Grammars In Contact: Cross-Linguistic Typology, A

Description:
Languages can be similar in many ways - they can resemble each other in categories, constructions and meanings, and in the actual forms used to express these. A shared feature may be based on common genetic origin, or result from geographic proximity and borrowing. Some aspects of grammar are spread more readily than others. The question is - which are they? When languages are in contact with each other, what changes do we expect to occur in their grammatical structures? Only an inductively based cross-linguistic examination can provide an answer. This is what this volume is about. The book starts with a typological introduction outlining principles of contact-induced change and factors which facilitate diffusion of linguistic traits. It is followed by twelve studies of contact-induced changes in languages from Amazonia, East and West Africa, Australia, East Timor, and the Sinitic domain. Set alongside these are studies of Pennsylvania German spoken by Mennonites in Canada in contact with English, Basque in contact with Romance languages in Spain and France, and language contact in the Balkans.All the studies are based on intensive fieldwork, and each cast in terms of the typological parameters set out in the introduction. The book includes a glossary to facilitate its use by graduates and advanced undergraduates in linguistics and in disciplines such as anthropology.

Review:
Aikhenvald's numerous publications, study, and research are evident in this edited collection...Its descriptive approach with an underlying functional explanation of language contact principles makes it a readable collection of well-edited articles on language contact. Mayrene Bentley, Linguist List ...an excellent contribution of top quality empirical work to the burgeoning literature on language contact and its long-term effects on linguistic systems. N. J. Enfield Studies in Language an impressive book...an important contribution to the study of languages in contact. Rolf Theil Languages in Contrast ...this volume can be recommended to all those interested in typology and language contact. Gisella Ferraresi Folia Linguistica

Table of Contents:
1. Grammars in Contact: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective; 2. Grammatical Diffusion in Australia: Free and Bound Pronouns; 3. How Long do Linguistic Areas Last? Western Nilotic Grammars in Contact; 4. Grammars in Contact in the Volta Basin (West Africa): On COntact Induced Grammatical Change in Likpe; 5. Basque in Contact with Romance Languages; 6. Language Contact and Convergence in East Timor: The Case of Tetun Dili; 7. Language Contact and Convergence in Pennsylvania German; 8. Balkanizing the Balkan Sprachbund: A Closer Look at Grammatical Permeability and Feature Distribution; 9. Cantonese Grammar in Areal Perspective; 10. Semantics and Pragmatics of Grammatical Relations in the Vaupes Linguistic Area; 11. The Vaupes Melting Pot: Tukanoan Influence on Hup; 12. The Quechua Impact in Amuesha, an Arawak Language of the Peruvian Amazon; 13. Feeling the Need: The Borrowing of Cariban Functional Categories into Mawayana (Arawak); Glossary of Terms; Index