Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages


Book Description

This advanced historical linguistics course book deals with the historical and comparative study of African languages. The first part functions as an elementary introduction to the comparative method, involving the establishment of lexical and grammatical cognates, the reconstruction of their historical development, techniques for the subclassification of related languages, and the use of language-internal evidence, more specifically the application of internal reconstruction. Part II addresses language contact phenomena and the status of language in a wider, cultural-historical and ecological context. Part III deals with the relationship between comparative linguistics and other disciplines. In this rich course book, the author presents valuable views on a number of issues in the comparative study of African languages, more specifically concerning genetic diversity on the African continent, the status of pidginised and creolised languages, language mixing, and grammaticalisation.




The Gabra


Book Description




Landscapes of Movement and Predation


Book Description

Landscapes of Movement and Predation is a global study of times and places where people were subject to brutality, displacement, and loss of life, liberty, livelihood, and possessions. Extensive landscapes of predation emerged in the colonial era when Europeans expanded across much of the world, appropriating land and demanding labor from Indigenous people, resulting in the enslavement of millions of Africans and Indigenous Americans. Landscapes of predation also developed in precolonial times in places where people were subjected to repeated ruthless attacks and dislocation. With contributions from archaeologists and a historian, the book provides a startling new perspective on an aspect of the past that is often overlooked: the role of violence in shaping where, how, and with whom people lived. Using ethnohistoric, ethnographic, historic, and archaeological data, the authors explore the actions of both predators and their targets and uncover the myriad responses people took to protect themselves. Contributors Fernando Almeida Thomas John Biginagwa Brenda J. Bowser Catherine M. Cameron Charles Cobb Robbie Ethridge Thiago Kater Richard M. Leventhal Lydia Wilson Marshall Cliverson Pessoa Neil Price Ben Raffield Andrés Reséndez Samantha Seyler Fabíola Andréa Silva




Multiple Exponence


Book Description

Multiple (or extended) exponence is the occurrence of multiple realizations of a single morphosemantic feature, bundle of features, or derivational category within a word. This book provides data and direction to the discussion of ME, which has gone in a variety of directions and suffers from lack of evidence. Alice Harris addresses the question of why ME is of interest to linguists and traces the discussion of this concept in the linguistic literature. The four most commonly encountered types of ME are characterized, with copious examples from a broad variety of languages; these types form the basis for discussion of the processing of ME, the acquisition of ME, the historical development of ME, and analysis of ME. The book addresses some of the most important questions involving ME, including why it exists at all.




Morphological Length and Prosodically Defective Morphemes


Book Description

This work examines specific sound changes that cannot be explained by phonological means alone but crucially rely on morphological information. It offers a unified theoretical account of these phenomena as well as a rich database of attested patterns in the world's languages




Crucial Readings in Functional Grammar


Book Description

Crucial Readings in Functional Grammar is an invaluable resource to anyone working in Functional Grammar, student and scholar alike. It contains important articles that have led to new avenues of research in the theory beyond Dik's two-volume Functional Grammar (1997), each concluded with a short paragraph with suggestions for further research. The book also contains an introduction to current Functional Grammar theory by the editors. Crucial Readings is unique in bringing together in one volume the various ideas that complement Dik's canonical presentation of the theory. The editorial contributions provide a comprehensive review of Functional Grammar publications.




The Grammar of Words: An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology


Book Description

Geert Booij's popular textbook examines how words are formed, compounded, and inflected in different languages. It shows how, when, and why to use methods of morphological analysis and explains how morphology relates to syntax, phonology, and semantics. The author considers the universal characteristics of morphology and how these are reflected in the workings of mind. The revised edition has been revised and updated throughout; it has a full glossary and a new chapter on the field's most notorious problem: the status of the word. 'The Grammar of Words by Geert Booij covers a broad range of topics from structural questions to psycholinguistic issues and problems of language change. This introduction to morphology is thorough and accessible and, like other works by this renowned author, especially strong at showing the significance of empirical facts for theoretical reasoning.' Ingo Plag, University of Siegen 'A book that is fully comprehensive in its coverage as well as exemplary in its clarity, written by one of the major scholars of contemporary lexical theory.' Sergio Scalise, University of Bologna




Parts of Speech


Book Description

Parts of Speech are a central aspect of linguistic theory and analysis. Though a long-established tradition in Western linguistics and philosophy has assumed the validity of Parts of Speech in the study of language, there are still many questions left unanswered. For example, should Parts of Speech be treated as descriptive tools or are they to be considered universal constructs? Is it possible to come up with cross-linguistically valid formal categories, or are categories of language structure ultimately language-specific? Should they be defined semantically, syntactically, or otherwise? Do non-Indo-European languages reveal novel aspects of categorical assignment? This volume attempts to answer these and other fundamental questions for linguistic theory and its methodology by offering a range of contributions that spans diverse theoretical persuasions and contributes to our understanding of Parts of Speech with analyses of new data sets. These articles were originally published in Studies in Language 32:3 (2008).




The Structure of the Clause


Book Description

Introduction When one takes a functional approach to the study of natural languages, the ultimate questions one is interested in can be formulated as: How does the natural language user (NLU) work? How do speakers and addressees succeed ...