Introduction

This volume investigates locative and existential predication, with a focus on their structural characteristics, communicative functions, and interconnected domains across a wide range of languages. As key constructs in syntactic and typological inquiry, these predications exhibit significant formal overlap while diverging functionally: locative clauses typically anchor a definite referent to a specific spatial context, whereas existential clauses introduce new, often indefinite, referents into discourse through specialized linguistic mechanisms.By synthesizing contributions from workshops held at the Annual SLE Meetingin Athens and the ICHL in Heidelberg, the volume critically examines the conventional dichotomy between “core” and “peripheral” coding strategies. Through theintegration of diverse methodologies and theoretical perspectives, it offers novelinsights into the linguistic encoding of existence, location, and possession, therebyestablishing a robust foundation for future research in typology and functionallinguistics.