37.2570, Books: Topicality and the Shaping of Grammar: Palancar, Chamoreau, and Donabédian (eds.) (2026)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2570. Tue Aug 04 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2570, Books: Topicality and the Shaping of Grammar: Palancar, Chamoreau, and Donabédian (eds.) (2026)

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Date: 04-Aug-2026
From: Karin Plijnaar [karin.plijnaar at benjamins.nl]
Subject: Topicality and the Shaping of Grammar: Palancar, Chamoreau, and Donabédian (eds.) (2026)


Title: Topicality and the Shaping of Grammar
Subtitle: New perspectives from lesser-studied languages
Series Title: Typological Studies in Language   137
Publication Year: 2026

Publisher: John Benjamins
           http://www.benjamins.com/
Book URL: https://benjamins.com/catalog/tsl.137

Editor(s): Enrique L. Palancar, Claudine Chamoreau, Anaïd Donabédian

eBook ISBN:  9789027243799 Pages:  351 Price: Europe EURO 135.00
eBook ISBN:  9789027243799 Pages:  351 Price: U.K. £ 113.00
eBook ISBN:  9789027243799 Pages:  351 Price: U.S. $ 176.00
Hardback ISBN:  9789027234360 Pages:  351 Price: Europe EURO 135.00
Hardback ISBN:  9789027234360 Pages:  351 Price: Europe EURO 143.10
Hardback ISBN:  9789027234360 Pages:  351 Price: U.K. £ 113.00
Hardback ISBN:  9789027234360 Pages:  351 Price: U.S. $ 176.00

Abstract:

This volume places topicality at the very heart of grammatical
explanation, drawing on richly annotated discourse corpora from
lesser-studied languages across the Americas and beyond. Through nine
original studies, it demonstrates how aspects of discourse relevance
(rather than just abstract syntactic relations) shape word order,
argument encoding, case marking, and voice systems in natural speech.
Several chapters revisit and critically reassess Givón's seminal work
on topic continuity and discourse motivation, and re-examine classic
frameworks such as “Preferred Argument Structure” through contemporary
corpus-based work. The volume spans a remarkable typological range of
linguistic systems, combining methodological innovation with
fine-grained empirical analysis. Essential reading for linguists
working on information structure, typology, and language
documentation, this book demonstrates why topicality remains a
powerful engine of grammatical design, diversity, and change.

Written In: English (eng, stan1293)



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