SIL Publications by Category
Grammar

Beginning Morphology and Syntax by Velma B. Pickett; Benjamin F. Elson, 1988, 242 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-925-8, $22.00

Prepares students with no linguistic background to discover the grammatical structure of an unwritten language. The “Laboratory Manual for Morphology and Syntax” is a practical supplement to accompany the textbook.

Case and Agreement in Abaza by Brian O'Herin, PL 138, 2002, 304 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-135-0, $30.50

Provides descriptive coverage and a unified analysis of agreement system of Abaza grammar, a little-documented Northwest Caucasian language exhibiting an extensive agreement system.

Case Grammar Applied by Walter A. Cook, PL 127, 1998, 290 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-046-9, $30.50

An unusually clear, simple guide for sentence analysis which lends itself well to displaying the way syntactic features are associated with semantic structures.

Cheyenne Major Constituent Order by Elena Leman, 1999, 107 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-015-5, $16.00

Explains constituent order in Cheyenne through the analysis of texts elicited from Cheyenne speakers.

Comanche Dictionary and Grammar by James Armagost; Lila W. Robinson, PL 92, 1990, 356 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-715-5, $29.50

Presents the Comanche-English dictionary with illustrative sentences, brief grammar, photographs and original art.

Comanche Dictionary and Grammar, Second Edition by James Armagost; Lila W. Robinson, PL 92, 2012, 418 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-330-9 $38.95

Presents the Comanche-English dictionary with illustrative sentences, brief grammar, photographs and original art.

Cubeo Grammar: Studies in the Languages of Colombia 5 by Nancy Morse and Michael Maxwell, PL 130, 1999, 212 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-044-5, $30.50

Gives an overview of Cubeo phonology, morphophonemics, word classes, clause structure and subordination. Examples are included.

Desano Grammar: Studies in the Languages of Colombia 6 by Marion Miller, PL 132, 1999, 190 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-076-6, $26.50

Presents comprehensive overview of Desano (southeast Colombia and Brazil) grammar, from phonetic to discourse features.

The Dong Language in Guizhou Province, China by Guoqiao Zheng;Yaohong Long; translated by D. Norman Geary, PL 126, 1998, 284 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-051-3, $30.50

Presents studies of Dong (2.5 million in southwestern China) history, culture, tonal language, grammar, phonology, lexicon and orthography.

The Doyayo Language: Selected Studies by Marinus Wiering; Elisabeth Wiering, PL 121, 1994, 309 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-620-2, $29.00

Presents five articles about the features of Doyayo: phonology, indicative verb structure, tone patterns of nominals, major syntactic structures and folk tales.

A Grammar of Akoose: A Northwest Bantu Language by Robert Hedinger, PL 143, 2008, 318 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-222-7, $38.00

The purpose of this book is to describe the grammatical structure of Akoose, also known as Bakossi, one of the north-western most narrow-Bantu languages of Cameroon.

A Grammar of Bora with Special Attention to Tone by Wesley Thiesen and David Weber, PL 148, 2012, 584 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-301-9 $64.95

This is the first comprehensive linguistic study of Bora, a typologically unusual language spoken in Colombia and Peru, the result of four decades of work among the Bora people.

A Grammar of Sochiapan Chinantec: Studies in Chinantec Language 6 by David P. Foris; 2000, PL 135, 421 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-052-0, $30.50

Describes everything from Chinantec phonemes up through phrases and clauses to compound sentences; from changes of tone and stress to changes in nucleus to signal a wide variety of tense, aspect and related features.

Hixkaryana and Linguistic Typology by Desmond C. Derbyshire, PL 76, 1985, 281 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-082-8, $25.00

Presents a grammatical sketch of Hixkaryana (Carib language family of northern Brazil) and suggests its place in syntactic typology.

Ika Syntax: Studies in the Languages of Colombia 1 by Paul Frank, PL 94, 1990, 154 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-801-5, $12.00

Presents Ika grammar from a typological and functional perspective, which provides a good framework for writing broadly useful, descriptive grammars.

The Kifuliiru Language, Two Volume Set, by Karen Van Otterloo and Roger Van Otterloo, PL 146 and 147, 1132 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-279-1, $99.00

Includes
Volume 1: Phonology, Tone, and Morphological Derivation
Volume 2: A Descriptive Grammar

The Kifuliiru Language, Volume 2: A Descriptive Grammar, by Roger Van Otterloo, PL 147, 2011, 616 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-270-8, $59.99

This groundbreaking study addresses all grammatical levels of Kifuliiru, a Bantu (J) language of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Together with its companion volume, this set comprises one of the most thorough Bantu grammars available.

Laboratory Manual for Morphology and Syntax, 7th edition, edited by Merrifield, Story, Rensch, & Naish, 2003, 269 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-149-7, $30.50

A laboratory manual for introductory grammar courses with 298 sets of problems taken from languages spoken all over the world.

Instructor's Guide to Laboratory Manual for Morphology and Syntax, 1987, PDF file

An instructor's guide to Laboratory Manual for Morphology and Syntax is only available to course instructors who have purchased the Laboratory Manual.

Contact us.

Morphology and Syntax: Tools for Analyzing the World’s Languages by J. Albert Bickford, 1998, 410 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-047-6, $42.00

A textbook and practical guide for acquiring skills necessary to analyze the morphology and syntax of languages around the world.

A Pragmatic Analysis of Norwegian Modal Particles by Erik E. Andvik, PL 113, 1992, 152 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-188-7, $11.50

Studies a small class of uninflectable lexical items (particularly jo and na).

Quiegolani Zapotec Syntax: A Principles and Parameters Account by Cheryl A. Black, 2000, PL 136, 365 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-099-5, $30.50

A careful syntactic analysis of Quiegolani Zapotec Syntax, presented descriptively and with a theoretical analysis.

A Reference Grammar of the Northern Embera Languages by Charles A. Mortensen, 1999, PL 134, 211 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-081-0, $30.50

Compares and contrasts Emberá-Katío and Northern Emberá (Colombia) proper with each other and with other languages of the Emberá branch of the Chocó family.

Retuara Syntax: Studies in the Languages of Colombia 3 by Clayton L. Strom, PL 112, 1992, 241 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-181-8, $19.00

Describes the grammar of the central Tucanoan language spoken by the Retuarã and Tanimuca people of southeastern Colombia.

The Structure of Evidential Categories in Wanka Quechua by Rick Floyd, PL 131, 1999, 216 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-066-7, $30.50

Provides a detailed look at the semantics of the evidential system of one Quechua language with implications for others.

A Survey of Grammatical Structures, Second Edition by Charles W. Peck, 1981, 338 pp. $12.50

A textbook for advanced grammar classes that uses tagmemics as the underlying theory.

A Survey of Linguistic Theories, Third Edition by Donald A. Burquest; Jerold A. Edmondson, 1998, 273 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-068-1, $30.50

A textbook that presents a sample of the more popular approaches to linguistic theorizing.

Tense and Aspect in Obolo Grammar and Discourse by Uche Aaron, PL 128, 1999, 198 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-063-6, $30.50

Describes comprehensively and systematically the function of tense and aspect in the Obolo language (southeastern coastal Nigeria).

The Verbal Piece in Ebira by John R. Adive, PL 85, 1989, 176 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-037-8, $14.00

Describes the verbal piece of Ebira (a Nigerian language), the most complex unit in the language from the mother tongue speaker's point of view.

Vietnamese Classifiers in Narrative Texts by Karen A. Daley, PL 125, 1998, 221 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-021-6, $30.50

Presents a summary of classifiers and their function in languages of the world and is perhaps the first discourse study of Vietnamese classifiers.

Word Order in Toposa: An Aspect of Multiple Feature-Checking by Helga Schröder, PL 142, 2008, 213 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-181-7, $28.00

This study of Toposa, an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Southern Sudan, is both data oriented and theoretical. It is valuable for upper level students of syntactic theory. It should also help further study of VSO languages and discourse research.