Preliminaries; Contents; 1 Setting the scene; 2 Questions of order; 3 Complex sentences; 4 In favour of primary relations; 5 Structural weight; 6 Grammaticalized clues; 7 Shifting boundaries; 8 Relativizing optimality; 9 Reviewing the scene; Glossary: technical terms seen through the Keyhole; Notes; Bibliography; Index
Summary
This book argues that language systems determine language use to a greater extent than is generally assumed. The author demonstrates how typological characteristics of a language determine the most general aspects of our stylistic preferences
