A Dictionary of Austronesian Monosyllabic Roots (Submorphemes)
A Dictionary of Austronesian Monosyllabic Roots (Submorphemes)

Author: Robert Blust

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2022-05-09

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 3110781697

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This book documents an understudied phenomenon in Austronesian languages, namely the existence of recurrent submorphemic sound-meaning associations of the general form -CVC. It fills a critical gap in scholarship on these languages by bringing together a large body of data in one place, and by discussing some of the theoretical issues that arise in analyzing this data. Following an introduction which presents the topic, it includes a critical review of the relevant literature over the past century, and discussions of the following: 1. problems in finding the root (the "needle in the haystack" problem), 2. root ambiguity, 3. controls on chance as an interfering factor, 4. unrecognized morphology as a possible factor in duplicating evidence, 5. the shape/structure of the root, 6. referents of roots, 7. the origin of roots, 8. the problem of distinguishing false cognates produced by convergence in root-bearing morphemes from legitimate comparisons resulting from divergent descent, and 9. the problem of explaining how submorphemes are transmitted across generations of speakers independently of the morphemes that host them. The remainder of the book consists of a list of sources for the 197 languages from which data is drawn, followed by the roots with supporting evidence, a short appendix, and references.

North Borneo Sourcebook
North Borneo Sourcebook

Author: Jason William Lobel

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2016-01-31

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0824857828

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North Borneo Sourcebook seeks to address the lack of available data for the languages of northern Borneo, where forty to fifty distinct languages are spoken in the Malaysian state of Sabah alone. While members of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) have worked in Sabah for several decades and have published articles on individual languages, until now no comprehensive survey of the languages of Sabah had yet been done. In addition to the languages native to Sabah, also included in this monograph are closely related Southwest Sabah languages spoken in neighboring parts of the Malaysian state of Sarawak, the Indonesian province of Kalimantan Utara, and Brunei Darussalam. The author has included 594 entries with equivalents in each of the forty-six languages that represent the linguistic variation in north Borneo, along with introductory sections listing the personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, and case markers for each language. This sourcebook thus fills a critical need in surveying the languages of a single large area in an island of Southeast Asia. Many language communities in this region are endangered and likely to disappear as functioning entities within the next generation or two; this book may be the only record we will ever have of their existence. Linguists and those with an interest in Austronesian languages will appreciate the breadth and detail that illuminate the linguistic scene in an area where before there had been only pinpoints of light.

The Oxford Guide to the Malayo-Polynesian Languages of Southeast Asia
The Oxford Guide to the Malayo-Polynesian Languages of Southeast Asia

Author: Alexander Adelaar

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2024-06-27

Total Pages: 1089

ISBN-13: 019880735X

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This volume presents the most wide-ranging treatment available today of the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia and their outliers. It offers a comprehensive account of the historical relations and typological diversity in the group, including current debates in their prehistories and descriptive priorities for future study.

The Meaning of Whitemen
The Meaning of Whitemen

Author: Ira Bashkow

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2017-02-15

Total Pages: 363

ISBN-13: 022653006X

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A familiar cultural presence for people the world over, “the whiteman” has come to personify the legacy of colonialism, the face of Western modernity, and the force of globalization. Focusing on the cultural meanings of whitemen in the Orokaiva society of Papua New Guinea, this book provides a fresh approach to understanding how race is symbolically constructed and why racial stereotypes endure in the face of counterevidence. While Papua New Guinea’s resident white population has been severely reduced due to postcolonial white flight, the whiteman remains a significant racial and cultural other here—not only as an archetype of power and wealth in the modern arena, but also as a foil for people’s evaluations of themselves within vernacular frames of meaning. As Ira Bashkow explains, ideas of self versus other need not always be anti-humanistic or deprecatory, but can be a creative and potentially constructive part of all cultures. A brilliant analysis of whiteness and race in a non-Western society, The Meaning of Whitemen turns traditional ethnography to the purpose of understanding how others see us.

A World of Words
A World of Words

Author: R. A. Blust

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783447067690

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Renward Brandstetter (1860-1942) was a Swiss linguist whose greatest scientific achievement is his contribution to our understanding of 'Indonesian' languages - his term - or Austronesian languages as they are called nowadays. Using texts, dictionaries and grammars from more than 30 languages, he was the first to posit a proto-language (Urindonesisch) for this language family, and the first to attempt a systematic comparative treatment of sound system and morphology of these languages. In the latter part of his life - after the tragedy of the First World War, he was driven by a desire to contribute to peace and the recognition of equality among peoples and nations. In a series entitled "We peoples of the Indonesian earth", he gave voice to the "Indonesian" peoples and demonstrated that their languages and literatures are in no respect inferior to Indo-European languages. Renward Brandstetter's work has played an important role in advancing the progress of Austronesian linguistics. In this volume, the work of this great scholar is described and analyzed in detail for the first time. The articles - contributions to a conference held in Lucerne in 2010 at the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth - cover the major fields on which this polymath has worked over a period of 60 years: Swiss-German dialects, historical and comparative linguistics, Austronesian languages, Malay and Buginese literature, and the cultural and language history of the Swiss canton of Lucerne.