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This handbook provides broad coverage of the languages indigenous
to North America, with special focus on typologically interesting
features and areal characteristics, surveys of current work, and
topics of particular importance to communities. The volume is
divided into two major parts: subfields of linguistics and family
sketches. The subfields include those that are customarily
addressed in discussions of North American languages (sounds and
sound structure, words, sentences), as well as many that have
received somewhat less attention until recently (tone, prosody,
sociolinguistic variation, directives, information structure,
discourse, meaning, language over space and time, conversation
structure, evidentiality, pragmatics, verbal art, first and second
language acquisition, archives, evolving notions of fieldwork).
Family sketches cover major language families and isolates and
highlight topics of special value to communities engaged in work on
language maintenance, documentation, and revitalization.
This book takes contrast, an issue that has been central to
phonological theory since Saussure, as its central theme, making
explicit its importance to phonological theory, perception, and
acquisition. The volume brings together a number of different
contemporary approaches to the theory of contrast, including
chapters set within more abstract representation-based theories, as
well as chapters that focus on functional phonetic theories and
perceptual constraints. This book will be of interest to
phonologists, phoneticians, psycholinguists, researchers in first
and second language acquisition, and cognitive scientists
interested in current thinking on this exciting topic.
While investigating endangered languages, many researchers become
interested in developing literacy for these languages. However,
often their linguistic training has not provided practical guidance
in this area. This book, with contributions by experienced
practitioners, helps fill this gap. Both foundational theory and
specific case studies are addressed in this work. Non-linguistic
factors are described, particularly sociolinguistic issues that
determine acceptability of orthographies. A principled approach to
the level of phonological representation for orthographies is
proposed, applying recent phonological theory. The thorny issues of
how to determine word breaks and how to mark tone in an orthography
are explored. "Overly hasty orthographies" and the benefits of
allowing time for an orthography to settle are discussed.
Principles of the foundational chapters are further exemplified by
detailed case studies from Mexico, Peru, California, Nepal, and
Southeast Asia, which vividly illustrate the variety of local
conditions that must be taken into account. The combination of
theoretical and practical makes this book unique. It will benefit
those involved in helping establish orthographies for
hitherto-unwritten languages, and provide concrete guidance through
crucial issues. Michael Cahill (Ph.D. 1999, Ohio State University)
developed the Konni orthography in Ghana. He was SIL's
International Linguistics Coordinator for eleven years, and is on
the LSA's Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation.
Keren Rice (Ph.D. 1976, University of Toronto) helped standardize
the orthography of Slavey, and has taught on orthography
development at InField/CoLang. She was LSA President in 2012 and is
currently University Professor at the University of Toronto.
Athapaskan languages are well known for their intricate morphology,
in particular the complexity of their verbs. The significance of
these languages for linguistic theory is widely acknowledged. In
this book, Keren Rice offers a rich typological survey of morpheme
ordering in Athapaskan verbs, with implications for both synchronic
grammar and language change. She shows that verb structure is in
fact widely predictable across Athapaskan languages if appropriate
syntactic factors and an overarching principle of semantic scope
are taken into account. The presentation also includes a detailed
study of argument and aspectual systems. This landmark volume is
the first major comparative study of its type for the Athapaskan
language family, combining descriptive depth with a contemporary
theoretical perspective. Clear and insightful, it will be welcomed
by Athapaskanists, typologists, historical and theoretical
linguists alike.
Athapaskan languages are of great linguistic interest due to their intricate morphology. In this clear and insightful book, Keren Rice offers a rich survey of morpheme ordering in Athapaskan verbs, with implications for both synchronic grammar and language change. She argues that verb structure is predictable across Athapaskan languages if certain abstract aspects of meaning are considered. This is the first major comparative study of its type for Athapaskan languages, combining descriptive depth with a contemporary theoretical perspective.
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