Reconstructing the history of languages in northwest New Britain

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-132
Author(s):  
Malcolm D. Ross
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Austronesian Languages ◽  
Contact Linguistics ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Britain

William Thurston (1982, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1994) analyzes the history of the languages of the northwest area of New Britain. This history has included much contact among the area’s languages, all of which are Oceanic Austronesian with the exception of the Papuan language Anêm. Thurston, however, took the position that all linguistic speciation is brought about by language contact, especially by language shift. In this paper, the comparative method is applied to Thurston’s (and others’) data to reconstruct a partial history of the languages of the area, exemplifying how the comparative method may be applied in contact situations. Reanalysis of his data shows that a number of his conclusions about the histories of the area’s Austronesian languages are wrong, but validates his claim that language shift is manifested in copied specialist vocabulary, a conclusion that is important for historical contact linguistics, as such cases may provide few or no other clues that shift has occurred.

Language Contact

2020 ◽  
pp. 857-870
Author(s):  
Klaus Beyer
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Contact Linguistics ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social Network Approach ◽  
Areal Linguistics ◽  
French Tradition

The chapter starts with a short history of contact studies related to Africa. It briefly looks at early works from Heine (pidgins in the Bantu area) and the French tradition exemplified in the LACITO series on language contact. Considerable space is given to the developments of the last ten years or so when areal linguistics (Aikhenvald and Dixon), linguistic geography (Heine and Nurse), and contact linguistics (Childs, Mesthrie) were put center stage in the African linguistic context. The second part of the chapter looks at methodological issues. Substantial space is given to social contexts in the description of contact-induced language change. The social network approach and other sociolinguistic tools are demonstrated by means of a brief case study from a West African rural contact zone.

Historical Linguistics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane H. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Horizontal Transmission ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Linguistic History ◽  
Dating Methods ◽  
History Of ◽  
Linguistic Methods

The Comparative Method in historical linguistics distinguishes resemblances among languages due to vertical transmission from those due to horizontal transmission, and from resemblances due to non-historical factors like chance. Alternative phylogenetic methods that seek long-range connections among languages have not been shown to consistently detect this distinction. Derived from the Comparative Method are the study of language contact and areal connections, lexicostatistical dating methods and linguistic-paleontological methods for reconstructing cultural knowledge. Methodological debates in historical linguistics, and application of these methods to cases in the linguistic history of the Southwest, are reviewed, suggesting that, in spite of the paucity of available data for many languages, historical linguistic methods have an important role to play in developing hypotheses about Southwestern prehistory.

ON THE TRAIL OF SHORT u

1996 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Harris
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Comparative Aspect ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
Central Trajectory ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Lexical Diffusion ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean

This article attempts a detailed reconstruction of recent developments in the history of English short u, the category that in southern English and its descendants shows up as a high vowel in PUT and a lowered vowel in CUT. Combining the comparative method with the interpretation of the historical documentary record, the exercise sets out to answer questions such as the following. At what stage did lowering result in a full-blown split between CUT and PUT? At what point did unrounding set in? Did lowering follow a peripheral or a central trajectory in vowel space? What mechanisms of change were involved — classically regular neogrammarian sound change or irregular lexical diffusion? The comparative aspect of the reconstruction draws heavily on vernacular Englishes which have emerged relatively recently in circumstances of large-scale language contact and shift, particularly those spoken in Ireland, West Africa and the Caribbean. The immediate significance of these varieties is that they emerged during a period when short u was in a state of considerable flux in the metropolitan language. The phonetic realisation and systemic organisation of the PUT and CUT vowels in these varieties offer certain direct insights into the history of short u that are no longer available in other dialects.

scholarly journals Comic performance and the articulation of hybrid identity

Pragmatics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Jaffe
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Hybrid Identity ◽  
Language Practices ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Mixed Language ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mixed Codes ◽  
Do So

This article describes how comedians and radio professionals in Corsica draw on a bilingual linguistic and metalinguistic cultural repertoire. In the context of Corsica’s history of language domination, language shift, and linguistic revitalization efforts, many of the products of language contact - mixed codes and compentences - are socially stigmatized. In the logic of dominant language ideologies, these mixed codes do not ‘count as’ language and depreciate individual speakers and collective identitities. Comic performances, it is argued, derive part of their tension and effect from the dominant view of languages as fixed and bounded codes which index single identities. Yet at the same time, performers make use of bilingual repertoires in ways that validate mixed language practices and identities. They do so by making maximal use of fluidity and indeterminacy in speaker stances towards mixed codes and identities. Bilingual comic performance also validates mixed codes and identities by evoking an ‘expert’ bilingual audience.

Language Contact in the Sahara

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lameen Souag
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Direct Contact ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Local Influence ◽  
Sahara Desert ◽  
Nile Valley ◽  
Effective Barrier ◽  
History Of ◽  
Central Sahara ◽  
Core Vocabulary

As might be expected from the difficulty of traversing it, the Sahara Desert has been a fairly effective barrier to direct contact between its two edges; trans-Saharan language contact is limited to the borrowing of non-core vocabulary, minimal from south to north and mostly mediated by education from north to south. Its own inhabitants, however, are necessarily accustomed to travelling desert spaces, and contact between languages within the Sahara has often accordingly had a much greater impact. Several peripheral Arabic varieties of the Sahara retain morphology as well as vocabulary from the languages spoken by their speakers’ ancestors, in particular Berber in the southwest and Beja in the southeast; the same is true of at least one Saharan Hausa variety. The Berber languages of the northern Sahara have in turn been deeply affected by centuries of bilingualism in Arabic, borrowing core vocabulary and some aspects of morphology and syntax. The Northern Songhay languages of the central Sahara have been even more profoundly affected by a history of multilingualism and language shift involving Tuareg, Songhay, Arabic, and other Berber languages, much of which remains to be unraveled. These languages have borrowed so extensively that they retain barely a few hundred core words of Songhay vocabulary; those loans have not only introduced new morphology but in some cases replaced old morphology entirely. In the southeast, the spread of Arabic westward from the Nile Valley has created a spectrum of varieties with varying degrees of local influence; the Saharan ones remain almost entirely undescribed. Much work remains to be done throughout the region, not only on identifying and analyzing contact effects but even simply on describing the languages its inhabitants speak.

Modern Greek V V dvandva compounds: A linguistic innovation in the history of the Indo-European languages

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Ralli
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Compound Formation ◽  
Modern Greek ◽  
Late Medieval Period ◽  
European Languages ◽  
History Of ◽  
Internal Change ◽  
Contact Situation ◽  
Asian Languages

This paper deals with [V V] dvandva compounds, which are frequently used in East and Southeast Asian languages but also in Greek and its dialects: Greek is in this respect uncommon among Indo-European languages. It examines the appearance of this type of compounding in Greek by tracing its development in the late Medieval period, and detects a high rate of productivity in most Modern Greek dialects. It argues that the emergence of the [V V] dvandva pattern is not due to areal pressure or to a language-contact situation, but it is induced by a language internal change. It associates this change with the rise of productivity of compounding in general, and the expansion of verbal compounds in particular. It also suggests that the change contributes to making the compound-formation patterns of the language more uniform and systematic. Claims and proposals are illustrated with data from Standard Modern Greek and its dialects. It is shown that dialectal evidence is crucial for the study of the rise and productivity of [V V] dvandva compounds, since changes are not usually portrayed in the standard language.

‘... Call the Mute Artifacts to Speech’: New Essays on the History of Archeology

2018 ◽  
pp. 1274-1279
Author(s):  
Elena V. Olimpieva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
Historical Material ◽  
Manuscript Tradition ◽  
History Of ◽  
Publication Practices ◽  
Controversial Nature

The article reviews O. A. Shashkova’s ‘... Call the Mute Artifacts to Speech.’ Essays on the History of Archaeography of the 15th - Early 20th Century. Wide array of sources and broad geographical frameworks allow Shashkova to present emergence and development of Russian and European archaeography from the 15th to early 20th century intelligibly enough for educational purposes. A whole chapter is devoted to the manuscript tradition and publishing of sources before Gutenberg. When considering the formation of archaeographical tradition, the author uses comparative method. O. A. Shashkova offers a historical overview and analyzes theoretical and practical issues of archaeography. The reviewer notes the significance of the chosen topic due to a need to reconsider the development of publishing in light of modern views on archaeography and to make it accessible to students and non-professionals. She notes traditional academic approach of O. A. Shashkova to presentation of the development publication practices. The review considers the possibility of using the ‘Essays...’ in studying the history of archaeography and offers possible directions for a broader consideration of historical experience, in particular, of Novikov’s publication projects. The review notes the controversial nature of the author’s approach to systematization of her large historical material in order to consider issues concerning the study of archaeographical practices. It stresses that coverage of issues of development of methods of preparation of publications separately from its historical and practical aspects hinders successful mastering of the material by an untrained reader. It concludes that the publication has high practical value for specialists in archaeography and students.

Los textos del contacto y el discurso jurídico en los Andes (siglos XVI y XVII)

Allpanchis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (79) ◽  
pp. 91-111
Author(s):  
Carlos Garatea Grau
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
Spanish Colonial ◽  
Andean Spanish ◽  
History Of

El propósito de este artículo es mostrar el complejo universo textual producido en el Perú durante el inicial contacto de lenguas y situarlo en la historia del español colonial. A partir de referencias y ejemplos se avanza sobre una compleja realidad, marcadamente heterogénea, que refleja la diversidad inherente al contacto durante los siglos XVI y XVII. Al mismo tiempo, se ofrecen testimonios sobre la importancia del discurso jurídico en el registro del español andino y se concluye enfatizando la notable capacidad verbal de Guamán Poma de Ayala. Abstract The aim of this article is to show the complex textual universe produced in Peru during the language contact and, in particular, in the history of the Spanish colonial. From references and examples when traveling over a complex reality, markedly heterogeneous, that reflects the diversity inherent in the language contact during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. At the same time, offer testimonials about the importance of legal discourse in the register of the Andean Spanish and concludes by highlighting the notable verbal capacity of Guaman Poma de Ayala.

Writing and Ritual in Deuteronomy 28

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Quick
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
History Of ◽  
Important Means ◽  
Written Word ◽  
Ritual Process ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Ritual Context

This chapter argue that ritual behaviours might be just as good a source as literary texts for the diffusion of traditional cursing and treaty material across different cultures in the ancient Near East. In particular, the role of ad hoc oral Targum in the ritual process could have been an important means by which traditions were shared between different language communities. Recognition of the ritual context of this material also provides insights for the comparative method, the dating and authorship of Deuteronomy 28, and the subversive impetus thought to have stood behind its composition. Ultimately, the function of the written word in a largely oral world is shown to be fundamental to understanding the composition, function and the early history of the curses in the book of Deuteronomy.

scholarly journals Breton a-marking of (internal) verbal arguments: A result of language contact?

Linguistics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 745-766
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Stark ◽  
Paul Widmer
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Object Position ◽  
Relative Chronology ◽  
Celtic Languages ◽  
Potential Case ◽  
Existential Constructions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Internal Change ◽  
Pronominal System ◽  
Verbal Arguments

AbstractWe discuss a potential case of borrowing in this paper: Breton a- ‘of’, ‘from’ marking of (internal) verbal arguments, unique in Insular Celtic languages, and reminiscent of Gallo-Romance de/du- (and en-) arguments. Looking at potential Gallo-Romance parallels of three Middle Breton constructions analyzed in some detail (a with indefinite mass nominals in direct object position, a-marking of internal arguments under the scope of negation, a [allomorphs an(ez)-/ahan-] with personal pronouns for internal arguments, subjects (mainly of predicative constructions) and as expletive subjects of existential constructions), we demonstrate that even if there are some semantic parallels and one strong structural overlap (a and de under the scope of negation), the amount of divergences in morphology, syntax and semantics and the only partially fitting relative chronology of the different constructions do not allow to conclude with certainty that language-contact is an explanation of the Breton facts, which might have come into being also because of internal change (bound to restructuring of the pronominal system in Breton). More research is necessary to complete our knowledge of a-marking in Middle Breton and Modern Breton varieties and on the precise history of French en, in order to decide for one or the other explanation.

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