Deutscher: Syntactic Change in Akkadian

[PEEL, Alison]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Please can you distribute the following info to the Histling list. 
Many thanks,
Alison Peel,
Oxford University Press


Subject: Books: Syntactic Change in Akkadian
Text:
Syntactic Change in Akkadian, the evolution of sentential complementation.
Author: Guy Deutscher, Cambridge.
Oxford University Press.
 
Akkadian is the oldest Semitic language, and one of the earliest and longest
attested languages (ca. 2500 to 500BC). Its richly documented history
contains a large corpus of letters written in a spontaneous and colloquial
style, which are as close to the spoken language as can be expected from any
written genre. Using this unique historical corpus, Guy Deutscher examines
the development of complements and other subordinate structures in Akkadian.
The diachronic changes are described from structural and functional
perspectives. The structural history examines the emergence of new
structures: finite complements (which developed from adverbial clauses, only
during the historical period); and a quotative construction (which emerged
by a slow process of grammaticalization over a period of two millennia). The
functional history charts the changes in the roles of existing structures
over time. It shows how, during the history of the language, finite
subordination became more widespread, whereas other structures (e.g.
infinite complementation and parataxis) receded. Finally, the developments
in Akkadian are examined from a comparative perspective, and are shown to
have parallels in many other languages. It is suggested that aspects of the
development in Akkadian may be seen as 'adaptive', and related to the
emergence of more complex patterns of communication in a more complex
society. 

Hardback, ISBN: 0-19-829988-5
UK list price: £40.00 
Publication date: 9 November 2000
US list price:  $70.00 
<http://www.oup.co.uk/isbn/0-19-829988-5>