LINGUIST List 11.2079

Fri Sep 29 2000

Books: Spanish/Chinese Linguistics

Editor for this issue: Naomi Ogasawara <naomilinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Joyce Reid, Spanish Linguistics: Variation and Change in Spanish, R. Penny
2. Joyce Reid, Chinese Linguistics: Tone Sandhi, M.Y.Chen

Variation and Change in Spanish

Ralph Penny, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London


This book studies the differences of pronunciation and grammar that
exist within the Spanish-speaking world, and traces their origins in
the frequent mixing of dialects in Spanish-speaking communities from
the Middle Ages to the present day. It emphasizes the subtlety and
seamlessness of language variation, both geographical and social, and
shows how the constant process of mixing has rendered Spanish
particularly subject to leveling of its linguistic irregularities and
to simplification of its structures, both in Europe and later in the
Americas.

Contents:

1. Introduction: language variation; 
2. Dialect, language, variety: definitions and relationships; 
3. Mechanisms of change; 
4. Variation in Spain; 
5. Variation in Spanish America; 
6. Variation in Judeo-Spanish; 
7. Standardization.

2000/298 pp./7 figures/4 maps
78045-4/Hb/List: $59.95 Disc.: $47.96


AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW


http://www.cambridge.org

Tone Sandhi
Patterns Across Chinese Dialects

Matthew Y. Chen, City University of Hong Kong


Matthew Chen's landmark study offers the most comprehensive analysis
to date of the rich and complex patterns of tone used in Chinese
languages. Chinese has a wide repertoire of tones that undergo often
surprising changes when they are connected in speech flow. This tonal
alternation is known as tone sandhi. Chen examines tone sandhi
phenomena across a variety of Chinese dialects. His book is the
culmination of a ten-year research project and explores a range of
important theoretical issues against a wealth of empirical data not
previously accessible to linguists.

Contents:

Notational conventions; 
1. Setting the stage; 
2. Tonal representation and tonal processes; 
3. Directionality and interacting sandhi: Processes -1; 
4. Directionality and interacting sandhi: Processes -2; 
5. From base tones to sandhi forms: a constraint-based analysis; 
6. From tone to accent; 
7. Stress foot as sandhi domain--1; 
8. Stress foot as sandhi domain--2; 
9. Minimal rhythmic unit as obligatory sandhi domain; 
10.Phonological phrase as a sandhi domain; 
11.From tone to intonation; 
Conclusion; 
References; 
Bibliographical appendix.

Cambridge Studies in Linguistics 92

2000/574 pp./139 tables
65272-3/Hb/List: $80.00 Disc.: $64.00



AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW


http://www.cambridge.org