Re: CHAT: _Describing Morphosyntax_
| From: | Paul Bennett <paul-bennett@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, August 26, 2004, 19:14 |
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On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 14:36:51 -0400, Carsten Becker
<naranoieati@...> wrote:
> Hey!
>
> Now that I have Payne's _Describing Morphosyntax_, what is so
> recommendable
> about it and why is it so helpful for the conlanger? I had a quick look
> into
> that book and there are explanations of lots of terms with plenty of
> examples how other languages manage this. Do you refer to *that* when
> recommending it? Well, then of course it's useful indeed.
What I find really good is that it's a "How to write a reference grammar"
guide. Therefore, following the layout of the sections in the book will
let you know what is needed[*] in order to have a "complete" conlang.
Furthermore, following the text within the sections will give you lots of
nifty knowledge and inspiration about different ways to actually implement
the various requirements of a complete grammar.
My advice is to read it through cover-to-cover at least once before you
start dipping into it as a reference book. IMO, you can only really
appreciate its power by immersing yourself into it.
[*]for suitable values of "needed". See also the recent discussion of
Pirahã.
Paul