Do different languages have different levels of structural complexity? This question is as old as it is vague, in addition to being politically charged.
In this class, we will approach this question by taking a closer look at the underlying assumptions about and definitions of the term "complexity".
We will also
* dive into the debate about the complexity of creoles (McWorther 2001, McWorther 2011),
* review the relation between complexity and frequency (Haspelmath 2008),
* do case studies on specific structural domains and phenomena such as possessive structures, serial verb constructions and modal auxiliaries. |
