17.2903, Books: Historical Linguistics: Wanner

[LINGUIST Network]

LINGUIST List: Vol-17-2903. Thu Oct 05 2006. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 17.2903, Books: Historical Linguistics: Wanner

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Eastern Michigan U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>
 
Reviews: Laura Welcher, Rosetta Project / Long Now Foundation  
         <reviews at linguistlist.org> 

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded by Eastern Michigan University, Wayne
State University, and donations from subscribers and publishers.

Editor for this issue: Maria Moreno-Rollins <maria at linguistlist.org>
================================================================  

Links to the websites of all LINGUIST's supporting publishers
are available at the end of this issue. 


===========================Directory==============================  

1)
Date: 29-Sep-2006
From: Julia Ulrich < julia.ulrich at degruyter.com >
Subject: The Power of Analogy: Wanner 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 2006 14:46:41
From: Julia Ulrich < julia.ulrich at degruyter.com >
Subject: The Power of Analogy: Wanner 
 



Title: The Power of Analogy 
Subtitle: An essay on historical linguistics 
Series Title: Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs 170  

Publication Year: 2006 
Publisher: Mouton de Gruyter
	   http://www.mouton-publishers.com
	

Book URL: http://www.degruyter.de/rs/bookSingle.cfm?isbn=3-11-018873-2&fg=SK&L=E 


Author: Dieter Wanner, Ohio State University

Hardback: ISBN: 3110188732 Pages: 329 Price: Europe EURO 98.00
Hardback: ISBN: 3110188732 Pages: 329 Price: U.S. $ 132.30


Abstract:

In The Power of Anology, Dieter Wanner argues for reinstating historical
linguistics, especially in (morpho-)syntax, as constitutive of any
theoretical account of language.

In the first part, he provides a critique of some foundational concepts of
an object-oriented linguistic perspective, questioning the distinction
between synchrony and diachrony, dichotomous parametrization,
grammaticality judgments, and formal generalization. Instead, the immanent
perspective of the linguistic individual, licensed by broad cognitive
functions, highlights such relegated dimensions as similarity, (surface)
redundancy, frequency of form, and social and environmental conditions on
language use.

In the second part, Dieter Wanner relies on a systematic construct of
analogy as the dynamic force enabling language, tying together acquisition,
language use, and linguistic change. Such analogy is pervasive, driven by
local models, and inevitably spreading through the social web of linguistic
practice. The unpredictability, incompletion, and typical slowness of
change thereby become the norm, while categorical closure remains a marked
possibility. The framework of "Soft Syntax" spells out an operative model
for syntax relying on precedence, cohesion, dependence, agreement,
constructional identity, and concatenation. These six dimensions and their
interplay undergo a detailed exploration of their diachronic operation and
implications, applying them to typical examples taken from the history of
the Romance languages.

The openness of the framework enables diachronic linguistics to approach
old problems in a new light and to ask new questions about the mechanics
and nature of language change.


FROM THE CONTENTS

Part I

Diachrony: Positions and challenges

Domains in historical linguistics

Reintegrating diachrony: A critique of some theoretical constructs

Critical issues: Grammaticality, representation, redundancy, and regularity

Part II

Analogy, categorization, and learning

Soft syntax

Pathways for diachronic shifts

Conclusions 



Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics
                     Historical Linguistics

Language Family(ies): Romance


Written In: English  (eng)
	
See this book announcement on our website: 
http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=21597


MAJOR SUPPORTERS

	Blackwell Publishing          
		http://www.blackwellpublishing.com	

	Cambridge University Press          
		http://us.cambridge.org	

	Cascadilla Press          
		http://www.cascadilla.com/	

	Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd          
		http://www.continuumbooks.com	

	Edinburgh University Press          
		http://www.eup.ed.ac.uk/	

	Equinox Publishing Ltd.          
		http://www.equinoxpub.com/	

	European Language Resources Association - ELRA          
		http://www.elda.org/sommaire.php	

	Georgetown University Press          
		http://www.press.georgetown.edu	

	Hodder Arnold          
		http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk	

	John Benjamins          
		http://www.benjamins.com/	

	Lawrence Erlbaum Associates          
		http://www.erlbaum.com/	

	Lincom GmbH          
		http://www.lincom.at	

	MIT Press          
		http://mitpress.mit.edu/	

	Mouton de Gruyter          
		http://www.mouton-publishers.com	

	Multilingual Matters          
		http://www.multilingual-matters.com/	

	Oxford University Press          
		http://www.oup.com/us	

	Palgrave Macmillan          
		http://www.palgrave.com	

	Rodopi          
		http://www.rodopi.nl/	

	Routledge (Taylor and Francis)          
		http://www.routledge.com/	

	Springer          
		http://www.springer.com	

OTHER SUPPORTING PUBLISHERS	

	Anthropological Linguistics
		http://www.indiana.edu/~anthling/ 

	CSLI Publications
		http://cslipublications.stanford.edu/ 

	Graduate Linguistic Students' Assoc.   Umass
		http://glsa.hypermart.net/ 

	International Pragmatics Assoc.
		http://www.ipra.be 

	Kingston Press Ltd
		http://www.kingstonpress.com/ 

	Linguistic Assoc. of Finland
		http://www.ling.helsinki.fi/sky/ 

	MIT Working Papers in Linguistics
		http://web.mit.edu/mitwpl/ 

	Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative Ltd.
		www.muurrbay.org.au 

	Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke
		http://www.lotpublications.nl/ 

	Pacific Linguistics
		http://pacling.anu.edu.au/ 

	Peter Lang AG
		http://www.peterlang.com 

	SIL International
		http://www.ethnologue.com/bookstore.asp 

	St. Jerome Publishing Ltd.
		http://www.stjerome.co.uk 

	Utrecht institute of Linguistics
		http://www-uilots.let.uu.nl/ 
	



-----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-17-2903