We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
To save content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about saving content to .
To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Living languages constantly change, but though we have developed an understanding of actualisation – the way in which change spreads through a language (e.g. De Smet 2012) – and propagation – the way change spreads through a population (e.g. Labov 2001), the answer to the question of why change happens in the first place has proven elusive. As McMahon (1994: 225) puts it: ‘the actuation problem, sadly, will remain as mysterious as ever’ (cf. Walkden 2017).
A clear introduction to lexical-functional grammar (LFG), this outstanding textbook sets out a formal approach to the study of language using a step-by-step approach and rich language data. Data from English and a range of other languages is used to illustrate the main concepts, allowing those students not accustomed to working with cross-linguistic data to familiarize themselves with the theory, while also enabling those interested in how the theory can account for more challenging data sets to extend their learning. Exercises ranging from simple technical questions to analyses of a data set, as well as a further resources section with a literature review complete each chapter. The book aims to equip readers with the skills to analyze new data sets and to begin to engage with the primary LFG literature.