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Areal Diffusion and Genetic Inheritance
Problems in Comparative Linguistics
Edited by Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald and R. M. W. Dixon
470 pages
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Numerous maps, tables and line drawings
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234x156mm
978-0-19-928308-8
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Paperback
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02 March 2006
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- Explains cultural and linguistic change, and provides a general discussion of which kinds of linguistic feature can and cannot be borrowed
- Contributions from leading scholars in their fields and by leading general linguistics
- Covers Ancient Anatolia, Modern Anatolia, Australia, Amazonia, Oceania, Southeast and East Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa
Two languages can resemble each other in the categories, constructions, and types of meaning they use; and in the forms they employ to express these. Such resemblances may be the consequence of universal characteristics of language, of chance or coincidence, of the borrowing by one language of another's words, or of the diffusion of grammatical, phonetic, and phonological characteristics that takes place when languages come into contact. Languages sometimes show likeness because they have borrowed not from each other but from a third language. Languages that come from the same ancestor may have
similar grammatical categories and meanings expressed by similar forms: such languages are said to be genetically affiliated.
This book considers how and why forms and meanings of different languages at different times may resemble one another. Its editors and authors aim (a) to explain and identify the relationship between areal diffusion and the genetic development of languages, and (b) to discover the means of distinguishing what may cause one language to share the characteristics of another. The introduction outlines the issues that underlie these aims, introduces the chapters which follow, and comments on recurrent conclusions by the contributors. The problems are formidable and the pitfalls numerous: for example, several of the authors draw attention to the
inadequacy of the family tree diagram as the main metaphor for language relationship.
The authors range over Ancient Anatolia, Modern Anatolia, Australia, Amazonia, Oceania, Southeast and East Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. The book includes an archaeologist's view on what material evidence offers to explain cultural and linguistic change, and a general discussion of which kinds of linguistic feature can and cannot be borrowed. The chapters are accessibly-written and illustrated by twenty maps. The book will interest all students of the causes and consequences of language change and evolution.Readership: Primarily scholars and students of linguistics, archaeology, and anthropology. Will also
appeal to historians, psychologists, and philosophers.
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Edited by Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, and R. M. W. Dixon, The Cairns Institute, James Cook University Contributors:
Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, La Trobe University
Peter Bellwood, The Australian National University
Hilary Chappell, La Trobe University
Timothy Jowan Curnow, La Trobe University
Alan Dench, University of Western Australia
Gerrit J. Dimmendaal, Koln University
R. M. W. Dixon, La Trobe University
Nicholas J. Enfield, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
Geoffrey Haig, Kiel
University
Bernd Heine, Koln University
Tanja Kuteva, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
Randy J. LaPolla, La Trobe University
James A. Matisoff, University of California, Berkeley
Malcolm Ross, The Australian National University
Calvert Watkins, Harvard University
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"extremely rich, competent, and well-edited." - Language,
Review(s) from previous edition
"This book is a pleasure to sample, and will serve as a resource for years to come. The salutary lesson that emerges from every chapter is that diffusion studies are necessarily complementary to genetic studies, and that our methodology for studying various types of contact needs to be extended and refined. - Diachronica
"Highly recommended for all those interested in historical linguistics, linguistic typology, language contact and language change ... this book represents a good opportunity to meditate, on the one side, on models of language evolution and, on the other side, on actual phenomena of language change." - LINGUIST List
"Invaluable ... the uniformly high quality of the contributions demonstrates that all contributors know whereof they speak ... The geographical range of the contributions is impressive. ...The quality of the production is high." - The Journal of The Royal Anthropological Institute
"... A book worth acquiring and reading." - Journal of Linguistics
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1.: Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald and R. M. W. Dixon: Introduction
2.: Peter Bellwood: Archaeology and the Historical Determinants of Punctuation in Language-Family Origins
3.: Calvert Watkins: An Indo-European Linguistic Area and its Characteristics: Ancient Anatolia. Areal Diffusion as a Challenge to the Comparative Method?
4.: R. M. W. Dixon: The Australian Linguistic Area
5.: Alan Dench: Descent and Diffusion: The Complexity of the Pilbara Situation
6.: Malcolm Ross: Contact-Induced Change in Oceanic Languages in North-West Melanesia
7.: Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald: Areal Diffusion, Genetic Inheritance, and Problems of Subgrouping: A North Arawak Case Study
8.: Geoffrey Haig: Linguistic Diffusion in Present-Day East Anatolia: From Top to Bottom
9.: Randy J. LaPolla: The Role of Migration and Language Contact in the Development of the Sino-Tibetan Language Family
10.: N. J. Enfield: On Genetic and Areal Linguistics in Mainland South-East Asia: Parallel Polyfunctionality of 'Acquire'
11.: James A. Matisoff: Genetic Versus Contact Relationship: Prosodic Diffusibility in South-East Asian Languages
12.: Hilary Chappell: Language Contact and Areal Diffusion in Sinitic Languages
13.: Gerrit J. Dimmendaal: Areal Diffusion Versus Genetic Inheritance: An African Perspective
14.: Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva: Convergence and Divergence in the Development of African Lanaguages
15.: Timothy Jowan Curnow: What Language Features can be 'Borrowed'?
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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