Blurb:

In contrast to optional case marking discussed in the previous chapter, a considerable amount of work in linguistic typology and descriptive linguistics has addressed systems of noun classification (noun classes or genders, noun classifiers, numeral classifiers, etc.). Somewhat less well known and less well developed in typological linguistics is the existence of corresponding systems of grammatical classification in the verbal domain. I suggest ways in which the phenomenon of grammatical classification in its range of typological variation can be accounted for within a broad Neo-Firthian framework. I argue in particular that it implies the need for a theory of grammatical marking, and outline some features of such a theory.