Language Universals and Linguistic Typology: Syntax and Morphology

by Bernard Comrie

This book is about one of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of linguistics--the analysis, comparison and classification of the common features and forms of organization of languages--the analysis, comparison, and classification of the common features and forms of organization of languages. Professor Comrie argues for the use of data from a wide range of languages, contesting the transformational view that language universals can be derived from the abstract analysis of a single language. He provides full critical discussion of those areas currently producing the most promising results, and is particularly concerned with syntactico-semantic universals, devoting chapters to word order, case marking, relative clauses and causative constructions. The book is informed throughout by the conviction that an explanatory account of universal properties of human language cannot restrict itself to purely formal aspects. It must also take account of language in use and relate formal properties to testable claims about cognition and cognitive development. This book serves as an introduction to the field for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of theoretical and descriptive linguistics. It will also be of considerable interest to those working in sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics.

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, Language, Reference

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for any linguists, specially a syntactician.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a classic in its own right. Typology in Comrie’s hands feels like birdwatching across the whole planet: spotting patterns in grammatical habitats, charting the ranges of syntactic species, and tracking the migration routes of morphological traits.

But unlike Bloomfield’s steel-framed strictness or Pinker’s cognitive pyrotechnics, Comrie’s approach is observational, almost meditative. He watches languages, compares them, measures distances, and traces convergences. And the magic is in the pacing.

The postmodern texture creeps in because, honestly, searching for universals in a universe that resists them is such a wonderfully futile-seeming project. Comrie knows the world’s languages are messy, rebellious, and chaotic.

And yet he insists that somewhere in the mix, patterns emerge—not because humans are identical, but because constraints, choices, and cognitive tendencies ripple through unrelated systems. Reading him feels like watching someone assemble a jigsaw puzzle where half the pieces come from other boxes. Sometimes the pieces fit.

Sometimes they only rhyme. Sometimes they lie to you. And Comrie keeps going anyway.

His typological examples—from word-order permutations to case-marking strategies to aspectual systems—become a kind of cartography. Not the GPS kind; more the antique map kind where dragons decorate the unknown areas.

And yet the book does not feel dated. It reads like a challenge: here are the patterns we think we see—now go test them, break them, expand them. In a way, the text performs a gorgeous irony: universals exist, but only as probabilities drifting across populations.

Language as a whole begins to look like a fractal organism: infinite variation within finite constraints. And Comrie, steady and precise, gives you tools to observe that organism without pretending it’s a machine.

Typology becomes philosophy in disguise. You start asking why humans gravitate toward certain structures more than others, whether cognition shapes grammar or grammar shapes cognition, and whether universals are a discovery or an invention.

The book refuses to settle the debate. But in that refusal, it becomes timeless. Comrie writes like someone balancing curiosity and scepticism on the edge of a pin.

And that balance keeps the pages glowing even in 2025.

Classic work of Linguistics. Highly recommended.

[Rhomboid Goatcabin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough and expert introduction to typology by one of the paragons of the field. Though perhaps too detailed to be an introductory volume per se, initiates to the field will find a treasure trove of material and authoritative appraisals and criticism of typological approaches.

[Othman · Rating 4 out of 5]

must-read for prospective syntacticians and morphologists. it could've been written better, though; some sections are well organized, and others are all over the place.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this on first pass, want to re-read it after reading Pinker, McWhorter, and Chomsky -- and spending a couple decades studying a greater variety of languages myself.

[Carlos · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book because it has come the closest to fulfilling my search for a general-reader-friendly book on linguistics. Comrie starts the book with the best explanation I have ever read on the importance of cross-linguistic research and the way in which this cannot be replaced with an in-depth analysis of a handful of languages if one seeks to understand the universal aspects of language. In his discussion of universal language traits Comrie illustrates some fascinating aspects of language such as the use of declensions to denote levels of control of the action described, the grammatical indication of a sentence’s focus without the use of intonation variations and even how different languages address the specific difference between a sentence’s topic and its subject. Similarly the inclusion of a world map of the languages cited allows the general reader to visually appreciate the richness of human language. However, having said all this I would be remiss not to point out that Comrie’s extensive use of over-specific linguistic terms and his habit of hurriedly explaining some of his examples do make the book a bit harder on the reader than it would have to be. Nonetheless, the interested reader can overcome this difficulties to appreciate the insights that Comrie has to offer if one has enough patience to re-read key parts of his explanations. Although my search for a linguistics book aimed at an interested but non-expert reader still continues I would certainly recommend this book, though perhaps to someone with at least a basic training in linguistics.

[Gaston Dorren · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book by an eminent linguist who most obviously knows what he's talking about. Such a pity his stylistic and narrative skills are negligible, which makes reading it a chore instead of the pleasure it could have been.

[Isk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, the book really drags. Not well-organized.