The Greater Awyu Languages of West Papua
The Greater Awyu Languages of West Papua

Author: Lourens de Vries

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2020-08-24

Total Pages: 263

ISBN-13: 1501506951

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This book is a comprehensive and authoritative description of the Greater Awyu family of Papuan languages. The book brings together many decades of research on Greater Awyu languages, including 10 years of field work by the author. The book presents a description of major patterns found in languages of the family: phonology, morphology, syntax and discourse. In addition, major aspects of the anthropological linguistics of Greater Awyu languages are described: counting systems, language names, kinship, linguistic ideologies, lexical substitution registers, avoidance and taboo. The linguistic patterns of Greater Awyu languages are systematically placed in the genetic, typological, areal and historical contexts of New Guinea. The long dialect continuums within the family, by reflecting different diachronic stages, offer a window on the origin of switch reference, clause chaining, topic markers, postpositions and double-headed relative clauses. The book is relevant for readers interested in the typological, historical and cultural linguistics of New Guinea but also for anthropologists and historians because the history and cultural practices of Greater Awyu speakers are a key part of the story of this language family.

A Survey of Word Accentual Patterns in the Languages of the World
A Survey of Word Accentual Patterns in the Languages of the World

Author: Harry van der Hulst

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2010-12-15

Total Pages: 897

ISBN-13: 3110198967

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In part I of this volume, experts on various language areas provide surveys of word stress/accent systems of as many languages in 'their' part of the world as they could lay their hands on. No preconditions (theoretical or otherwise) were set, but the authors were encouraged to use the StressTyp data in their chapters. Australian Languages (Rob Goedemans), Austronesian Languages (Ellen van Zanten, Ruben Stoel and Bert Remijsen), Papuan Languages (Ellen van Zanten and Philomena Dol), North American Languages (Keren Rice), South American Languages (Sergio Meira and Leo Wetzels), African Languages (Laura Downing), European Languages (Harry van der Hulst), Asian Languages (Harry van der Hulst and René Schiering), Middle Eastern Languages (Harry van der Hulst and Sam Hellmuth). There is an introductory chapter (Chapter 1) that will provide the reader with elementary terminology and theoretical tools to understand the variety of accentual systems that will be discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. Chapter 2 has a double function. It presents an overview of stress patterns in Australian languages, but at the same time it is intended to (re-)familiarize readers with the coding, terminology and theoretical ideas of the StressTyp database. Chapter 11 presents statistical and typological information from the StressTyp database. Part II of this volume contains 'language profiles' which are, for each of the 511 languages contained in StressTyp (in 2009), extracts from the information that is contained in the database. This volume will be of interest to people in the field of theoretical phonology and language typology. It will function as a reference work for these groups of researchers, but also, more generally, for people working on syntax and other fields of linguistics, who might wish to know certain basic facts about the distribution of word accent systems

The Papuan Languages of New Guinea
The Papuan Languages of New Guinea

Author: William A. Foley

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1986-11-20

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780521286213

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This introduction to the descriptive and historical linguistics of the Papuan languages of New Guinea provide an accessible account of one of the richest and most diverse linguistic situations in the world. The Papuan languages number over 700 (or 20 per cent of the world's total) in more than sixty language families. Less than a quarter of the individual languages have yet been adequately documented, and in this sense William Foley's book might be considered premature. However, in the search for language universals and generalisations in linguistic typology, it would be foolhardy to neglect the information that is available. In this respect alone, the present volume, systematically organised on mainly typology principles, is particularly timely and useful. In addition, the processes of linguistic diffusion are present in New Guinea to an extent probably paralleled elsewhere on the globe. The Papuan Languages of New Guinea will be of interest not only to general and comparative linguists and to typologists, but also to sociolinguists and anthropologists for the information it provides on the social dynamics of language content.

Applicative Constructions in the World’s Languages
Applicative Constructions in the World’s Languages

Author: Fernando Zuniga

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2024-01-29

Total Pages: 1100

ISBN-13: 3110730952

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This book presents a state-of-the-art cross-linguistic survey of applicative constructions in the functional-typological tradition. An introductory section sets the terminological and analytical stage, presents the methodology used by the different chapters, and provides a typological outlook. The individual contributions address the morphological, syntactic and semantic variation of applicatives, as well as their discourse-pragmatic function. They cover all major language families and some isolates that feature some illuminating version of the phenomenon, paying special attention to language-internal variation and unity. The phenomena surveyed range from those instances usually considered canonical (valency-increasing, syntactically and semantically predictable, productive, dedicated, and optional) to those occasionally understudied in descriptive works and frequently neglected in comparative studies (valency-neutral, rather unpredictable, lexicalized, syncretic, and/or obligatory).

The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area
The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area

Author: Bill Palmer

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2017-12-04

Total Pages: 1036

ISBN-13: 3110295253

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The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide is part of the multi-volume reference work on the languages and linguistics of all major regions of the world. The island of New Guinea and its offshore islands is arguably the most diverse and least documented linguistic hotspot in the world - home to over 1300 languages, almost one fifth of all living languages, in more than 40 separate families, along with numerous isolates. Traditionally one of the least understood linguistic regions, ongoing research allows for the first time a comprehensive guide. Given the vastness of the region and limited previous overviews, this volume focuses on an account of the families and major languages of each area within the region, including brief grammatical descriptions of many of the languages. The volume also includes a typological overview of Papuan languages, and a chapter on Austronesian-Papuan contact. It will make accessible current knowledge on this complex region, and will be the standard reference on the region. It is aimed at typologists, endangered language specialists, graduate and advanced undergraduate students, and all those interested in linguistic diversity and understanding this least known linguistic region.

Typology of Pluractional Constructions in the Languages of the World
Typology of Pluractional Constructions in the Languages of the World

Author: Simone Mattiola

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2019-04-24

Total Pages: 263

ISBN-13: 9027262586

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The aim of this book is to give the first large-scale typological investigation of pluractionality in the languages of the world. Pluractionality is defined as the morphological modification of the verb to express a plurality of situations that can additionally involve a plurality of participants and/or spaces. Based on a 246-language sample, the main characteristics of pluractionality are described and discussed throughout the book. Firstly, a description of the functions that pluractional markers cross-linguistically express is presented and the relationships occurring among them are explained through the semantic map model. Then, the marking strategies that languages display to express such functions are illustrated and some issues concerning the formal identification are briefly discussed as well. The typological generalizations are corroborated showing how pluractional markers work in three specific languages (Akawaio, Beja, Maa). In conclusion, the theoretical conceptualization of pluractionality is discussed referring to the Radical Construction Grammar approach.

Exact Methods in the Study of Language and Text
Exact Methods in the Study of Language and Text

Author: Peter Grzybek

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2011-12-22

Total Pages: 790

ISBN-13: 3110894211

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Founding Editor: Gabriel Altmann The series Quantitative Linguistics publishes books on all aspects of quantitative methods and models in linguistics, text analysis and related research fields. Specifically, the scope of the series covers the whole spectrum of theoretical and empirical research, ultimately striving for an exact mathematical formulation and empirical testing of hypotheses: observation and description of linguistic data, application of methods and models, discussion of methodological and epistemological issues, modelling of language and text phenomena.