Historical and comparative linguistics Books

Book SynopsisThis lively account of the making of Canadian English traces the variety''s conceptual, social and linguistic developments from the twentieth century to the present. This book is not just another history of Canadian English; it is a history of the variety''s discovery, codification, and eventual acceptance, as well as the contribution of the linguists behind it. Written by an active research linguist focusing on Canadian English, this book is an archive-based biography on multiple levels. Through a combination of new data and re-interpretations of existing studies, a new voice is given to earlier generations of Canadian linguists who, generally forgotten today, shaped the variety and how we think about it. Exploring topics such as linguistic description and codification, dictionary making, linguistic imperialism, linguistic attitudes, language and Canadian identity, or the threat of Americanisation, Dollinger presents a coherent, integrated and balanced account of developments spanningTrade Review'Stefan Dollinger has undertaken heroic archival sleuthing to resuscitate the coalition of amateur logophiles and English professors that succeeded in bringing Canadian English into print and, more important, into our consciousness. Through him, this small, almost forgotten band of scholars come to life with their foibles, their labours and above all their dedication.' Jack Chambers, University of Toronto'For this brilliantly researched book, Stefan Dollinger bravely ventured to parts of the archives other scholars had never reached. He emerged with the fascinating story of how the 'Lennon & McCartney of Canadian English', Walter S. Avis and Charles J. Lovell, persuaded Canada - and then the world - to recognize Canadian English as the distinctive language variety that it truly is.' Peter Trudgill, Université de Fribourg, Switzerland'It is consistently seasoned with lively examples, gems of Canadianisms, explained in context and documented by references to the DCHP and other works. For anybody interested in such a perspective Dollinger's book is a captivating read.' Edgar W. Schneider, English World-Wide'… Creating Canadian English provides us with a highly competent and readable story, diligently researched in archives and by interviews, written by a scholar working in Canada, in nuanced Canadian English, that all audiences should find is a helpful introduction to its subject and a clear call for further community-involved efforts. I rate it highly.' David Douglas Robertson, LINGUIST ListTable of Contents1. What is Canadian English?; 2. The heritage of Canadian English; 3. Avis pulls it off; 4. The 'technology': slips, slips, and more slips; 5. 1967 – excitement and hype; 6. Riding the wave of success; 7. A global village and a national dictionary war; 8. Decolonizing DCHP-1 and DCHP-2; 9. Is there really a Canadian English?; Further reading.

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Book SynopsisThe texts in this reader include prose, metrical prose, and poetry, and represent a variety of genres (saints' lives and metrical charms as well as heroic verse). Frequently taught canonical texts are balanced with interesting, lesser-known works. The glossary is at the back of the book, and the companion website includes texts with clickable glossing, as well as additional texts for study.Trade Review“This rich selection of print texts, together with the author’s online reader and grammar, will appeal to twenty-first-century students as their introduction to Old English. Fresh, smart, and current in his interpretation of language and texts, McGillivray manages the difficult balance between knowledge of and sometimes doubts about our understanding of these writings of a thousand years ago and more. By foregrounding areas of uncertainty or disagreement in his introductions to the texts, McGillivray expertly guides beginning students of Old English to informed and sensitive readings of its prose and poetry.” — Antonette diPaolo Healey, University of Toronto“McGillivray’s Reader, designed for beginning students, is the perfect up-to-date companion for his understated grammar, A Gentle Introduction to Old English. Its twenty-six texts range from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Beowulf to Maldon, Judith, and The Wanderer, and include other, less familiar works such as the metrical charms, and the prose Apollonius of Tyre and Wonders of the East. An online site reinforces the glossary by providing, at the click of a mouse, full grammatical and lexicographical information for each Old English word, as well as textual notes and manuscript descriptions.” — Prof, Institution/Publication“It’s been a long time since beginning students of Old English have been offered this many texts to practice on. McGillivray gives us 26, including some unexpected ones. Here is God’s plenty, handsomely edited with excellent notes and glosses. Combined with McGillivray’s Gentle Introduction to Old English, which contains four more readings, and the auxiliary website, it’s hard to imagine a better resource for beginners in the field.” — James Earl, University of Oregon“This compact and non-intimidating Old English Reader is to be welcomed. The uncluttered page appearance, with only a few footnotes, should help fluent reading along and prod the curious into using the glossary. The book sits well alongside McGillivray’s online materials, where far more detailed information may be interrogated easily.” — Jane Roberts, King’s College London“Murray McGillivray’s Old English Reader provides access to an impressive range of works in prose and verse, including those that regularly appear in anthologies … and those that do not: excerpts from the Wonders of the East and, especially welcome, several of the Metrical Charms … The Reader also contains an extensive glossary, which at more than 160 pages comprises just over half of the total volume and serves as a key aid to help students translate the included works” — Glen Davis, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance TeachingTable of Contents Introduction PROSE Alfred’s Preface to Gregory Apollonius of Tyre Bede’s Account of the Conversion of Edwin of Northumbria Bede’s Account of the Poet Caedmon Cynewulf and Cyneheard The Great Army Sermo Lupi ad Anglos The Voyage of Wulfstan to Estland The Wonders of the East AELFRICIAN VERSE Ælfric’s Life of Saint Eugenia Ælfric’s Life of St. Oswald POETRY The Battle of Maldon Beowulf Deor The Dream of the Rood Exeter Book Riddles The Fortunes of Men Judith The Husband’s Message Metrical Charms The Seafarer The Story of Isaac The Wanderer The Whale The Wife’s Lament Wulf and Eadwacer Glossary

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Book Synopsis'A Toilet Paper' is a humorous examination, from a historical linguistic viewpoint, of four commonly used words relating to our posterior orifice and that which comes out of it.

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Book SynopsisTocharian and Indo-European Studies is the central publication for the study of two closely related languages, Tocharian A and Tocharian B. Found in many Buddhist manuscripts from central Asia, Tocharian dates back to the second half of the first millennium of the Common Era, though it was not discovered until the twentieth century. Focusing on both philological and linguistic aspects of this language, Tocharian and Indo-European Studies also looks at it in relationship to other Indo-European languages.

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Book SynopsisClassica et Mediaevalia is an international periodical, published annually, with articles written by Danish and International scholars. The articles are mainly written in English, but also in French and German. The periodical deals from a philological point of view with Classical Antiquity in general and topics such as history of law and philosophy and the medieval ecclesiastic history. It covers the period from the Greco-Roman Antiquity until the Late Middle Ages.

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Book SynopsisSince its foundation in May 1988, the Department of General and Applied Linguistics has issued -- at irregular intervals -- a number of volumes in the series Copenhagen Working Papers in Linguistics, in which staff members, graduate students and guest researchers have reported on their research activities. So far two volumes of papers on current research and three monographs have appeared in the series. The present volume contains contributions within the fields of general linguistics and historical linguistics and abstracts of papers and lectures by IAAS staff members and others affiliated to the department.

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Book SynopsisHolger Friis Johansen () and Giuseppe Torresin: Ole L. Smith in memoriam Holger Friis Johansen (): A poem by Theognis, part III 4. The collection and the corpus Victoria Wohl: ευσεβειας ενεκα και φιλοτιμιας. Hegemony and democracy at the Panathenaia Tasos Aidonis: Tissaphernes'' dealings with the Greeks Asger Ousager: Plotinus on motion and personal identity in time and space David Bain: Some textual and lexical notes on Cyranides ''books five and six'' Stavros A. Frangoulidis: (Meta)theatre as therapy in Terence''s Phormio Francis Xavier Ryan: Four Republican senators Raymond J. Clarck: The Avernian Sibyl''s cave: from military tunnel to mediaeval spa Jesper Carlsen: Saltuarius: a Latin job title W.S. Watt: Notes on the Latin anthology Zoja Pavlovskis-Petit: Storm and stress. The natural and the unnatural in De Sodoma and De Iona Note a la section suivante Jürgen Leonhardt: Classical metrics in medieval and Renaissance poetry. Some practical considerations Joachim Leeker: La présence des auters classiques dans l''histoirographie des pays romans (XIII au XV siècles) James Hankins: Antiplatonism in the Renaissance and the middle ages N.G. Wilson: The manuscripts of Greek classics in the middle ages and Renaissance Ole L. Smith: Medieval and Renaissance commentaires in Greek on classical Greek texts

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Book SynopsisActes du Colloque international de la Societá di Linguistica Italiana, qui s'est tenu á Copenhague du 5 au 7 février 1998 sur la linguistique textuelle comparative. 22 articles rédigés en français, espagnol et italien.

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Book SynopsisClassica et Mediaevalia - Volume 49

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Book SynopsisClassica et Mediaevalia is an international periodical, published annually, with articles written by Danish and International scholars. The articles are mainly written in English, but also in French and German. The periodical deals from a philological point of view with Classical Antiquity in general and topics such as history of law and philosophy and the medieval ecclesiastic history. It covers the period from the Greco-Roman Antiquity until the Late Middle Ages.

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Book SynopsisThis book contains the proceedings from the conference ''Changing Philologies'' together with other contributions on the same topic. The conference was organised by the Danish Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and was held on 8-9 February 2002 in Copenhagen. The contributors to this book question whether the traditional paradigm of national philology, which dominated foreign language studies for more than a century, is appropriate for meeting the challenge posed by the economic and political globalisation of today. They argue that the relation between languages and cultures will become an important field of investigation in the future, and that foreign language studies must provide linguistically skilled candidates trained in cultural translation and intercultural communication. In order to do so, the departments of foreign language studies must strengthen their interdisciplinary activities and engage in theoretical reflections upon the relation between such entities as language, culture, identity, and history, and the self-knowledge and imaginary world pictures represented in art and literature.

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Book SynopsisThe first part of this study presents a broad outline of the establishment of the parts of speech, with special emphasis on prepositions, in Ancient Greece, and of the further development in the Roman age, including the long shadow cast by Donatus and Priscian. It then examines the works of two of the most prominent members of the group of Speculative Grammarians in the High Middle Ages, and those of some of the leading grammar writers of the Renaissance. The central part of the book focuses on a detailed analysis of prepositions in fifty English grammatical treatises from Bullokar (1586) to Dalton (1801). Here the author not only scrutinises the individual grammatical texts, but by dealing with them in chronological order he also provides a historical perspective and hence a valuable overview of the treatment of prepositions as well as of word classes more generally during the first two centuries or so of English grammar writing. Taken together, these various aspects make this an important contribution to the history of linguistics.

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Book SynopsisThe Michif language -- spoken by descendants of French Canadian fur traders and Cree Indians in western Canada -- is considered an impossible language since it uses French for nouns and Cree for verbs, and comprises two different sets of grammatical rules. Bakker uses historical research and fieldwork data to present the first detailed analysis of this language and how it came into being.Trade ReviewA language of our own is an extremely valuable book, not only for linguistics, but also for many other disciplines outside linguistics. Throughout the book Bakker is careful and complete. He remains calm and analytical. He does not let popular ideas distract him; he takes nothing for granted. His writing style is very pleasant. At times it can be read as an exciting novel, and his choice of vocabulary makes it so the book can be read by a relatively broad audience. * The Carrier Pidgin, Vol 28 No 1-3, *Peter Bakker's book is an excellent account of the birth of Michif ... Bakker's monograph is the first detailed account of the birth of a mixed language, and hopefully it will be the start of a rich tradition ... This is a pioneering work of high quality that deserves to be followed up by more studies in this field. * The Carrier Pidgin, Vol 28, No 1-3 *"Bakker's work is of great originality and erudition--and even greater ambition: there has been no comparable attempt to deal with an issue that is so intractable and at the same time of such surpassing interest for the theory of language contact and linguistic theory itself."--H.C. Wolfart, University of Manitoba"A major contribution, this book presents a sensible, intensively researched solution to a problem that has long challenged scholars....Linguists, historians, and all students of Métis culture and history will be much in debt to Peter Bakker for his analytical breakthroughs in this field."--Jennifer S.H. Brown, University of Winnipeg

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Book SynopsisIn How to Kill a Dragon Calvert Watkins follows the continuum of poetic formulae in Indo-European languages, from Old Hittite to medieval Irish. He uses the comparative method to reconstruct traditional poetic formulae of considerable complexity that stretch as far back as the original common language. Thus, Watkins reveals the antiquity and tenacity of the Indo- European poetic tradition. Watkins begins this study with an introduction to the field of comparative Indo-European poetics; he explores the Saussurian notions of synchrony and diachrony, and locates the various Indo-European traditions and ideologies of the spoken word. Further, his overview presents case studies on the forms of verbal art, with selected texts drawn from Indic, Iranian, Greek, Latin, Hittite, Armenian, Celtic, and Germanic languages. In the remainder of the book, Watkins examines in detail the structure of the dragon/serpent- slaying myths, which recur in various guises throughout the Indo-European poetic tradition. He finds the signature formula for the myth--the divine hero who slays the serpent or overcomes adversaries--occurs in the same linguistic form in a wide range of sources and over millennia, including Old and Middle Iranian holy books, Greek epic, Celtic and Germanic sagas, down to Armenian oral folk epic of the last century. Watkins argues that this formula is the vehicle for the central theme of a proto-text, and a central part of the symbolic culture of speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language: the relation of humans to their universe, the values and expectations of their society. Therefore, he further argues, poetry was a social necessity for Indo- European society, where the poet could confer on patrons what they and their culture valued above all else: imperishable fame.Trade Reviewsince Watkins writes in English, and very readably (exotic material is regularly translated), he will surely dominate Anglophone perceptions of the field ... This is a magnificent work. * N.J.Allen *"...it attests to an extraordinary erudition and unique command of the major ancient IE languages; it contains innumerable original insights and fascinating notes on religion and mythology; it is well written and develops its argument step by step with growing conviction and clarity; altogether, a challenging and stimulating work!"--The Journal of Indo-European Studies"The book...is at once an impressive summation of what has gone before and a bold step forward into new waters...In its methodology, in its breadth, Watkins' book can only be termed a tour de force."--Journal of the American Oriental Society"This book is an inspiring introduction to the problems and techniques of comparative Indo-European poetics and at the same time a major contribution to that field...It is both delightfully entertaining and a very important work..."--The Classical Journal"...[this] rewarding book crowns many decades of thorough and ofter brillant linguistic research."--Religious Studies Review"Watkins builds a compelling case for his interpretations....This work is richly illustrated with examples from relevant literature, with all passages presented both in the original and in translation."--Diachronica"...the sheer mass of the learning in this landmark book by Watkins is overwhelming....the whole book is full of stimulating ideas....We owe a debt of gratitude to Watkins for this massive - and masterly - synthesis of traditional poetics in the Indo-European tradition."--Journal of American FolkloreTable of ContentsABSTRACTS OF INDO-EUROPEAN POLITICS I. The Field of Comparative Poetics: Introduction and Background 1: The comparative method in linguistic and poetics 2: Sketch for a history of Indo-European politics 3: Poetics as grammar: Typology of poetic devices, and some rules of poetic grammar 4: Poetics as repertory: The poetic traditions of the Indo-European world -- sources and texts 5: The Indo-European poet: His social function and his art 6: The poet's truth: The power, particularly, and preservation of the word II. Case Studies 7: Greece and the art of the world 8: Vedic India and the art of the world 9: Ireland and the art of the syllable 10: Saxa loquuntur: The first age of poetry in Italy -- Faliscan and South Picene 11: Most ancient Indo-Europeans 12: The comparison of formulaic sequences 13: An Indo-European stylistic figure 14: A late Indo-European traditional epithet 15: An Indo-European theme and formula: Imperishable fame 16: The hidden track of the cow: Obscure styles in Indo-European III. The Strophic Style: An Indo-European Poetic Form 17: Some Indo-European prayers: Cato's lustration of the fields 18: Umbria: The Tales of Iguvium 19: Italy and India: The elliptic offering 20: Strophic structures as "rhythmic prose"? Italic 21: Strophic structures in Iranian 22: 'Truth of Truth', 'most kavi of kavis', 'throng-lord of throngs': An Indo-Iranian stylistic figure 23: More strophic structures 24: Early Irish rosc 25: The Asvamedha or Horse Sacrifice: An Indo-European Liturgical form 26: Orphic gold leaves and the great way of the soul: Strophic style, funerary ritual formula, and eschatology HOW TO KILL A DRAGON IN INDO-EUROPEAN: A CONTRIBUTION TO THE THEORY OF THE FORUMLA IV. The Basic Forumla and Its Variants in the Narration of the Myth 27: Preliminaries 28: The root *guhen-: Vedic han- 29: The root *guhen-: Avestan jan- 30: The root *guhen-: Hittite kuen- and the Indo-European theme and formula 31: The slayer slain: A reciprocal forumla 32: First variant: The root *uedh- 33: 'Like a reed': The Indo-European background of a Luvian ritual 34: Second variant: the root *terh2- 35: Latin tarentum, the ludi saeculares, and Indo-European eschatology 36: The myth of Greece: Variations on the formula and theme 37: Expansion of the forumla: A recursive formulaic figure 38: Herakles, the formulaic hero 39: Hermes, Enualios, and Lukoworgos: The Serpent-slayer and the Man-slayer 40: Nektar and the adversary Death 41: The saga of Iphitos and the hero as monster 42: The name of Meleager 43: The Germanic world 44: Thor's hammer and the mace of Contract V. Some Indo-European Dragons and Dragon-Slayers 45: Fergus mae Leti and the muirdris 46: Typhoeus and the Illuyankas 47: Python and Ahi Budhnya, the Serpent of the Deep 48: Azi dahaka, Visvarupa, and Greyon VI. From Myth to Epic 49: From God to hero: The formulaic network in Greek 50: The best of the Achaeans 51: To be the death of: Transformation of the formula 52: The forumla without the word: A note on Euripides and Lysias 53: The basic forumla and the announcement of death 54: Further Indo-European comparisons and themes 55: The song of victory in Greek VII. From Myth to Charm 56: From dragon to worm 57: The charms of Indo-European 58: Indo-European medical doctrine 59: The poet as healer

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Book SynopsisAll languages change, just as other aspects of human society are constantly changing. This book is an introduction to the concepts and techniques of diachronic linguistics, the study of language change over time. It covers all themajor areas of historical linguistics, presenting concepts in a clear and concise way. Examples are given from a wide range of languages, with special emphasis on the languages of Australia and the Pacific. While the needs of undergraduate students of linguistics have been kept firmly in mind, the book will also be of interest to the general reader seeking to understand langauge and language change. For this fourth edition, a number of new sections have been written, including many new problems and several datasets. Existing materials have been supplemented with new sections on grammaticalization, tonogenesis, morphological change, and using statistical methods in language classification.Trade ReviewBecause of the diversity of the data presented and the completeness displayed in these chapters, this book constitutes an essential tool for linguistics students, and for all readers with a smattering in phonetics ... this updated edition shows that the classic work of T. Crowley remains an essential tool both for its completeness and its simplicity, especially thanks to C. Bowern's addition to this new edition. * Oscar Garcia-Marchena, Lexis *Table of ContentsTables, Figures, Maps, Preface, Phonetic Symbols, Language Maps ; 1. Introduction ; 2. Types of Sound Change ; 3. Expressing Sound Changes ; 4. Phonetic and Phonemic Changes ; 5. The Comparative Method (1): Procedures ; 6. Determining Relatedness ; 7. Internal Reconstruction ; 8. Computational and Statistical Methods ; 9. The Comparative Method (2.) History and Challenges ; 10. Morphological Change ; 11. Semantic and Lexical Change ; 12. Syntactic Change ; 13. Observing Language Change ; 14. Language Contact ; 15. Cultural Reconstruction ; Data Sets ; Language Index ; References ; Endnotes ; Index

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Trade ReviewIn this scholarly yet very readable study, Harrison writes powerfully of the value and beauty of these vanishing knowledge systems. * PD Smith, The Guardian *K. David Harrison makes an excellent case for studying our disappearing languages. Intrepid and dedicated, he is committed to salvaging what he can before it is too late. * Gregory Norminton, TLS *Table of Contents1.: A World of Many (Fewer) Voices 2.: An Extinction of (ideas about) Species 3.: Many Moons Ago: Traditional Calendars and Time-Reckoning Case Study: Urban Nomads of Mongolia 4.: An Atlas in the Mind Case Study: Wheel of Fortune, and a Blessing 5.: Silent Storytellers, Lost Legends Case Study: New Rice vs. Old Knowledge 6.: Counting to Twenty on your Toes Case Study: The Leaf-Cup People, India's Modern Primitives 7.: Worlds within Words Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisLike Carl Darling Buck''s Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin (1933), this book is an explanation of the similarities and differences between Greek and Latin morphology and lexicon through an account of their prehistory. It also aims to discuss the principal features of Indo-European linguistics. Greek and Latin are studied as a pair for cultural reasons only; as languages, they have little in common apart from their Indo-European heritage. Thus the only way to treat the historical bases for their development is to begin with Proto-Indo-European. The only way to make a reconstructed language like Proto-Indo-European intelligible and intellectually defensible is to present at least some of the basis for reconstructing its features and, in the process, to discuss reasoning and methodology of reconstruction (including a weighing of alternative reconstructions). The result is a compendious handbook of Indo-European phonology and morphology, and a vade mecum of Indo-European linguistics Table of ContentsPART I: INTRODUCTION; PART II: PHONOLOGY; PART III: DECLENSION; PART IV: PRONOUNS; PART V: NUMERALS; PART VI: CONJUGATION

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Book SynopsisWhat are the possible and preferred means of extending the vocabulary in Latin at the beginning and end of the Roman Empire? This book addresses this question with reference to the language of medicine and so offers the first systematic account of a part of this large, rich, and largely unworked field.Trade ReviewLangslow's work is an important contribution to our understanding of the field. * Hermathena: A Trinity College Dublin Review *This is one of the most thoroughgoing attempts to place Latin lexicological studies on a quantitive basis. * Hermathena: A Trinity College Dublin Review *... an unusual air of intellectual dialogue within the work, and a sense that this area of Latin linguistics has made real progress since the mid-1980s. This book both summarizes this progress and builds on it; it offers a range of new approaches to technical languages, potentially applicable to other branches of Latin and indeed to other languages as well. In doing so, [Langslow] gives a fine example of how classical philology can go on contributing to debate within modern general linguistics. * Hermathena: A Trinity College Dublin Review *Very welcome linguistical study of terminology in Latin medical texts. * Medical History *The author must be praised for combining the tasks of a linguist with those of a classicist. * Medical History *The book and the three indexes included in the appendix will be used as an essential reference tool for future research. * Medical History *

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Book SynopsisThis is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.Most of the world''s languages have indefinite pronouns, that is, expressions such as ''someone'', ''anything'', and ''nowhere''. Martin Haspelmath presents the first comprehensive and encyclopaedic investigation of indefinite pronouns in the languages of the world, mapping out the range of variation in their functional and formal properties. He shows that cross-linguistic diversity is severely constrained by a set of implicational universals and by a number of unrestricted universals.The author treats his subject matter broadly within the Humboldt-Greenberg tradition of language typology, but also considers the contribution of other theoretical approaches to an understanding of the functional and formal properties of indefinite pronouns. The book is organized into four logically ordered steps: selection of a part of grammar-indefinite pronouns-that can be identified across languages by formal and functional criteria; investigation of the properties of indefinite pronouns in a world-wide sample of forty languages; formulation of generalizations that emerge from the data, summarized in the form of an implicational map; and theoretically-informed explanations of the generalizations, which go beyond system-internal statements, appealing to cognitive semantics, functional pressures, and universals of language change (especially grammaticalization).Trade Reviewof interest to all linguists with an interest in cross-linguistic variation and typology ... the book is clearly written and well edited ... the facts provided offer a great deal of food for thought to anyone with an interest in cross-linguistic work. * Molly Diesing, American Journal of Germanic Linguistics and Literatures 10.2 1998 *This volume is well presented and edited and contains an extensive bibliography on the topic of indefinite pronouns in what Haspelmath regards the mainstream of linguistics. It will appeal to specialists rather than to people with an only generalist interest in linguistics. * Peter Muhlhausler *A welcome addition to the typological literature, this book is the most comprehensive work to date devoted exclusively to the description of indefinite pronous ... in the world's languages. Haspelmath's presentation offers generally interesting reading, giving us many facts, testable universal claims, and tantalizing attempts at explanation. With its many examples, the book can serve not only as a springboard for further scholarship but also as a useful reference work for teaching. ... well-organized book... The writing style is accessible; thus the book has a potentially wide readership among both linguists and nonlinguists interested in language universals and their explanation. Haspelmath is to be applauded for attempting explanations of so many of his findings. The explanatory ideas he appeals to are seductive ones that crop up repeatedly in linguistics. * Jessica Wirth, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Anthropological Linguistics, Vol 41, no.1 *The first book in a new series which aims to provide a functional-typological perspective to linguistic problems that are of both typological and formal importance. One couldn't wish for a better first book to inaugurate the series... highly recommended, not only to field workers... but also to any linguist who wants to see a textbook example of a linguistic analysis... adds significantly to our understanding of negative indefinites. Anyone working on two or more closely related languages should be required to read this book. * Ferdinand de Haan, Notes on Linguistics 2.2 *Table of Contents1. Overview ; 2. A Typological Perspective on Indefinite Pronouns ; 3. Formal and Functional Types of Indefinite Pronoun ; 4. An Implicational Map for Indefinite Pronoun Functions ; 5. Theoretical Approaches to the Functions of Indefinite Pronouns ; 6. The Grammaticalization of Indefinite Pronouns ; 7. Further Sources of Indefinite Pronouns ; 8. Negative Indefinite Pronouns ; 9. Conclusions ; Appendix A The Data of the 40-Language Sample ; Appendix B The Data of the 100-Language Sample

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Book SynopsisA Historical Greek Reader provides an introduction to the history of the ancient Greek language by means of a series of texts with linguistic commentary, cross-referenced to each other and to a reference grammar at the front. It offers a selection of epigraphic and literary texts from the Mycenaean period (roughly the fourteenth century BC) to the koiné (the latest text dates to the second century AD), and includes a wide range of Greek dialect texts. The epigraphic section balances a number of well-known inscriptions with recent discoveries that may not be easily available elsewhere; a selection of literary texts traces major developments in the language of Greek poetry and literary prose. The book finishes with an account of the linguistic and sociolinguistic background of koiné Greek. The commentary assumes no prior knowledge of Greek historical linguistics, but provides a basic amount of up-to-date bibliography so that advanced students and others can pursue linguistic issues at grTable of ContentsI. INTRODUCTION; II. TEXTS WITH TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY

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Book SynopsisThis is the first full account of the transformation of Ottoman Turkish into Modern Turkish. It is based on the author''s knowledge and experience of the language, history, and people of Turkey. The transformation of the Turkish language is probably the most thorough-going piece of linguistic engineering in history. Its prelude came in 1928, when the Arabo-Persian alphabet was outlawed and replaced by the Latin alphabet. It began in earnest in 1930 when Ataturk declared:''Turkish is one of the richest of languages. It needs only to be used with discrimination. The Turkish nation, which is well able to protect its territory and its sublime independence, must also liberate its language from the yoke of foreign languages.''All Arabic and Persian vocabulary was replaced forthwith by words collected from popular speech, resurrected from ancient texts, or coined from native roots and suffixes. The snag - identified by the author as one element in the catastrophic aspect of the reform - was tTrade ReviewReview from previous edition The Turkish Language Reform is a dramatic story, entertainingly written, and not overly long. What is more, it provides a great insight into the practicalities of language planning.... From the moment you read 'A catastrophic success' in the subtitle you know that Lewis's intention is to provide interesting, entertaining reading. The story is a great one ... and well worth the read.' * Journal of Sociolinguistics 5/2, 2001 *Professor Lewis has written a fascinating book and he deserves the gratitude and appreciation of both colleagues and non-specialists alike. Lewis has succeeded in making a demanding task seem particularly easy and even graceful. As a stylist, Lewis is incisive, sometime brutally candid, and almost always witty. The book is sure to remain the last word on the language reform for a long time to come. * Journal of Middle Eastern Studies *Very informative - especially for the nonspecialist - and worthwhile reading ... this book can and must be recommended to anyone interested in the modern Turkish language.' * Anthropological Linguistics *Lewis's book is learned, eloquent, and witty... Particularly effective and entertaining are those passages which he skillfully translates twice -- first in their unadulterated form with their full complement of words of non-Turkic origin, then in their clean-up, "pure" Turkic form.' * Sino-Platonic Papers *Lewis ... writes in a lively and witty style. Absolutely essential for collections supporting Turkish and linguistics departments at all levels... This book is a fascinating description of what can happen when language reform is attempted in an unplanned but enthusiastic fashion.' * Choice *Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2Ottoman Turkish ; 3. The New Alphabet ; 4. Ataturk and the Language Reform until 1936 ; 5. The Sun-Language Theory and After ; 6. Atay, Atac, Sayili ; 7. Ingredients ; 8. Concoctions ; 9. Technical Terms ; 10. The New Yoke ; 11. The New Turkish ; 12. What Happened to the Language Society ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisPortuguese emerged from vulgar Latin during the course of the third century. Influential in its development were successive invasions by Germanic peoples, Visigoths, and Moors, the latter of whom were finally evicted in the thirteenth century. As a consequence of the newly-independent kingdom''s imperial achievements, Portuguese is the national language of Brazil and the official language of several African countries.Maria Helena Mateus and Ernesto d''Andrade present a broad description and comparative analysis of the phonetics and phonology of European and Brazilian Portuguese. They begin by introducing the history of Portuguese and its principal varieties. Chapter 2 describes the phonetic characteristics of consonants, vowels, and glides, and Chapter 3 looks at prosodic structure. Chapters 4 and 5 present the general characteristics of Portuguese nominal and verbal systems, the former considering inflectional and the latter derivational processes. Chapter 6 examines stress, main, secTrade ReviewThis is a much appreciated book for those of us who regularly teach a course on the synchronic phonology and morphophonology of Portuguese....The book is divided into clear modules, the data in each section being clearly presented in well-organised tables, always including examples covering each of the possible cases of interest....Mateus and d'Andrade have crafted a very easy to read, well-organised exposition of their favourite analyses quite suitable for a course in the structure of Portuguese phonology. * Phonology *Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2. The Phonological System of Portuguese ; 3. Syllable Structure ; 4. Portuguese Morphology: Inflection ; 5. Portuguese Morphology: Derivation ; 6. Word Stress in Portuguese ; 7. Phonological Processes ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisPeople have been reading on computer screens for several decades now, predating popularization of personal computers and widespread use of the internet. But it was the rise of eReaders and tablets that caused digital reading to explode. In 2007, Amazon introduced its first Kindle. Three years later, Apple debuted the iPad. Meanwhile, as mobile phone technology improved and smartphones proliferated, the phone became another vital reading platform.In Words Onscreen, Naomi Baron, an expert on language and technology, explores how technology is reshaping our understanding of what it means to read. Digital reading is increasingly popular. Reading onscreen has many virtues, including convenience, potential cost-savings, and the opportunity to bring free access to books and other written materials to people around the world. Yet, Baron argues, the virtues of eReading are matched with drawbacks. Users are easily distracted by other temptations on their devices, multitasking is rampant, and scrTrade ReviewLucid and engaging... Words Onscreen ably brings into focus the impact that reading in one form or another will have on our culture and how practice will change as a consequence of that impact. * Babel: The Language Magazine, Erika Corradini *Words Onscreen is a timely book. * Leah Price, The Times Literary Supplement. *For every digital devotee clutching an e-reader, there is an old-school bibliophile brandishing a physical book. But which works best for reading comprehension? In this thoughtful study, linguist Naomi Baron investigates each platform in the light of recent research, and surveys US, Japanese and German reading habits. * Nature *this is one of the few books to address the question without resort to such clichés as 'I can't smell an ebook' * Scotland on Sunday, Stuart Kelly *Table of ContentsChapter 1. "I Hate Books": Words Go Digital ; Chapter 2. Reading Evolves ; Chapter 3. tl;dr: Readers Reshape Writing ; Chapter 4. The Appeal of Words Onscreen ; Chapter 5. The Web Ate My Print Button: One-Off Reading ; Chapter 6. How Social is Reading? ; Chapter 7. "It's Not a Book": The Physical Side of Reading ; Chapter 8. Your Brain on eText ; Chapter 9. Faxing Tokyo: When Cultures and Markets Meet ; Chapter 10. The Future of Reading in a Digital World

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Book SynopsisIn the first comprehensive survey of the politics of language in Ireland in the colonial and post-colonial period, Tony Crowley challenges received notions, revisits familiar materials, and considers previously little-known evidence in order to present a complex, fascinating, and often surprising history.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition This book offers a simultaneously sweeping and subtle view into the ways language has been inextricably linked with notions of cultural, political, and personal identity throughout modern Irish history... As impressive as the breadth of Crowley's research is the beauty and accessibility of his prose: the book proves enjoyable to the historian or critic as well as the linguist. Indeed, War of Words will encourage scholars in all aspects of Irish Studies to recognize the centrality of the language issue to nearly all aspects of Irish culture and politics. * Michael J Durkan Prize Review *Crowley's War of Words is a valuable and stimulating book, bringing together an impressive array of primary and secondary sources from more than five centuries in a carefully crafted argument... the defining account of a historical formation * Chris Morash, Times Literary Supplement *A sourcebook, a treasure trove . . . Crowley brings a welcome sensitivity to the complexity of his subject . . . Tony Crowley's War of Words and his earlier The Politics of Language in Ireland are seminal texts for our understanding of how that dichotomy has evolved over the centuries. [Crowley has] raised profoundly important questions and provided a context in which they can be thought about and planned for in the hope that future wars over words will be far less bitter and prolonged. * Irish Literary Supplement *a first-rate piece of scholarship that deserves to be read by any student of Ireland and her history. * Contemporary Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Language acquisition ; 1. Reforming the Word and the words of the Irish, 1537-1607 ; 2. Language, God, and the struggle for history, 1607-1690 ; 3. Education, antiquity, and the beginnings of linguistic nationalism, 1690-1789 ; 4. Culture, politics, and the language question, 1789-1876 ; 5. Language and revolution, 1876-1922 ; 6. The politics of language on the island of Ireland, 1922-2004

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Book SynopsisThis history of the Spanish lexicon is written from the interacting perspectives of linguistic and cultural change and in the light of advances in the study of language contact and lexical change. The author describes the language inherited from spoken Latin in the Iberian Peninsula during six centuries of Roman occupation and examines the degree to which it imported words from the languages - of which only Basque survives - of pre-Roman Spain. He then shows how Germanic words were imported either indirectly through Latin or Old French or directly by contact with the Visigoths. He describes the importation of Arabisms following the eighth-century Arab conquest of Spain, distinguishing those documented in medieval sources from those adopted for everyday use, many of which survive in modern Spanish. He considers the influence of Old French and Old Provençal and identifies late direct and indirect borrowings from Latin, including the Italian elements taken up during the Renaissance. AfterTrade ReviewThe scholarship in this book is, without question, of the highest calibre. This book will benefit greatly both advanced students and scholars of Spanish historical linguistics, and, as a pedagogical tool, could serve either as supplementary reading for a course on the history of the Spanish language or as the main text for a seminar on the topic for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. * Joel Rini, Bulletin of Spanish Studies *Dworkins book is a lively and entertaining discussion of the history of the Spanish lexicon. The approach made this book difficult to put down. The books accessibility makes it a joy to read, suitable for beginning students, and yet rigorous enough for Hispanists. More books should be written in a way that encourages future students to undertake studies in the field. * Diachronica *This History will probably be used as a reference book rather than as a good read, but the scholarly perspectives and thought processes displayed should even so impress and inspire all those who have ever wondered about the hows and whys of the provenance of Spanish vocabulary from other languages. * Roger Wright, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies *a lively and entertaining discussion of the history of the Spanish lexicon. * John M. Ryan, Diachronica *Table of Contents1. Language Contact and the History of the Spanish Lexicon: General and methodological questions ; 2. The Lexical Impact of the Pre-Roman Languages of the Iberian Peninsula ; 3. The Latin Base of the Spanish Lexicon ; 4. The Germanic Component of the Spanish Lexicon ; 5. The Arabic Component of the Spanish Lexicon ; 6. The Impact of Gallo-Romance on the Spanish Lexicon ; 7. The Influence of Italian on the Spanish Lexicon ; 8. Latinisms in Spanish ; 9. Portuguese and Catalan Loans in Spanish ; 10. Lexical Borrowings From the New World ; 11. Anglicisms in Spanish ; 12. Some Final Thoughts ; References ; Index Verborum ; General Index

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Book SynopsisThis book provides both the first comprehensive description of the phonology and phonetics of Standard Mongolian and the first account in any language of the historical phonology of the Mongolian group of languages.Trade Reviewa ripe source for interested researchers. * Andrew Nevins, Phonology *Table of Contents1. Vowels ; 2. Consonants ; 3. Phonemes ; 4. Writing Systems ; 5. Phonological Processes ; 6. Syllabification and Epenthesis ; 7. Prosody ; 8. Old Mongolian ; 9. The Mongolic Languages ; 10. Development of the Modern Mongolic Languages ; Appendices ; References ; Index ; Index of Old Mongolian Words

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Book SynopsisA Linguistic History of Arabic challenges the traditional accounts of the progression of classical Arabic to contemporary dialects. It presents a rich and complex picture of early Arabic language history and establishes the basis for a comprehensive, linguistically-based understanding of the history of Arabic.Trade Review...highly stimulating read for anyone with interest in the history of Arabic...It deserves a warm welcome. * Clive Holes SOAS *Table of Contents1. Introduction: A Language and its Secrets ; 2. Old Arabic, Neo-Arabic, and Comparative Linguistics ; 3. Case and Proto Arabic ; 4. Al-Idgham al-Kabiyr and Case Endings ; 5. Pre-Diasporic Arabic in the Diaspora: A Statistical Approach to Arabic Language History ; 6. Nigerian Arabic and Reconstruction of the Imperfect Verb ; 7. Imala ; 8. Suffix Pronouns and Reconstruction ; 9. Summary and Epilogue ; Appendix ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisBasic Linguistic Theory provides a fundamental characterization of the nature of human languages and a comprehensive guide to their description and analysis. In crystal-clear prose, R. M. W. Dixon describes how to go about doing linguistics. He show how grammatical structures and rules may be worked out on the basis of inductive generalisations, and explains the steps by which an attested grammar and lexicon can built up from observed utterances. He describes how the grammars and vocabulary of one language may be compared to others of the same or different families, explains the methods involved in cross-linguistic parametric analyses, and shows how to interpret the results. Volume 3 introduces and examines key grammatical topics, each from a cross-linguistic perspective. The subjects include number systems, negation, reflexives and reciprocals, passives, causatives, comparative constructions, and questions. The final chapter discusses the relation between linguistic explanation and thTrade ReviewThere can be little doubt that Basic Linguistic Theory is a valuable addition to the linguistic literature, both as a broadly conceived typological study and as an inspiring guide to grammar writers ... BLT covers the principal parts of grammar and probably more extensively so than any other single book of its kind. * Steffen Haurholm-Larsen, Studies in Language *These books are monumental and destined to become classics, equatable to the two volumes entitled Language by Sapir (1921) and Bloomfield (1933), and to Givón's Syntax, volumes 1 (1984) and 2 (1990) but in each case surpassing them in scope, detail, rigor, and coherence. Dixon presents a complete, fully articulated, and cohesive explication of grammar, with extensive elaboration on every major grammatical structure found in the world's languages, as well as many minor ones.... This is a masterwork ... a lasting reference for grammar writers, typologists, grammatical theorists, and all those fascinated by the complexities of linguistic systems and grammatical analysis. * Carol Genetti,Language *Table of Contents19. Non-spatial Setting ; 20. Number Systems ; 21. Negation ; 22. Reflexive and Reciprocal Constructions ; 23. Pivots, Passives,and Antipassives ; 24. Causatives ; 25. Applicatives ; 26. Comparative Constructions ; 27. Questions ; 28. Language and the World: explanations now and needed ; Appendix

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Book SynopsisPossession and Ownership brings together linguists and anthropologists in a series of cross-linguistic explorations of expressions used to denote possession and ownership, concepts central to most if not all the varied cultures and ideologies of humankind. Possessive noun phrases can be broadly divided into three categories - ownership of property, whole-part relations (such as body and plant parts), and blood and affinal kinship relations. As Professor Aikhenvald shows in her extensive opening essay, the same possessive noun or pronoun phrase is used in English and in many other Indo-European languages to express possession of all three kinds - as in Ann and her husband Henry live in the castle Henry''s father built with his own hands - but that this is by no means the case in all languages. In some, for example, the grammar expresses the inalienability of consanguineal kinship and sometimes also of sacred or treasured objects. Furthermore the degree to which possession and ownership Trade ReviewThis volume, the result of cooperation among eminent linguists and anthropologists, is a significant intellectual achievement. * Lars Johanson, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Project Muse *Table of Contents1. Possession and Ownership: a cross-linguistic perspective ; 2. Ownership, part-whole and Other Possessive-associated Relations in Nelemwa ; 3. Possession in Moskona, an East Bird's Head Language ; 4. Possession and Ownership in Manambu, a Ndu Language from the Sepik Area, Papua New Guinea ; 5. Possession in Martuthunira ; 6. Possession in Nanti ; 7. Possession and Association in Galo Language and Culture ; 8. Possessive Constructions in Chinese ; 9. Possession in Hone ; 10. Possession in Lipke ; 11. Possession in Wandala ; 12. Spirits of the Forest, the Wind, and New Wealth: defining some of the possibilities, and limits, of Kamula possession ; 13. Being and Belonging: exchange, value, and land ownership in the Western highlands of Papua New Guinea ; 14. Possession and Also Ownership - vignettes

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Book SynopsisThis book offers an exciting new perspective on the origins of language. Language is conceptualized as a collective invention, on the model of writing or the wheel, and the book places social and cultural dynamics at the centre of its evolution: language emerged and further developed in human communities already suffused with meaning and communication, mimesis, ritual, song and dance, alloparenting, new divisions of labour and revolutionary changes in social relations. The book thus challenges assumptions about the causal relations between genes, capacities, social communication and innovation: the biological capacities are taken to evolve incrementally on the basis of cognitive plasticity, in a process that recruits previous adaptations and fine-tunes them to serve novel communicative ends. Topics include the ability brought about by language to tell lies, that must have confronted our ancestors with new problems of public trust; the dynamics of social-cognitive co-evolution; the roleTable of ContentsPART 1 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS; PART 2 LANGUAGE AS A COLLECTIVE OBJECT; PART 3 APES AND PEOPLE, PAST AND PRESENT; PART 4 THE SOCIAL ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE; PART 5 THE JOURNEY THEREAFTER

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Book SynopsisThis book makes the Greek New Testament and word studies based on it easily accessible to everyone, all in one volume.

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisThe book presents the state-of-the-art in major aspects of text analysis and cognitive text processing by some of the most well-known European and American researchers in the field of text-linguistics and cognitive psychology. Comprehensive views and new perspectives are proposed in the following topics: cognitive and metacognitive aspects of text processing, structures and processes involved in the construction of multi-level semantic representations in relation with text and reader characteristics, achievement of local and global coherence of meaning during reading and comprehension, assessment of knowledge, knowledge acquisition of concepts and complex systems by text, and cognitive and metacognitive aspects of text production.

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Book SynopsisIs there more to words than meets the eye? Let us tumble down the rabbit hole...

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Book SynopsisThis is an exploration of the hundreds of words and expressions based on numbers and numerical expressions and the ideas that underlie them.

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Book SynopsisPULITZER PRIZE FINALISTA New York Times Notable Book of 2022What does it take to reinvent a language?After a meteoric rise, China today is one of the world’s most powerful nations. Just a century ago, it was a crumbling empire with literacy reserved for the elite few, as the world underwent a massive technological transformation that threatened to leave them behind. In Kingdom of Characters, Jing Tsu argues that China’s most daunting challenge was a linguistic one: the century-long fight to make the formidable Chinese language accessible to the modern world of global trade and digital technology.Kingdom of Characters follows the bold innovators who reinvented the Chinese language, among them an exiled reformer who risked a death sentence to advocate for Mandarin as a national language, a Chinese-Muslim poet who laid the groundwork for Chairman Mao's phonetic writing system, and a computer engineer who devised input

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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