36.3939, Books: Uniformitarianism in Language Speciation: Mufwene and Aboh (eds.) (2025)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-3939. Mon Dec 22 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.3939, Books: Uniformitarianism in Language Speciation: Mufwene and Aboh (eds.) (2025)

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Date: 18-Dec-2025
From: Ellena Moriarty [rfsupport at cambridge.org]
Subject: Uniformitarianism in Language Speciation: Mufwene and Aboh (eds.) (2025)


Title: Uniformitarianism in Language Speciation
Subtitle: From Creolistics to Genetic Linguistics
Publication Year: 2025

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
           http://www.cambridge.org/linguistics
Book URL:
https://www.cambridge.org/ch/universitypress/subjects/languages-linguistics/historical-linguistics/uniformitarianism-language-speciation-creolistics-genetic-linguistics?format=HB&isbn=9781009628969

Editor(s): Salikoko S. Mufwene; Enoch O. Aboh

Hardback ISBN:  9781009628969 Pages:  450 Price: U.K. £ 130.00
Hardback ISBN:  9781009628969 Pages:  450 Price: Europe EURO 151.72
Hardback ISBN:  9781009628969 Pages:  450 Price: U.S. $ 170.00

Abstract:

Uniformitarianism is the widely held assumption that, in the case of
languages, structural and other changes in the past must have been
triggered and constrained by the same ecological factors as changes in
the present. This volume, led by two of the most eminent scholars in
language contact, brings together an international team of authors to
shed new light on Uniformitarianism in historical linguistics.
Applying the Uniformitarian Principle to creoles and pidgins, as well
as other languages, the chapters show that, contrary to the received
doctrine, the former group of languages did not emerge in an
exceptional way. Covering a typologically and geographically broad
range of languages, and focusing on different contact ecologies in
Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, the book also dispels common
misconceptions about what Uniformitarianism is. It shows how similar
processes in different ecosystems result in different linguistic
patterns, which don't require exceptional linguistic explanations in
terms of creolization, pidginization, simplification, or incomplete
acquisition.

Written In: English (eng)



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