Phonologies of Asia and Africa

Phonologies of Asia and Africa PDF

Author: Alan S. Kaye

Publisher: Eisenbrauns

Published: 1997-06-30

Total Pages: 1075

ISBN-13: 1575060191

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This large, 2-volume work presents more than 50 authoritative articles by leading specialists on a wide variety of ancient, medieval, and modern languages and dialects of the greater Near East and Africa, from a variety of language families. The articles are concise descriptive narratives presenting the basics of the phonology of the languages and dialects, with an emphasis on the phonological processes operative in them. A major goal of the work is a definite statement on the language and/or dialect in question with regard to genetics, typology, and/or universal elements. Of interest to general linguists as well as those specializing in Afro-Asiatic languages.

The Evolution of Grammar

The Evolution of Grammar PDF

Author: Joan Bybee

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1994-11-15

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 0226086658

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Joan Bybee and her colleagues present a new theory of the evolution of grammar that links structure and meaning in a way that directly challenges most contemporary versions of generative grammar. This study focuses on the use and meaning of grammatical markers of tense, aspect, and modality and identifies a universal set of grammatical categories. The authors demonstrate that the semantic content of these categories evolves gradually and that this process of evolution is strikingly similar across unrelated languages. Through a survey of seventy-six languages in twenty-five different phyla, the authors show that the same paths of change occur universally and that movement along these paths is in one direction only. This analysis reveals that lexical substance evolves into grammatical substance through various mechanisms of change, such as metaphorical extension and the conventionalization of implicature. Grammaticization is always accompanied by an increase in frequency of the grammatical marker, providing clear evidence that language use is a major factor in the evolution of synchronic language states. The Evolution of Grammar has important implications for the development of language and for the study of cognitive processes in general.

Historical Linguistics

Historical Linguistics PDF

Author: Lyle Campbell

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 478

ISBN-13: 9780262532679

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This accessible, hands-on text not only introduces students to the important topicsin historical linguistics but also shows them how to apply the methods described and how to thinkabout the issues; abundant examples and exercises allow students to focus on how to do historicallinguistics. Distinctive to this text is its integration of the standard topics with others nowconsidered important to the field, including syntactic change, grammaticalization, sociolinguisticcontributions to linguistic change, distant genetic relationships, areal linguistics, and linguisticprehistory. Examples are taken from a broad range of languages; those from the more familiarEnglish, French, German, and Spanish make the topics more accessible, while those fromnon-Indo-European languages show the depth and range of the concepts they illustrate.This secondedition features expanded explanations and examples as well as updates in light of recent work inlinguistics, including a defense of the family tree model, a response to recent claims on lexicaldiffusion/frequency, and a section on why languages diversify and spread.

A Glossary of Historical Linguistics

A Glossary of Historical Linguistics PDF

Author: Lyle Campbell

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780748623785

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Useful for those wishing to understand historical linguistic terminology and concepts, this is a glossary of key terms in the field of historical linguistics.

Mechanisms of Syntactic Change

Mechanisms of Syntactic Change PDF

Author: Charles N. Li

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2014-09-10

Total Pages: 641

ISBN-13: 1477301054

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Historical linguistics, the oldest field in linguistics, has been traditionally dominated by phonological and etymological investigations. Only in the late twentieth century have linguists begun to focus their interest and research on the area of syntactic change and the insight it provides on the nature of language. This volume represents the first major contribution on the mechanisms of syntactic change. The fourteen articles that make up this volume were selected from the Symposium on the Mechanisms of Syntactic Change held at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1976, one of a series of three conferences sponsored by the National Science Foundation. These papers clearly demonstrate that the generative approach to the study of language does not explain diachronic processes in syntax. This collection is enlightening, provocative, and carefully documented with data drawn from a great variety of language families.

Tiberian Hebrew Phonology

Tiberian Hebrew Phonology PDF

Author: Joseph L. Malone

Publisher: Eisenbrauns

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9780931464751

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This impressive study analyzes the form of biblical Hebrew that was canonized by the Masoretes, Jewish religious and language scholars who were centered in Tiberias in the late first millennium C.E. The grammatical system of the Masoretes is the key to understanding the Hebrew Bible, and yet because of its tremendous complexity, the system has often been neglected. This study of Tiberian Hebrew phonology is a valuable contribution toward a fuller understanding of Masoretic grammar. The sound system of biblical Hebrew is quite distinct from that of modern Hebrew and is the most elaborate of all the attested Semitic languages. Dr. Malone's thorough analysis describes this sound system in light of both recent linguistic study (generative phonology) and his own far-ranging work on other Semitic languages. The results of his work are stated in the form of phonological rules that will assist the biblical Hebrew scholar in understanding phonology and its impact on Hebrew grammar. The reader will find much value in the elaborate charts and diagrams throughout the book, especially chapter 10, which illustrates the derivations of the first twenty verses of the Book of Genesis, and chapter 12, which presents an inventory of Tiberian Hebrew words and phrases of particular interest. A glossary and bibliography complete the book.

Bound Lives

Bound Lives PDF

Author: Rachel Sarah O'Toole

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre

Published: 2012-04-15

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 0822977966

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Bound Lives chronicles the lived experience of race relations in northern coastal Peru during the colonial era. Rachel Sarah O'Toole examines how Andeans and Africans negotiated and employed casta, and in doing so, constructed these racial categories. Royal and viceregal authorities separated "Indians" from "blacks" by defining each to specific labor demands. Casta categories did the work of race, yet, not all casta categories did the same type of work since Andeans, Africans, and their descendants were bound by their locations within colonialism and slavery. The secular colonial legal system clearly favored indigenous populations. Andeans were afforded greater protections as "threatened" native vassals. Despite this, in the 1640s during the rise of sugar production, Andeans were driven from their assigned colonial towns and communal property by a land privatization program. Andeans did not disappear, however; they worked as artisans, muleteers, and laborers for hire. By the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Andeans employed their legal status as Indians to defend their prerogatives to political representation that included the policing of Africans. As rural slaves, Africans often found themselves outside the bounds of secular law and subject to the judgments of local slaveholding authorities. Africans therefore developed a rhetoric of valuation within the market and claimed new kinships to protect themselves in disputes with their captors and in slave-trading negotiations. Africans countered slaveholders' claims on their time, overt supervision of their labor, and control of their rest moments by invoking customary practices. Bound Lives offers an entirely new perspective on racial identities in colonial Peru. It highlights the tenuous interactions of colonial authorities, indigenous communities, and enslaved populations and shows how the interplay between colonial law and daily practice shaped the nature of colonialism and slavery.

Moments of Grace

Moments of Grace PDF

Author: Laurie Blefeld

Publisher:

Published: 2018-04-18

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 9781717171818

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Sharing our stories, who we are, what we love, how we feel, why we fear, connects us to one another. Weaving moments of grace with spiritual practices that have grounded her through life's challenges, Laurie Blefeld invites the reader into her sacramental stories. You will find yourself in Laurie's stories and reclaim bits and pieces of your own. "Our days are a stream of moments - some devastating, some down to earth and some filled with ineffable meaning. Laurie Blefeld has written a book full of tender moments that warm the heart and remind us to be grateful for and conscious of how laced with grace our lives really are. This is a book to enjoy and treasure."-Gunilla Norris, author of Sheltered in the Heart and Companions on the Way: A Little Book of Heart-full Practices "Laurie's transformational stories, told in her authentic and lyrical voice, are evocative of the highs and lows in everyone's life. Laurie's generous prose connects us to her family's living history - and through it to our own. She is a natural spiritual teacher. Moments of Grace is luminous, warm, comforting and filled with such good practices."- Dr. Joan Borysenko, from the Foreword