Four Books on Historical Linguistic topics

Thu Apr 27 19:02:14 UTC 2000

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
These are four recently published books on historical linguistic topics not
yet announced to the list:

Diachronic Pragmatics.
Seven case studies in English illocutionary development.
Leslie ARNOVICK (University of British Columbia)
Pragmatics & Beyond NS 68
US & Canada: 1 55619 946 5 / USD 65.00 (Hardcover)
Rest of world: 90 272 5083 9 / NLG 130.00 (Hardcover)

The purpose of Diachronic Pragmatics is to exemplify historical pragmatics
in its twofold sense of constituting both a subject matter and a
methodology. This book demonstrates how diachronic pragmatics, with its
complementary diachronic function-to-form mapping and diachronic
form-to-function mapping, can be used to trace pragmatic developments
within the English language. Through a set of case studies it explores the
evolution of such speech acts as promises, curses, blessings, and
greetings and such speech events as flyting and sounding. Collectively
these "illocutionary biographies" manifest the workings of several
important pragmatic processes and trends: increased epistemicity,
subjectification, and discursization (a special kind of
pragmaticalization). It also establishes the centrality of cultural
traditions in diachronic reconstruction, examining various
de-institutionalizations of extra-linguistic context and their affect on
speech act performance. Taken together, the case studies presented in
Diachronic Pragmatics highlight the complex interactions of formal,
semantic, and pragmatic processes over time. Illustrating the
possibilities of historical pragmatic pursuit, this book stands as an
invitation to further research in a new and important discipline.

Chinese Dialect Classification.
A comparative approach to Harngjou, Old Jintarn, and Common Northern Wu.
  Richard VanNess SIMMONS (Rutgers University)
Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 188
US & Canada: 1 55619 965 1 / USD 90.00 (Hardcover)
Rest of world: 90 272 3694 1 / NLG 180.00 (Hardcover)

This volume is an investigation and classification of dialects along the
Wu and Jiang-Hwai Mandarin border in China's eastern Yangtze Valley. It is
the first monograph-length study to critically question the traditional
single criterion of initial voicing for the classification of Wu dialects
and propose a comprehensive comparative framework as a more successful
alternative. Arguing that dialect affiliation is best determined through
analysis of dialect correspondence to common phonological systems, the
author develops a taxonomic analysis that definitively distinguishes
Common Northern Wu and Mandarin dialects. By clarifying dialect
affiliation in the Wu and Mandarin border region, this volume makes
significant contributions to our understanding of the true nature of the
region's dialects and their history.
Using primarily data drawn from the author's own fieldwork, the volume
contains copious comparative examples and an extensive lexicon of the Old
Jintarn dialect.

Exploring the Role of Morphology in the Evolution of Spanish.
Joel RINI (University of Virginia)
Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 179
US & Canada: 1 55619 956 2 / USD 74.00 (Hardcover)
Rest of world: 90 272 3685 2 / NLG 148.00 (Hardcover)

After a brief survey of the perception of morphological change in the
standard works of the Hispanic tradition in the 20th century, the author
first attempts to refine concepts such as analogy, leveling, blending,
contamination, etc. as they have been applied to Spanish. He then revisits
difficult problems of Spanish historical grammar and explores the extent
to which various types of morphological processes may have operated in a
given change. Selected problems are examined in light of abundant textual
evidence. Some include: the resistance to change of Sp. dormir 'to sleep',
morir 'to die', the vocalic sequence /ee/, the reduction of the OSp.
verbal suffixes -ades, -edes, -ides, -odes, and the uncertain origin of
Sp. eres 'you are'. Important notions such as the directionality of
leveling, phonological vs. morphological change in the nominal and verbal
paradigms, the morphological spread of sound change, and the role of
morphological factors in apparent syntactic change are discussed.

The Roots of Old Chinese.
Laurent SAGART (C. R. L. A. O., Paris)
Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 184
US & Canada: 1 55619 961 9 / USD 85.00 (Hardcover)
Rest of world: 90 272 3690 9 / NLG 170.00 (Hardcover)

The phonology, morphology and lexicon of late Zhou Chinese are examined in
this volume. It is argued that a proper understanding of Old Chinese
morphology is essential in correctly reconstructing the phonology. Based
on evidence from word-families, modern dialects and related words in
neighboring languages, Old Chinese words are claimed to consist of a
monosyllabic root, to which a variety of derivational affixes attached.
This made Old Chinese typologically more like modern languages such as
Khmer, Gyarong or Atayal, than like Middle and modern Chinese, where only
faint traces of the old morphology remain.
In the first part of the book, the author proposes improvements to
Baxter's system of reconstruction, regarding complex initials and rhymes,
and then reviews in great detail the Old Chinese affixal morphology. New
proposals on phonology and morphology are integrated into a coherent
reconstruction system.
The second part of the book consists of etymological studies of important
lexical items in Old Chinese. The author demonstrates in particular the
role of proportional analogy in the formation of the system of personal
pronouns. Special attention is paid to contact phenomena between Chinese
and neighboring languages, and - unlike most literature on Sino-Tibetan -
the author identifies numerous Chinese loanwords into Tibeto-Burman.
The book, which contains a lengthy list of reconstructions, an index of
characters and a general index, is intended for linguists and cultural
historians, as well as advanced students.

                                John Benjamins Publishing Co.
Offices:                Philadelphia                                    Amsterdam:
Websites:       http://www.benjamins.com                        http://www.benjamins.nl
E-mail:         service at benjamins.com                   customer.services at benjamins.nl
Phone:          +215 836-1200                                   +31 20 6762325
Fax:            +215 836-1204                                   +31 20 6739773