18.2143, Books: Genetic Classification: Zima (Ed)

Mon Jul 16 14:50:18 UTC 2007

LINGUIST List: Vol-18-2143. Mon Jul 16 2007. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 18.2143, Books: Genetic Classification: Zima (Ed)

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Eastern Michigan U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>

Reviews: Randall Eggert, U of Utah  
         <reviews at linguistlist.org> 

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org/

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

Editor for this issue: Hannah Morales <hannah at linguistlist.org>
================================================================  

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

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

1)
Date: 12-Jul-2007
From: Ulrich Lueders < lincom.europa at t-online.de >
Subject: Areal and Genetic Factors in Language Classification and
Description: Zima (Ed)

-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 10:49:02
From: Ulrich Lueders < lincom.europa at t-online.de >
Subject: Areal and Genetic Factors in Language Classification and Description: Zima (Ed) 

Title: Areal and Genetic Factors in Language Classification and
Description 
Subtitle: Africa South of the Sahara 
Series Title: LINCOM Studies in African Linguistics 47  

Publication Year: 2007 
Publisher: Lincom GmbH
	   http://www.lincom.eu

Editor: Petr Zima

Paperback: ISBN: 3895869384  Pages: 240 Price: Europe EURO 79.00

Abstract:

This is intended to be a collection of papers the origin of which is the
set of lectures given by selected scholars from different Universities of
Europe at Charles University in Prague in 1997-1998 on present-day problems
of language classification and description, with particular attention to
Africa. In these lectures, particular attention is paid to languages,
language families/or branches and areas the status of which still remains
to some extent open to discussion, despite years of more or less
concentrated and concerted efforts. Most such lectures were subject to
further discussions in the Czech Grant Agency Research Team 403-96- 0787
and the Groupement de Recherche Européen No 1172 du Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique, Paris, and then re-written and extended for the
purpose of this volume. 

It is in this context that several lectures of the above-mentioned set are
devoted to problematic languages, language branches, families and areas of
Africa south of the Sahara. This is, in fact, a region where even today,
more than two hundred years after the publication of S.W.Koelle's
Polyglotta Africana and more than thirty-five years after the publication
of J.H. Greenberg's Languages of Africa, open options in language
classification and description remain almost as frequent as cases of the
firmly and reliably established ones. That is why only such attempts at
language classification (be they traditionally oriented or be their
orientation an attempt at some sort of a new methodological and theoretical
platform) were accepted for publication within this volume, which were
based on genuine experience in describing the languages concerned. In this
respect, new methodological and theoretical concepts originating from
recent experience with field work in Africa are also supposed to be of
crucial importance. Hence it follows that synthetic approaches to
comparative studies and/or areal classification of such "problematic"
language families/branches or areas as Chadic, Khoisan, Mande, Saharan etc.
were accepted, as well as cases of such "problematic" language and dialect
clusters as Fula, Hausa or Songhay. In this respect, the volume may perhaps
serve some of the aims of a future team work oriented to present a sort of
Introduction to African linguistics, its pretentions being restricted,
obviously, to certain language groups and areas of Africa for the research
of which the respective authors feel competent.

While disputable cases and options concerning classification of language
families and areas of Africa south of the Sahara were in the focus of most
contributions in this volume, there was another, much broader pretention
behind the efforts to compile it. Tending to stress either the genetic
comparison of languages or their areal contrastive confrontantion, many
linguists are well aware of the fact that while both approaches serve
different purpose using different methods (which are not to be mixed
together), there is a profound link between particular methods and areas.
Or better, one could say there are links between the
historico-sociolinguistic types of language communities in question and
methods chosen to analyse them. 

For the complete abstract, please see: 
http://www.lincom.eu/

2nd printing 2007. 

Linguistic Field(s): Genetic Classification

Written In: English  (eng)

See this book announcement on our website: 
http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=30262

MAJOR SUPPORTERS

	Blackwell Publishing          
		http://www.blackwellpublishing.com	

	Brill          
		http://www.brill.nl/	

	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/	

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

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

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

	Lincom GmbH          
		http://www.lincom.eu	

	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	

	Pagijong Press          
		http://pjbook.com	

	Palgrave Macmillan          
		http://www.palgrave.com	

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-18-2143	