10.874, Books: Esperanto

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Wed Jun 9 02:22:26 UTC 1999 

LINGUIST List:  Vol-10-874. Tue Jun 8 1999. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 10.874, Books: Esperanto

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1)
Date:  Sat, 05 Jun 1999 11:14:05 +0200
From:  LINCOM.EUROPA at t-online.de (LINCOM EUROPA)
Subject:  New book: Esperanto; grammar

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:  Sat, 05 Jun 1999 11:14:05 +0200
From:  LINCOM.EUROPA at t-online.de (LINCOM EUROPA)
Subject:  New book: Esperanto; grammar

- - The first critical linguistic analysis of Esperanto --

THE GRAMMAR OF ESPERANTO. A CORPUS-BASED DESCRIPTION
Christopher Gledhill, University of St. Andrews

This book provides a detailed description of Esperanto for linguists who
are not familiar with the language. Its main aim is to demonstrate that
Esperanto not only has complex system of etymology and word formation,
but also of syntax and phraseology. Another aim is to determine to what
extent the language has extended beyond its original conception in 1887.
This work presents for the first time statistical and contextual
analysis from a representative computer-based text archive using the
latest techniques of corpus linguistics.
	Esperanto is an ideal object of study for linguists since it is the
most widespread and best known example of an artificial language. In
theory, Esperanto represents a regular, easily assimilated language
designed for international use. Yet the language also came to be used
socially among fellow enthusiasts, intellectually as a literary forum
and politically for propaganda, especially in the communist era.
Conservative estimates indicate 50,000 speakers, which is large by
minority language standards. Yet Esperanto's status as a second language
and ideological project has only recently attracted socio-linguistic
fieldwork (Stocker 1995) and the language has undergone almost no
critical linguistic analysis.
	Traditional descriptions point out that some syntactic elements of
Esperanto are a priori rational systems which resemble few other
languages, while most morpho-lexical elements are a posteriori and
resemble donor languages such as Latin.  Popular accounts of Esperanto
rely on the '16 rules' which have led to the misconception that
Esperanto has a minimal grammar. However, in the natural development of
the language some original creole-like characteristics have emerged
beyond Zamenhof's original design. For example, the uncertainty over
aspect or tense in verbs, the increasing use of adverbs and
prepositional-adverbs, or variable theme orientation in compound nouns.
These processes are evidence of evolution in the language, although some
have led to conflicts within the movement. There is particular debate
about the degree to which it is possibile to control the language of
what is essentially a discourse-community as well as a speech community
(Swales 1990). All these factors make the language difficult to
categorize according to traditional formulae. This volume outlines a
linguistic description of the particularities of the language, from the
morphosyntax to elements of phraseolgy. The description is based on a
computational analysis of a written text archive (a corpus of 350 000
words). The corpus analysis reveals consistent patterns of phraseology
which point to linguistic richness and dynamism. These patterns belie
the receivced wisdom that artificial languages cannot really display
natural complexity. [A version of this text in Esperanto can be seen on
LINCOM'S web site]

Contents:  0 Historical and social background. 1 Phonology 2 Morphology
3 Syntax 4 Phraseology 5 Interlinear transcription Appendices: corpus
statistics and word lists.

ISBN 3 89586 217 7.
Languages of the World/Materials 190.
Ca. 100pp. USD 44 / DM 62 / pound sterling 24.

Ordering information for individuals: Please give us your creditcard no.
/ expiry date or send us a cheque. Prices in this information include
shipment worldwide by airmail.
LINCOM EUROPA, Paul-Preuss-Str. 25, D-80995 Muenchen, Germany; FAX +49
89 3148909;
New titles: http://home.t-online.de/home/LINCOM.EUROPA/new1.htm;
LINCOM.EUROPA at t-online.de.


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            Publisher's backlists

The following contributing LINGUIST publishers have made their
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1999 Contributors:

Major Supporters:

Arnold Publishers
	http://www.arnoldpublishers.com
Blackwell Publishers
	http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/
Elsevier Science, Ltd.
	http://www.elsevier.nl/
John Benjamins Publishing Company
	http://www.benjamins.com/
	http://www.benjamins.nl/
Kluwer Academic Publishing
	http://www.wkap.nl/
Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
	http://www.erlbaum.com/inform.htm
Lincom Europa
	http://home.t-online.de/home/LINCOM.EUROPA/
MIT Press (Books Division)
        http://mitpress.mit.edu/books-legacy.tcl
MIT Working Papers in Linguistics
	http://mitpress.mit.edu/promotions/books/
Mouton de Gruyter
	http://www.deGruyter.de/hling.html
Summer Institute of Linguistics
	http://www.sil.org/

Other Supporting Publishers:

Cascadilla Press
	http://www.cascadilla.com/
CSLI Publications:
	http://csli-www.stanford.edu/publications/
Finno-Ugrian Society
	http://www.helsinki.fi/jarj/sus
Indiana University Linguistics Club
	http://php.indiana.edu/~iulc/
Pacific Linguistics
	http://coombs.anu.edu.au/Depts/RSPAS/LING/pl/pageone.html
Utrecht Institute of Linguistics
	http://www-uilots.let.uu.nl/
Vaxjo:Acta Wexionesia

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