Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages

Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages

Author: Gerrit J. Dimmendaal

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2011-06-08

Total Pages: 441

ISBN-13: 9027287228

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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 Bloomsbury Companion to Historical Linguistics

The Bloomsbury Companion to Historical Linguistics

Author: Silvia Luraghi

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2013-03-07

Total Pages: 526

ISBN-13: 144114966X

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Originally published as the Continuum Companion to Historical Linguistics, this book brings together a number of leading scholars who provide a combination of different approaches to current and new issues in historical linguistics, while supplying an exhaustive and up-to-date coverage of sub-fields traditionally regarded as central to historical linguistics research. The editors aim to build a solid background for further discussion and to indicate directions for new research on relevant open questions. The book includes coverage of key terms, a list of resources, and sections on: - history of research- methodology- phonology- morphology- grammatical categories- syntax- grammaticalization- semantics - etymology- language contact- sociolinguistics- causes of language change It is a complete resource for researchers working on historical linguistics.


Tracing Language Movement in Africa

Tracing Language Movement in Africa

Author: Ericka A. Albaugh

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 449

ISBN-13: 0190657545

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Many disciplines study language movement and change in Africa, but they rarely interact. Here, eighteen scholars from a range of disciplines explore differing conceptions of language movement in Africa through empirical case studies.


Nurturing Language

Nurturing Language

Author: Gerrit J. Dimmendaal

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2022-11-07

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 3110726637

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This monograph introduces students and scholars in linguistics, anthropology, and intercultural communication to anthropological linguistics, with a special focus on Africa. Among the topics addressed are semantic fields such as kinship or colour terminology, spatial orientation, linguistic relativity and the link between language and cognition, onomastics, the ethnography of communication, interactional sociolinguistics, emotions, (im)politeness strategies, conversation analysis, and non-verbal communication.


Barayin Morphosyntax

Barayin Morphosyntax

Author: Joseph Lovestrand

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022-01-06

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 0192591835

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This volume offers a Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG) analysis of the morphosyntax of Barayin, a Chadic language spoken by about 6000 people in the Guera region of Chad. The core chapters of the book draw on rich empirical data to provide analyses of the basic clause, noun phrases, verb phrases, and serial verb constructions. The version of LFG adopted here includes two recent innovations: the first is minimal c-structure, which results in simpler phrase structure representations; the second is the assumption that glue semantics accounts for argument selection, rejecting the need for a level of a-structure or for Completeness and Coherence in f-structure. Argument sharing in serial verb constructions can thus be modeled in a connected s-structure. This method of modeling semantic composition in complex predicates is extended to directional and associated motion complex predicates in Choctaw and Wambaya, removing the need to appeal to a special mechanism to unite semantic forms in such constructions.


A Royal Book of Protection of the Saite Period

A Royal Book of Protection of the Saite Period

Author: Paul F. O'Rourke

Publisher: Yale Egyptology

Published: 2015-12-31

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 1950343073

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This new study offers a comprehensive examination of a unique manuscript, a Late Period hieratic papyrus in the Brooklyn Museum. This document comprises a compilation of seventeen individual prophylactic texts whose anatomical focus is the ear. Many of the texts specifically state that they are intended for the protection of the ears of a king named Psamtik, a historical figure who ruled Egypt in the seventh century BCE. The fact that this papyrus was created to serve a sole purpose and function, the protection of the ear, distinguishes it noticeably from earlier Egyptian medical and magical texts that are largely encyclopedic and were intended to serve a broad range of purposes. The present study contains an introduction and full translation with extensive philological and textual commentary, as the texts of this papyrus are rich in mythological allusions. The commentaries are largely based on comparison with contemporary and older Egyptian texts that, although not direct parallels as there are none, serve nonetheless as a rich resource for comparative analysis that has led to a more informed reading of this important document.


Priest-King of the Warriors and Witch-Queen of the Others

Priest-King of the Warriors and Witch-Queen of the Others

Author: Michal Cigán

Publisher: Masarykova univerzita

Published: 2019-01-01

Total Pages: 171

ISBN-13: 8021093420

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Kniha přináší interpretaci dvojice indoevropských mytologických témat s důrazem na jejich komplexní historický a sociálně-kognitivní kontext. Zvolený přístup umožňuje jak přehodnotit tradiční interpretaci všeobecně známého mytologického cyklu, tak i zároveň uvést mytologické téma dosud neuchopené. V první časti knihy je diskutována látka indoevropského stvořitelského mýtu. Závěrem je tvrzení, že protoindoevropský kulturní prostor pravděpodobně vznikl jako důsledek předhistorického kargo kultu. Předprotoindoevropští lovci-sběrači reagovali na příchod afroasijských farmářů způsobem připomínajícím chování moderních domorodých populací, náhle konfrontovaných s přítomností západního industriálního světa. Z toho důvodu jsou stěžejní témata a motivy indoevropského stvořitelského mýtu interpretovány jako možné relikty ideologie předprotoindoevropského kargo kultu. _x000D_Druhá část knihy je věnována vymezení nové indoevropské mytologické struktury, takzvaného mýtu o honu na čarodějnice. Prostřednictvím analýzy rozličných lokálních podob příběhu o konfliktu elity s démonickým vojskem vedeným čarodějnicí je identifikován základní vzorec tohoto narativu. Jeho sémantika je následně interpretována jako produkt sociálních a rodových nastavení archaických indoevropských společností.


The Semitic Languages

The Semitic Languages

Author: Stefan Weninger

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2011-12-23

Total Pages: 1298

ISBN-13: 3110251582

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The handbook The Semitic Languages offers a comprehensive reference tool for Semitic Linguistics in its broad sense. It is not restricted to comparative Grammar, although it covers also comparative aspects, including classification. By comprising a chapter on typology and sections with sociolinguistic focus and language contact, the conception of the book aims at a rather complete, unbiased description of the state of the art in Semitics. Articles on individual languages and dialects give basic facts as location, numbers of speakers, scripts, numbers of extant texts and their nature, attestation where appropriate, and salient features of the grammar and lexicon of the respective variety. The handbook is the most comprehensive treatment of the Semitic language family since many decades.


Studies on Reduplication

Studies on Reduplication

Author: Bernhard Hurch

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 662

ISBN-13: 9783110181197

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The series is a platform for contributions of all kinds to this rapidly developing field. General problems are studied from the perspective of individual languages, language families, language groups, or language samples. Conclusions are the result of a deepened study of empirical data. Special emphasis is given to little-known languages, whose analysis may shed new light on long-standing problems in general linguistics.