本书系统介绍了研究语言类型学与语言共性的方法及理论，作者的分析由浅入深、条理清晰，行文深入浅出、简明扼要。同时，作者提供了大量音系学、形态学、句法学和语义学等领域内语言共性的例证，以加深读者对抽象理论的理解。与第一版相比，第二版在章节编排上多有调整，特别是增加了类型学研究的最新成果——语义地图模型，作者也从这个角度对旧版内容重新加以审视。

本书共分九章。第一章是导言，谈语言类型学的定义和方法。第二章说明当代类型学家对“语言类型”这一概念的新解释。三至六章论述语言的变异模式，这四章依次阐释了“蕴含共性”、“标记性”、“语法等级”、“典型”四个重要概念及其相互之间的内在联系。掌握这四个概念的区别和联系是阅读本书的一个重点。七、八两章论述类型学与语言功能学说的联系，第七章论述如何从语言功能的角度来解释语言的共性，第八章论述语言类型演变的共性，并用这种共性来解释共时平面上的语言类型和共性。语言共性的解释是本书的另一个重点。第九章既是总结，又是对功能一类型学更高层次的思考和阐释。

List offigures

List of tables

Preface to the second edilion

preface to the timedition

List ofabbreviations

List ofsymbols

1 Introduction

 1.1 Whatistypology?

 1.2 Typology，universals and generative grammar

 1.3 Cross-linguistic comparison

 1.4 The problem ofcross linguistic comparability

 1.5 Language sampling for cross-linguistic research

 1.6 Data sources

2 Typologicai classification

 2.1 A cross-linguistically valid description of morphosyntactic structures

2.1.1 Simple strategies

2.1.2 Relational strategies

2.1.3 Indexical strategies

2.1.4 Classifiers：indexical or relational?

2.1.5 More grammaticalized strategies

2.1.6 Summary

 2.2 What is being classified?

 2.3 M0rphological typology

3 Implicational universals and competing motivations

 3.1 Restrictions on possible language types

 3.2 Unrestricted and implicational universals

 3.3 Competing motivations

 3.4 Deeperexplanationsforwordorder and affixorderuniversals

 3.5 Typology。universals and generative grammar revisited

 3.6 Conclusion

4 Grammatical categories：typological markedness economy and iconicity

 4.1 Typological markedness

4.1.1 Structural coding

4.1.2 Behavioral potential

4.1.3 Neutral value：not a criterion for typological markedness

 4.2 Economy and iconicity

4.2.1 Structural coding，economy and syntagmatic isomorphism

4.2.2 Economy,paradigmatic isomorphism and polysemy

 4.3 Frequency and deeper explanations for economy and iconicity

 4.4 Typological asymmetries in word order and phonology

 4.5 Conclusion

5 Grammatical hierarchies and the semantic map model

 5.1 Grammatical hierarchies and implicational universals

 5.2 The animacy and definiteness hierarchies

 5.3 A deeper explanation tbr hierarchies and categories：the semantic map model

 5.4 Conceptual spaces,structural coding and behavioral potential

 5.5 111e grammatical relations hierarchies

5.5.1 The external definition of grammatical relations

5.5.2 Subject and object，ergative and absolutive

5.5.3 Objects：direct and indirect,primary and secondary

5.5.4 T11e conceptual space for grammatical relations

 5.6 Conclusion

 Appendix：typological markedness patterns in grammatical categories

6 Prototypes and the interaction of typological patterns

 6.1 Interactions ofcategories

6.1.1 Place of articulation

6.1.2 Person

 6.2 Interactions of values：typological prototypes

 6.3 GrammaticaI relations

6.3.1 Animacy，definiteness and participant roles

6.3.2 Transitivity

6.3.3 Deeper explanations for the typology of grammatical relations

 6.4 Parts ofspeech

 6.5 Other prototypes and markedness reversals

 6 6 Conclusion

7 Syntactic argumentation and syntactic structure in typology

 7.1 Typology and syntactic argumentation

 7.2 lconicity，economy and syntactic structure

7.2.1 Conceptual distance and constituent structure

7.2.2 Syntactic and conceptual independence

7.2.3 The encoding of objects and events

7.2.4 Other universals of linguistic structure

 7.3 Vypological conspiracies and communicative motivation

 7.4 Conclusion

8 Diachronic typology

 8.1 The dynamicization of synchronic typology

 8.2 From states to processes

 8.3 Grammaticalization

8.3.1 Phonological processes

8.3.2 Morphosyntactic processes

8.3.3 Functional processes

8.3.4 Issues in grammaticalization

8.3.5 Explanations for grammaticalization 

 8.4 Inferring diachrony from synchrony

 8.5 Conclusion

9 Typology as an approach to language

 9.1 Scientific approaches(research traditions)and linguistic theories

 9.2 Thinking like a typologist

 9.3 Description,explanation and generalization

 9.4 Typology，the Saussurean dichotomies and the evolutionary model

List of references

Map oflanguages cited

Author index

Language index

Subiect index