LINGUIST List 10.1893

Wed Dec 8 1999

Books: Folk Linguistics, Bahnaric Languages Dictionary

Editor for this issue: Scott Fults <scottlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Gillian Caglayan, Folk Linguistics, N. Niedzielski and D. R. Preston
2. LINCOM EUROPA, Comparative West Bahnaric Dictionary, P. Jacq & P. Sidwell

Just Published!!

Nancy Niedzielski and Dennis R. Preston
Folk Linguistics
1999. 23 x 15,5 cm. XX, 375 pages.
Cloth. DM 238,- /approx. US$ 149.00.
ISBN 3-11-016251-2
Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs 122
Mouton de Gruyter

Folk Linguistics provides an overview and analysis of what
nonlinguists believe about language across a wide range of topics -
dialectology, sociolinguistics, language acquisition (first and
second), and even the more "theoretical" concerns of phonology,
syntax, and semantics. It provides a rationale for the importance of
such study, not only in its own ethnographic right but also in its
importance to general and applied linguistics.

The core of the book presents authentic (and carefully transcribed)
conversations with a broad social spectrum of people from the northern
Midwestern United States. The analysis focuses not only on the
differences between nonlinguists', and linguists' views of language
but also on the kinds of knowledge nonlinguists have about language
and what folk theory of language stands behind such belief.

The section on dialects contains the most recent findings in the
subfield of folk linguistics known as "perceptual dialectology," and
the sections on folk views of language education (particularly of
minorities) are extensive. Of special interest to general linguists
will be an entire section devoted to folk views of "grammaticality,"
including a lengthy folk discussion of the passive.

In general, although linguists will be most familiar with the
arrangement of topics here, anthropologists, social psychologists of
language, folklorists, and others who deal with the intersection of
language and social life will find a wealth of authentic data here and
the beginnings of a more general account of not only the details but
also the cognitive underpinnings of the ethnoscience of language.

For further information please contact the publisher:
Mouton de Gruyter
Genthiner Str. 13
10785 Berlin, Germany
Fax: +49 30 26005 222
e-mail: ordersdegruyter.de

Journals and titles published by Mouton de Gruyter can be ordered via
World Wide Web at:
http://www.degruyter.com

A Comparative West Bahnaric Dictionary
Pascale Jacq & Paul Sidwell, Australian National University

The dictionary consolidates wordlists collected by Jacq and Sidwell
during fieldwork to the Lao PDR (1996 to 1998), plus some material
from other sources. The languages treated are Oi, Cheng, Sapuon,
Talieng, Kraseng, Nhaheun, Laveh, Loven and Alak. The listing is
according to semantic fields and includes both native vocabulary and
borrowings, with some etymological commentary.

The introduction includes a discussion of the current linguistic
situation in the south of the Lao PDR, with maps and a listing of
languages and villages where they are spoken. The recording and
transcription of data is discussed, and some brief remarks are made on
the phonology and grammar of the languages. A preliminary genetic
classification based upon the lexical data is also presented. A
bibliography of West Bahnaric studies completes the introduction.

ISBN 3 89586 558 3. 
Languages of the World/Dictionaries 21. 
Ca. 250 pages. USD 70 / EUR 54.72


Ordering information for individuals: Please give us your creditcard
no. / expiry date or send us a cheque. Prices in this information
include shipment worldwide by airmail. A standing order for this
series is available with special discounts offered to individual
subscribers. A free copy of LINCOM's millenium catalogue 'project
line 10' is now available from LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de.

LINCOM EUROPA, Paul-Preuss-Str. 25, D-80995 Muenchen, Germany; FAX +4989
3148909; 
http://home.t-online.de/home/LINCOM.EUROPA
LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de.