Overview

Abstract This book examines the connections between the formal and functional (semantic and syntactic) properties of indefinite pronouns. It considers the main theoretical debates surrounding the semantic and syntactic properties of indefinite pronouns as well as the diachronic sources of the markers of indefinite pronouns. It describes the new generalizations that emerge from the typological and diachronic research and provides explanations. It also outlines the goals and methods of the typological approach, focusing on the important preconditions for typology such as the availability of data from a variety of languages. Other topics covered by the book include the space of formal and functional variation found in indefinite pronouns, implicational universals, theoretical approaches to the functions of indefinite pronouns such as the tradition of structuralist semantics, the grammaticalization of indefinite pronouns, further sources of indefinite pronouns that cannot be easily subsumed under grammaticalization, and the cross-linguistic patterning of negative indefinite pronouns.