Remarks on John Haiman , 1999

Haiman’s article on the polyfunctional word baan in Khmer touches on a fascinating area in Southeast Asian linguistics, with conclusions of theoretical importance to the study of grammaticalisation and of universals in linguistic typology and linguistic change. However, there are serious problems with Haiman’s presentation. I would like to point out why some assumptions Haiman makes are problematic, and why the merits of his concluding speculations cannot yet be assessed. (For a detailed treatment of Khmer baan and its analogue in neighbouring languages, see Enfield 2000, in press.) Haiman begins by stating that