Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages

Erscheinungsjahr 2011
ISBN: 978-90-272-1178-1
Verlag: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Buch, Englisch, 421 Seiten, Format (B × H): 174 mm x 245 mm, Gewicht: 1015 g

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dimmendaal, Gerrit J.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Einzelne Sprachen & Sprachfamilien
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Historische & Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft, Sprachtypologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

ix–xi
Figures

xiii
Maps

xv
Tables

xvii
Part I. The comparative method

1. Explaining similarities

3–22
2. Explaining sound change

23–58
3. Classification and subclassification techniques

59–92
4. Morphosyntactic changes

93–114
5. Semantic change

115–140
6. Internal reconstruction

141–152
7. Language-internal variation

153–176
Part II. The linguistic manifestation of contact

8. Borrowing

179–212
9. Pidginisation and creolisation

213–236
10. Syncretic languages

237–252
11. Language contraction and language shift

253–264
12. Language contact phenomena and genetic classification

265–280
Part III. Studying language change in a wider contex

13. Language typology and reconstruction

283–306
14. Remote relationships and genetic diversity on the African continent

307–332
15. Language and history

333–346
16. Some ecological properties of language development

347–372
References

373–406
Appendix

407–408
Language and language family index

409–417
Subject index

419–421