocity and integrating it into a coherent theory and typology, particularly in relation to the closely related domain of reflexivity. The contributors of the volume's 16 chapters were asked to address the following issues: how to develop a simple yet adequate typology for reciprocals that is based on morpho-syntactic types and allows for understanding the implications of the relationship between morpho-syntactic types and other variant properties, how to develop a typology on the basis of historical processes of grammaticalization, the amount of overlap between markers of reflexivity and reciprocity in the languages of the world, how to analyze the argument structure of reciprocal predicates and the amount of cross-linguistic variation in this structure, the extent to which semantic properties of situations are reflected in the argument structure of reciprocal predicates, the interaction of verb meanings with situation types and structural properties of reciprocal constructions, and the extent to which recent theories of binding can be applied to reciprocal structures. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Ekkehard Konigand Volker Gast, Freie UniversitatBerlin, Germany.