Contributions de F. Alvarez-Pereyre, M. Bejta, C. Buridant, J. Carmignac, N.G. Contossopoulos, L. Deroy, G. Drettas, M. Erdal, M.M.J. Fernandez, L. Fleuriot, C. Fondet, M. Hasiuk, P. Klafkowski, I. Levin, A.F. Majewicz, U. Masing, D. Moinfar, U. Obst, F.J. Oinas, C. Paris, J. Pohl, V. Rukke-Dravina, W.R. Schmalstieg, F. de Sivers, N. Strazhas-Kameneckaite, J.M.C. Thomas, M. Tominaga, W. Veenker et S.C. Yau.
Interest in the Persian language has grown during the last few decades, as a consequence of which numerous studies and analyses of different size have been made. The present bibliography is a selection of essays, articles and monographs on the New Persian Language (including the variants Dari and Tajik and in addition local and regional accents such as Tehrani, Isfahani, and ShiraziPersian) written - up to the year 2001 - in the following languages: Persian, Arabic, English, French, German, Italian. Apart from the subject matter aspects like relevance to Persian, topicality and reliability were decisive, too. The present material has not been listed according to strict library usage, but the author has tried to combine the accuracy and conciseness of the entries with userfriendliness. Certain kinds of type (small capitals, italics) are intended to make it easier for the reader to find their way through the mass of information and moreover the reader is given further details which possibly offer more information than the title itself. For optimal use of the enclosed bibliography five indexes (Chronological Index, Subject Index, Language Index, Word Index, Person and Title Index) have been provided which offer the reader special information.
The Alor-Pantar family constitutes the westernmost outlier group of Pa\-puan (Non-Austronesian) languages. Its twenty or so languages are spoken on the islands of Alor and Pantar, located just north of Timor, in eastern Indonesia. Together with the Papuan languages of Timor, they make up the Timor-Alor-Pantar family. The languages average 5,000 speakers and are under pressure from the local Malay variety as well as the national language, Indonesian. This volume studies the internal and external linguistic history of this interesting group, and showcases some of its unique typological features, such as the preference to index the transitive patient-like argument on the verb but not the agent-like one; the extreme variety in morphological alignment patterns; the use of plural number words; the existence of quinary numeral systems; the elaborate spatial deictic systems involving an elevation component; and the great variation exhibited in their kinship systems. Unlike many other Papuan languages, Alor-Pantar languages do not exhibit clause-chaining, do not have switch reference systems, never suffix subject indexes to verbs, do not mark gender, but do encode clusivity in their pronominal systems. Indeed, apart from a broadly similar head-final syntactic profile, there is little else that the Alor-Pantar languages share with Papuan languages spoken in other regions. While all of them show some traces of contact with Austronesian languages, in general, borrowing from Austronesian has not been intense, and contact with Malay and Indonesian is a relatively recent phenomenon in most of the Alor-Pantar region. This is the second edition of the volume that was originally published in 2014. In this edition, typographical errors have been corrected, small textual improvements have been implemented, broken URL links repaired or removed, and references updated. The overall content of the chapters has not been changed.
TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks as well as studies that provide new insights by building bridges to neighbouring fields such as neuroscience and cognitive science. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.
"The book embeds an analysis of the Old English numeral system and its particularities into a broader, cross-linguistic discussion and provides a theoretical framework for the general study of numeral systems. A novel perspective on the morphosyntactic behaviour of numerals allows the author to test and refine some long standing tenets in the study of numerals." --Book Jacket.
This volume and its companion one "Theoretical and empirical issues in grammaticalization" offer a selection of papers from the "Third International Conference New Reflections on Grammaticalization," held in Santiago de Compostela in July 2005. From the rich programme of the conference (over 120 papers), the twelve contributions included in this volume were carefully selected to reflect the state of current research in grammaticalization and suggest possible directions for future investigations in the field. Combining theoretical discussions with the analysis of particular test cases from a wide range of languages from various language families, the selected papers focus on such central questions as the need for a broader notion of grammaticalization, the distorting effects of grammaticalization on grammar, the areal perspective in grammaticalization and the relevance of contact-induced change to grammaticalization. Other topics discussed include the development of markers of textual connectivity and the emergence of cardinal numerals and numeral systems.
The main function of language is to convey meaning. The question of why language is structured the way it is, Heine here argues, has therefore to be answered first of all with reference to this function. Linguistic explanations in terms of other exponents of language structure, e.g. of syntax, are likely to highlight peripheral or epi-phenomenal rather than central characteristics of language structure. This book uses basic findings on grammaticalization processes to describe the role of cognitive forces in shaping grammar. It provides students with an introductory treatment of a field of linguistics that has developed recently and is rapidly expanding.
The author argues that, as the main function of language is to convey meaning, language structure must be considered with reference to this function. A treatment is provided of the ways in which structure and usage can be explained with reference to the processes underlying human conceptualization.
