37.1705, Reviews: Noun Categorization: A Comprehensive Typology: Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald (2026)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-37-1705. Thu May 07 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.1705, Reviews: Noun Categorization: A Comprehensive Typology: Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald (2026)

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Date: 07-May-2026
From: David D Robertson [spokaneivy at gmail.com]
Subject: Typology: Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald (2026)

Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/37-391

Title: Noun Categorization: A Comprehensive Typology
Series Title: LINCOM Studies in Language Typology 35
Publication Year: 2026

Publisher: Lincom GmbH
           https://lincom-shop.eu/
Book URL:
https://lincom-shop.eu/epages/57709feb-b889-4707-b2ce-c666fc88085d.sf/en_GB/?ViewObjectPath=%2FShops%2F57709feb-b889-4707-b2ce-c666fc88085d%2FProducts%2F%22ISBN%209783969392591%22

Author(s): Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald

Reviewer: David D Robertson

SUMMARY
(xxvi, 665 pp.) In effect, Alexandra Aikhenvald here summarizes and
expands on the excellent Aikhenvald and Mihas (2019; cf. Robertson
2020). That is, this volume is a synthesis of the rapidly growing body
of research into what can be thought of as linguistically-encoded folk
taxonomies of nominals (grammatical genders and the various kinds of
classifier systems), adding a number of new foci for investigation
such as diachronic trends, contact effects, acquisition, and language
death and attrition.
The subject material is organized as an introductory chapter, and then
three multi-chapter Parts. The concern of Chapter 1 “Noun
Categorization Devices: Setting the Scene” (1-26) is to sketch the
semantic referents, syntactic environments, and the uses thereof.
Aikhenvald encapsulates the book’s focus as “the SEMANTIC range of
noun categorization devices – a GRAMMATICAL means in the first place”
(6; my emphasis). Her “clusters of parameters [that] form the basis of
our analysis of the empirically established types” of these devices
(8-10) will not be readily apparent from the rest of my review, and
are of sufficient value that I cite them all to indicate the
multidimensionality of her study:
(A) Morphosyntactic locus of coding
(B) Domain of categorization
(C) Principles of choice, or ‘assignment’, of a noun categorization
device
(D) Scope and applicability of a noun categorization device
(E) Surface realization
(F) Agreement
(G) Markedness relations
(H) Interactions with other grammatical categories and contexts
(I) Co-existence of different subtypes of one noun categorization
device in a single language
(J) Coexistence of several kinds of noun categorization devices in one
language
(K) Multiple contexts for noun categorization devices
(L) Semantic organization and functions of the systems
(M) Historical development
(N) Language acquisition and dissolution
The preceding are accompanied by a concise orientation to “The
concepts and the terms” at play (10-17), contrasted with a number of
previous misconceptions on the topic (11-14). While “gender” / “noun
class” are fairly straightforward, not all nominal classifiers are
“noun classifiers”, as there are further distinct types having their
own domains: numeral classifiers, possessive classifiers, verbal
classifiers, deictic classifiers, and locative classifiers
(14-16).just just
Part I “Gender” starts with Chapter 2 “Gender: Meaning and Choices”
(27-48), explaining that in languages having them, grammatical genders
(noun classes) are finite in number, have obligatory agreement
exponence beyond the noun itself in the noun phrase and/or clause,
include essentially every noun, and involve some semantic basis in
physical properties (of humans and/or of additional entities) (30).
Chapter 3 “The Expression of Gender” (49-72) contrasts “regular
agreement”, of a noun with another overt constituent, with “anaphoric
agreement” of the noun with an implicit constituent (50-56).
Principles of gender assignment are “formal” (determined by the noun’s
morphological makeup) versus “semantic” (56-58). Exponence may be
affixal, ablaut, or suprasegmental (64-65). Chapter 4 “Gender in Its
Further Guises” (73-108) discusses the concept, well-known in
typology, of splits, whereby distinct sets of gender choices are
available depending on the domain (73-84, 91-96). One gender may be
functionally unmarked (85-90). Genders may reflect discourse and
social concerns (96-103).
Part II “Classifiers” handles each type of these singly — Chapter 5
“Numeral Classifiers” (109-157); Chapter 6 “Noun Classifiers”
(159-177); Chapter 7 “Classifiers in Possessive Constructions”
(179-202); Chapter 8 “Verbal Classifiers” (203-235); and Chapter 9
“Classifiers of Further Kinds” (237-252) -- and then in various
combinations: Chapter 10 “Gender and Classifiers in One Language”
(253-285); Chapter 11 “Multiple Classifier Languages: Contexts and
Properties” (287-327); and Chapter 12 “Multiple Classifier Systems in
Their Further Guises” (329-347). Ramifications of the previously
discussed concepts are fleshed out extensively in light of each
chapter’s scope, threading consistently throughout the volume.
Part III is “Gender and Classifiers: Meanings, Functions, and
Evolution”. Here, Chapter 13 is semantically-oriented, examining “The
Meanings of Gender and of Classifiers” (349-392), which cluster around
humanness and associated traits; physical properties; function; and
social values. In Chapter 14 “What are Gender and Classifiers Good
For?” (393-428), their uses are shown to typically involve various
kinds of disambiguation. Chapter 15 “Origins and Histories of Gender
and Classifiers” (429-476) shows frequent grammaticalization paths
(e.g. various nominal categories > gender; verbs > deictic
classifiers; etc.). Similarly diachronic in orientation is Chapter 16
“Contact, Obsolescence, and Social Change in Gender and Classifiers”
(477-502), demonstrating that noun categorization systems are very
susceptible to borrowing and mutation. A much smaller scale
characterizes Chapter 17, “How Gender and Classifiers are Acquired,
and How They are Lost” by individuals (503-528); generic,
prototypical, and concrete-item classifiers tend to be acquired first,
and relied upon by e.g. aphasics. Chapter 18 “Gender and Classifiers:
The Heart of the Matter” (529-554) concisely summarizes the book, and
is in a sense an ampler version of Chapter 1.
Beyond the substance of the book, there is a Contents listing
(iii-xii), Preface and Acknowledgements (xiii-xv), List of Tables
(xvi-xvii), List of Diagrams (xviii), List of Boxes (xix), List of
Generalizations (xx), Abbreviations and Conventions (xs-xxvi), as well
as an appended Fieldworker’s Guide (subtitled “Gender and Classifiers:
How to Know More”) (555-562), References (563-619), Index of [cited]
Authors (621-632), Index of Languages, Language Families, and Areas
(633-652), and Index of Subjects (653-665).
EVALUATION
This invaluable book has the advantage of incorporating considerably
more, and more strands of, research literature into its insights than
was available to Aikhenvald and Mihas and their contributors (2019).
As a result, firmer and more detailed generalizations are presented in
it, both alerting researchers to what they may encounter in analyzing
further languages and throwing light on possible reasons why noun
categorization functions as it does. A particular strength is the
vastly expanded, yet fine-grained, examination of what occurs when a
single language has various combinations of these devices interacting
with one another.
Another superb feature is the addition of the 8-page Fieldworker’s
Guide, whose guidance into researching noun classification is simply
unavailable elsewhere. Those looking for fuller illustrations of what
these devices look like in the matrix of the rest of a given
language’s grammar would do well, however, to partner this volume with
Aikhenvald and Mihas (2019).
Aikhenvald’s organizational skills are laudable; for example, a
feature which one could wish many more studies included is her List of
Generalizations arrived at, a deeply sensible reference tool in a
typological endeavor.
An equally praiseworthy corollary is her tracking of previous
researchers’ misunderstandings that often were the products of
insufficient empirical data; both “misconceptions” and “misnomers” are
assiduously compiled in the Index of Subjects, with more than two
dozen entries on page 660. There is some tension between Aikhenvald’s
programmatic insistence on exact facts on page 21, which points out
“Arawakan” among “highly speculative entities [which] have no place in
a piece of scholarly writing”, and her repeated reference to the
“Eskimo” family (e.g. 66, 242, 246-7), which in fact includes
non-“Eskimo” Aleut and has come to be more accurately labeled the
Inuit-Yupik-Unangan family.
Speaking of knowledge gaps, areas requiring further work by linguists
are also pointed out at every possible turn, if not (unfortunately)
subject-tracked; these notes often point back to needed work on
individual languages (such as Squamish (154) and Arrernte (172)),
which in turn should strengthen typological knowledge.
A seriously under-researched element in typological linguistics is
that of metalinguistic awareness of formal features, and Aikhenvald
makes a notable contribution by highlighting how “gender and
classifiers…enjoy ‘a high level of conscious speaker awareness’” (420,
quoting NJ Enfield), citing evidence from fieldwork on languages
including Kayardild (168), Lao, Thai, and Manambu (420).
One important and useful concept in Basic Linguistic Theory,
dependencies between subsystems (such that the range of expression of
e.g. Number tends to be conditioned by the choice of Noun Class/Gender
(92)), is surprisingly not tracked in the Index, although it is
highlighted in a number of the Diagrams in Chapter 4.
I now come to the section that I am best qualified to judge closely.
Aikhenvald’s increased attention to language contact (Chapter 16) is
most welcome to specialists such as myself, considering that
multilingualism is the default speech ecology of humans and that a
goodly percentage of known distinct languages are the direct products
of contact. She aptly and amply illustrates that borrowed forms,
including those for noun categorization, can perpetuate
source-language semantics (482-484). Unfortunately, a number of
misconceptions are repeated also. One is that pidgins and creoles are
due to “European colonization” (484; it’s more accurate to refer to
sustained European contact generally, viz. Chinook Jargon’s origin in
trade). A puzzling claim is that “a few indigenous pidgins developed
outside the European” sphere of contact: Pidgin Swahili (a doubtful
claim, lacking a cited source), Chinook Jargon (which all research
indicates originated with the 1790s Euro-American maritime fur trade
in the Pacific Northwest), and Sepik-region pidgins of New Guinea
(whose vintage is post-contact as far as we can tell).
Another inaccuracy: “A pidgin will be used in limited circumstances…It
will not be native to anyone” (ibid.), whereas the consensus in the
field is that pidgins simply have no cohort (community) of L1
speakers. This point is integral to correcting Aikhenvald’s claim that
“[o]nce speakers of a pidgin start marrying each other and
establishing families, a pidgin may become the sole language spoken by
the next generation” (485) – the fact is simply that the pidgin
becomes L1 for a new community (whose speakers are obviously also
exposed to their parents’ various languages, and have some fluency
therein).
The generalization is made that “[a] Creole [sic] will have just one
form for ‘she’, ‘he’, and ‘it’” (487). This is belied by Kituba data
on the following page; and in fact, in pidgins and creoles, we
continue to find a specific type of formal distinction, 3rd-person
paradigmatic distinctions between overt exponences (for animates) and
null exponences (for inanimates and nonspecifics), e.g. in Chinook
Jargon (Robertson 2007), Juba Arabic (Robertson 2017), West African
Creole Englishes (Robertson 2018), and the Lingua Franca (Robertson
2023).
The remaining type of contact language, mixed languages, is not to be
found discussed in this book. Also, in my 2020 review of Aikhenvald
and Mihas (2019), I noted gaps in their coverage of signed languages;
unfortunately these still are only mentioned on page 24 of this
volume, although the author has published work on the question
(Aikhenvald 2003). This leaves a great deal of work for the future,
and as numerous sign languages are the results of situations similar
to pidgin and creole genesis, it sadly prolongs the lack of in-depth
work on contact languages and linguistics’ failure to integrate the
study of oral and manual speech.
My highly specific critiques of Chapter 16 notwithstanding, this book
undoubtedly stands as the most authoritative investigation to date of
noun categorization devices across the world’s languages, a
multivariate phenomenon that has previously evaded rigorous analysis.
It is bound to prove of immense usefulness to researchers who are
looking to newly describe and convey the import of such devices. I
would recommend it for any serious linguistic research library.
REFERENCES
Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. 2003. Classifiers in spoken and signed
languages: How to know more. Chapter 4 of Perspectives on classifier
constructions in sign languages, edited by Karen Emmorey. New York:
Psychology Press.
Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. and Elena I. Mihas (eds.). 2019. Genders and
classifiers: A cross-linguistic typology. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Robertson, David D. 2007. An additional pronoun and hierarchies in
creolized Chinúk Wawa. Pages 129–158 of Synchronic and Diachronic
Perspectives on Contact Languages, edited by Magnus Huber and Viveka
Velupillai. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Robertson, David D. 2017. Review of Juba Arabic for Beginners (2015).
https://linguistlist.org/issues/28/1053/.
Robertson, David D. 2018. Review of Cameroon Pidgin English (2017).
https://linguistlist.org/issues/29/4003/.
Robertson, David D. 2020. Review of Aikhenvald and Mihas, eds. (2019),
Genders and classifiers: A cross-linguistic typology.
https://linguistlist.org/issues/31/1646/.
Robertson, David D. 2023. Review of The Lingua Franca (2021).
https://linguistlist.org/issues/34/512/.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
David Douglas Robertson, PhD (University of Victoria, Canada, 2012,
Linguistics) is a freelance consulting linguist who works with the
pidgin-creole Chinook Jargon/Chinuk Wawa and with Southwest Washington
(“Tsamosan”) Salish languages, among others. Current projects include
a grant-funded 3-year “Teach Yourself Northern-Dialect Chinook Jargon”
course; a dictionary and grammar of Lower Chehalis Salish
(Ɬəw̓ál̓məš); and publications on the etymology of the name “Chinook”
and on the Nicola Athabaskan/Dene language of British Columbia. He
publishes daily at http://chinookjargon.com.

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