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Lao is the national language of Laos, and is also spoken widely in
Thailand and Cambodia. It is a tone language of the Tai-Kadai
family (Southwestern Tai branch). Lao is an extreme example of the
isolating, analytic language type. This book is the most
comprehensive grammatical description of Lao to date. It describes
and analyses the important structures of the language, including
classifiers, sentence-final particles, and serial verb
constructions. Special attention is paid to grammatical topics from
a semantic, pragmatic, and typological perspective.
The studies in this book represent the rich, diverse and
substantial research being conducted today in the linguistics of
Mainland Southeast Asia. The chapters cover a broad scope. Several
studies address questions of language relatedness, often
challenging conventional assumptions about the status of language
contact as an explanatory factor in accounting for linguistic
similarities. Several address the question of Mainland Southeast
Asia as a linguistic area, exploring new ways to imagine and define
the boundaries, and indeed the boundedness, of a Mainland Southeast
Asia area. Two contributions rethink the received notion of the
'sesquisyllable' with new empirical and theoretical angles. And a
set of chapters explores topics in the morphology and syntax of the
region's languages, sometimes challenging orthodox assumptions and
claims about what a typical language of Mainland Southeast Asia is
like. Written by leading researchers in the field, and with a
substantial overview of current knowledge and new directions by the
volume editors N. J. Enfield and Bernard Comrie, this book will
serve as an authoritative source on where the linguistics of
Mainland Southeast Asia is at, and where it is heading.
Distributed Agency presents an interdisciplinary inroad into the
latest thinking about the distributed nature of agency: what it's
like, what are its conditions of possibility, and what are its
consequences. The book's 25 chapters are written by a wide range of
scholars, from anthropology, biology, cognitive science,
linguistics, philosophy, psychology, geography, law, economics, and
sociology. While each chapter takes up different materials using
different methods, they all chart relations between the key
elements of agency: intentionality, causality, flexibility and
accountability. Each chapter seeks to explain how and why such
relations are distributed-not just across individuals, but also
across bodies and minds, people and things, spaces and times. To do
this, the authors work through empirical studies of particular
cases, while also offering reviews and syntheses of key ideas from
the authors' respective research traditions. Our goals with this
collection of essays are to assemble insights from new research on
the anatomy of human agency, to address divergent framings of the
issues from different disciplines, and to suggest directions for
new debates and lines of research. We hope that it will be a
resource for researchers working on allied topics, and for students
learning about the elements of human-specific modes of shared
action, from causality, intentionality, and personhood to ethics,
punishment, and accountability.
Mainland Southeast Asia is one of the most fascinating and complex
cultural and linguistic areas in the world. This book provides a
rich and comprehensive survey of the history and core systems and
subsystems of the languages of this fascinating region. Drawing on
his depth of expertise in mainland Southeast Asia, Enfield includes
more than a thousand data examples from over a hundred languages
from Cambodia, China, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and
Vietnam, bringing together a wealth of data and analysis that has
not previously been available in one place. Chapters cover the many
ways in which these languages both resemble each other, and differ
from each other, and the diversity of the area's languages is
highlighted, with a special emphasis on minority languages, which
outnumber the national languages by nearly a hundred to one. The
result is an authoritative treatment of a fascinating and important
linguistic area.
In Relationship Thinking, N. J. Enfield outlines a framework for
analyzing social interaction and its linguistic, cultural, and
cognitive underpinnings by focusing on human relationships. This is
a naturalistic approach to human sociality, grounded in the
systematic study of real-time data from social interaction in
everyday life. Many of the illustrative examples and analyses in
the book are a result of the author's long-term field work in Laos.
Enfield promotes an interdisciplinary approach to studying
language, culture, and mind, building on simple but powerful
semiotic principles and concentrating on three points of conceptual
focus. The first is human agency: the combination of flexibility
and accountability, which defines our possibilities for social
action and relationships, and which makes the fission and fusion of
social units possible. The second is enchrony: the timescale of
conversation in which our social relationships are primarily
enacted. The third is human sociality: a range of human
propensities for social interaction and enduring social relations,
grounded in collective commitment to shared norms. Enfield's
approach cuts through common dichotomies such as 'cognitive' versus
'behaviorist', or 'public' versus 'private', arguing instead that
these are indispensable sides of single phenomena. The result is a
set of conceptual tools for analyzing real-time social interaction
and linking it with enduring relationships and their social
contexts. The book shows that even - or perhaps especially - the
most mundane social interactions yield rich insights into language,
culture, and mind.
This highly accessible introduction explores the core systems and
subsystems of the languages of mainland Southeast Asia, applying
the main concepts of language typology, phonology, morphology,
syntax, sociolinguistics, language variation, and language contact,
to this diverse language area. Written by a leading expert in the
languages of this region, N. J. Enfield draws upon nearly a
thousand data examples from over a hundred languages from Cambodia,
China, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam to show the
many ways in which these languages resemble each other, and differ
from each other, in the context of what is known globally about the
diversity of human language. The book highlights the diversity of
the area's languages, with a special emphasis on the minority
languages, which outnumber the national languages by nearly a
hundred to one. The result is a welcome corrective to widespread
beliefs about the nature of a 'typical' Southeast Asian language.
This important new study examines in detail a semantic-pragmatic
pattern surrounding the basic verb 'acquire' in nearly 30 Southeast
Asian languages, concentrating on Lao, Vietnamese, Khmer, Kmhmu,
Hmong, and varieties of Chinese. The book makes a significant
contribution to empirical work on semantic and grammatical change
in a linguistic area, as well as representing theoretical advances
in cognitive semantics. Gricean pragmatics, semantic change,
grammaticalization, language contact, and areal linguistics. The
book also examines how changes in the speech of individuals
actually become changes in large-scale public convention, 'language
contact' is reconsidered, and traditional distinctions such as that
between 'internal' and 'external' linguistic mechanisms are
challenged. This groundbreaking new book is for specialists in
Southeast Asian linguistics as well as scholars of descriptive
semantics and pragmatics, grammaticalisation, linguistic change and
evolution, areal linguistics and language contact, history and
linguistic anthropology.
The field of linguistic anthropology looks at human uniqueness and
diversity through the lens of language, our species' special
combination of art and instinct. Human language both shapes, and is
shaped by, our minds, societies, and cultural worlds. This
state-of-the-field survey covers a wide range of topics, approaches
and theories, such as the nature and function of language systems,
the relationship between language and social interaction, and the
place of language in the social life of communities. Promoting a
broad vision of the subject, spanning a range of disciplines from
linguistics to biology, from psychology to sociology and
philosophy, this authoritative handbook is an essential reference
guide for students and researchers working on language and culture
across the social sciences.
This important new study examines in detail a semantic-pragmatic pattern surrounding the basic verb 'acquire' in nearly 30 Southeast Asian languages, concentrating on Lao, Vietnamese, Khmer, Kmhmu, Hmong, and varieties of Chinese. The book makes a significant contribution to empirical work on semantic and grammatical change in a linguistic area, as well as representing theoretical advances in cognitive semantics. Gricean pragmatics, semantic change, grammaticalisation, language contact, and areal linguistics. The book also examines how changes in the speech of individuals actually become changes in large-scale public convention, 'language contact' is reconsidered, and traditional distinctions such as that between 'internal' and 'external' linguistic mechanisms are challenged. This groundbreaking new book is for specialists in Southeast Asian linguistics as well as scholars of descriptive semantics and pragmatics, grammaticalisation, linguistic change and evolution, areal linguistics and language contact, history and linguistic anthropology.
Demonstratives play a crucial role in the acquisition and use of
language. Bringing together a team of leading scholars this
detailed study, a first of its kind, explores meaning and use
across fifteen typologically and geographically unrelated languages
to find out what cross-linguistic comparisons and generalizations
can be made, and how this might challenge current theory in
linguistics, psychology, anthropology and philosophy. Using a
shared experimental task, rounded out with studies of natural
language use, specialists in each of the languages undertook
extensive fieldwork for this comparative study of semantics and
usage. An introduction summarizes the shared patterns and
divergences in meaning and use that emerge.
Demonstratives play a crucial role in the acquisition and use of
language. Bringing together a team of leading scholars this
detailed study, a first of its kind, explores meaning and use
across fifteen typologically and geographically unrelated languages
to find out what cross-linguistic comparisons and generalizations
can be made, and how this might challenge current theory in
linguistics, psychology, anthropology and philosophy. Using a
shared experimental task, rounded out with studies of natural
language use, specialists in each of the languages undertook
extensive fieldwork for this comparative study of semantics and
usage. An introduction summarizes the shared patterns and
divergences in meaning and use that emerge.
The studies in this book represent the rich, diverse and
substantial research being conducted today in the linguistics of
Mainland Southeast Asia. The chapters cover a broad scope. Several
studies address questions of language relatedness, often
challenging conventional assumptions about the status of language
contact as an explanatory factor in accounting for linguistic
similarities. Several address the question of Mainland Southeast
Asia as a linguistic area, exploring new ways to imagine and define
the boundaries, and indeed the boundedness, of a Mainland Southeast
Asia area. Two contributions rethink the received notion of the
'sesquisyllable' with new empirical and theoretical angles. And a
set of chapters explores topics in the morphology and syntax of the
region's languages, sometimes challenging orthodox assumptions and
claims about what a typical language of Mainland Southeast Asia is
like. Written by leading researchers in the field, and with a
substantial overview of current knowledge and new directions by the
volume editors N. J. Enfield and Bernard Comrie, this book will
serve as an authoritative source on where the linguistics of
Mainland Southeast Asia is at, and where it is heading.
How do we understand what others are trying to say? The answer
cannot be found in language alone. Words are linked to hand
gestures and other visible phenomena to create unified 'composite
utterances'. In this book N. J. Enfield presents original case
studies of speech-with-gesture based on fieldwork carried out with
speakers of Lao (a language of Southeast Asia). He examines
pointing gestures (including lip and finger-pointing) and
illustrative gestures (examples include depicting fish traps and
tracing kinship relations). His detailed analyses focus on the
'semiotic unification' problem, that is, how to make a single
interpretation when multiple signs occur together. Enfield's
arguments have implications for all branches of science with a
stake in meaning and its place in human social life. The book will
appeal to all researchers interested in the study of meaning,
including linguists, anthropologists, and psychologists.
Meanings of cultural importance are found not only in words but also in the very grammar of a language. This exciting volume presents eleven original studies of the relationship between grammar, culture, and cognition, with data from languages and cultures from around the world. Contributors discuss a wide variety of grammatical phenomena. This book shows that the study of culture can help to understand how and why languages differ in the ways they do.
Mainland Southeast Asia is one of the most fascinating and complex
cultural and linguistic areas in the world. This book provides a
rich and comprehensive survey of the history and core systems and
subsystems of the languages of this fascinating region. Drawing on
his depth of expertise in mainland Southeast Asia, Enfield includes
more than a thousand data examples from over a hundred languages
from Cambodia, China, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and
Vietnam, bringing together a wealth of data and analysis that has
not previously been available in one place. Chapters cover the many
ways in which these languages both resemble each other, and differ
from each other, and the diversity of the area's languages is
highlighted, with a special emphasis on minority languages, which
outnumber the national languages by nearly a hundred to one. The
result is an authoritative treatment of a fascinating and important
linguistic area.
How do we refer to people in everyday conversation? No matter the
language or culture, we must choose from a range of options: full
name ('Robert Smith'), reduced name ('Bob'), description ('tall
guy'), kin term ('my son') etc. Our choices reflect how we know
that person in context, and allow us to take a particular
perspective on them. This book brings together a team of leading
linguists, sociologists and anthropologists to show that there is
more to person reference than meets the eye. Drawing on
video-recorded, everyday interactions in nine languages, it
examines the fascinating ways in which we exploit person reference
for social and cultural purposes, and reveals the underlying
principles of person reference across cultures from the Americas to
Asia to the South Pacific. Combining rich ethnographic detail with
cross-linguistic generalizations, it will be welcomed by
researchers and graduate students interested in the relationship
between language and culture.
We all had teachers who scolded us over the use of um, uh-huh, oh,
like, and mm-hmm. But as linguist N. J. Enfield reveals in How We
Talk, these "bad words" are fundamental to language. Whether we are
speaking with the clerk at the store, our boss, or our spouse,
language is dependent on things as commonplace as a rising tone of
voice, an apparently meaningless word, or a glance-signals so small
that we hardly pay them any conscious attention. Nevertheless, they
are the essence of how we speak. From the traffic signals of speech
to the importance of um, How We Talk revolutionises our
understanding of conversation. In the process, Enfield reveals what
makes language universally-and uniquely-human.
This highly accessible introduction explores the core systems and
subsystems of the languages of mainland Southeast Asia, applying
the main concepts of language typology, phonology, morphology,
syntax, sociolinguistics, language variation, and language contact,
to this diverse language area. Written by a leading expert in the
languages of this region, N. J. Enfield draws upon nearly a
thousand data examples from over a hundred languages from Cambodia,
China, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam to show the
many ways in which these languages resemble each other, and differ
from each other, in the context of what is known globally about the
diversity of human language. The book highlights the diversity of
the area's languages, with a special emphasis on the minority
languages, which outnumber the national languages by nearly a
hundred to one. The result is a welcome corrective to widespread
beliefs about the nature of a 'typical' Southeast Asian language.
The field of linguistic anthropology looks at human uniqueness and
diversity through the lens of language, our species' special
combination of art and instinct. Human language both shapes, and is
shaped by, our minds, societies, and cultural worlds. This
state-of-the-field survey covers a wide range of topics, approaches
and theories, such as the nature and function of language systems,
the relationship between language and social interaction, and the
place of language in the social life of communities. Promoting a
broad vision of the subject, spanning a range of disciplines from
linguistics to biology, from psychology to sociology and
philosophy, this authoritative handbook is an essential reference
guide for students and researchers working on language and culture
across the social sciences.
When people do things with words, how do we know what they are
doing? Many scholars have assumed a category of things called
actions: 'requests', 'proposals', 'complaints', 'excuses'. The idea
is both convenient and intuitive, but as this book argues, it is a
spurious concept of action. In interaction, a person's primary task
is to decide how to respond, not to label what someone just did.
The labeling of actions is a meta-level process, appropriate only
when we wish to draw attention to others' behaviors in order to
quiz, sanction, praise, blame, or otherwise hold them to account.
This book develops a new account of action grounded in certain
fundamental ideas about the nature of human sociality: that social
conduct is naturally interpreted as purposeful; that human behavior
is shaped under a tyranny of social accountability; and that
language is our central resource for social action and reaction.
How do we refer to people in everyday conversation? No matter the
language or culture, we must choose from a range of options: full
name ('Robert Smith'), reduced name ('Bob'), description ('tall
guy'), kin term ('my son') etc. Our choices reflect how we know
that person in context, and allow us to take a particular
perspective on them. This book brings together a team of leading
linguists, sociologists and anthropologists to show that there is
more to person reference than meets the eye. Drawing on
video-recorded, everyday interactions in nine languages, it
examines the fascinating ways in which we exploit person reference
for social and cultural purposes, and reveals the underlying
principles of person reference across cultures from the Americas to
Asia to the South Pacific. Combining rich ethnographic detail with
cross-linguistic generalizations, it will be welcomed by
researchers and graduate students interested in the relationship
between language and culture.
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