LINGUIST List 11.278

Wed Feb 9 2000

Books: Cushitic Ling, Chinese Dialectology

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

Directory

1. Paul Peranteau, Afro-Asiatic/Cushitic Ling: Somali, J. Saeed
2. Paul Peranteau, Chinese Dialect Classification, R. VanNess Simmons

John Benjamins Publishing announces a new grammar of Somali:

Somali.
SAEED, John
London Oriental and African Language Library 10
US & Canada: 1 55619 224 X / USD 89.00 (Hardcover)
Rest of world: 90 272 3810 3 / NLG 178.00 (Hardcover)

Somali is spoken by more than nine million people in the Horn of
Africa and by expatriate communities in the Middle East, Europe and
North America. It is the official language of Somalia and an important
regional language in Ethiopia and Kenya.

As a Cushitic language Somali is part of the great Afroasiatic
language family whose other branches include Semitic, Berber, Chadic
and Ancient Egyptian. This book provides a comprehensive description
of the grammar of the language that will be of interest to
non-specialists and linguists interested in typology and language
comparison. The author's accessible investigation of the phonology,
morphology, syntax and discourse structure allows the reader a clear
view of the linguistic character of Somali and, through Somali, of a
Cushitic language. A further important feature of the book is its use
of authentic data from a range of sources, including prose, poetry and
proverbs.


			John Benjamins Publishing Co.
Offices:	Philadelphia			Amsterdam:
Websites: 	http://www.benjamins.com	http://www.benjamins.nl
E-mail:		servicebenjamins.com		customer.servicesbenjamins.nl
Phone:		+215 836-1200			+31 20 6762325
Fax: 		+215 836-1204			+31 20 6739773

John Benjamins Publishing announces the availability of this new work in 
Chinese Dialectology:

Chinese Dialect Classification.
A comparative approach to Harngjou, Old Jintarn, and Common Northern Wu.
Richard VanNess SIMMONS
Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 188
US & Canada: 1 55619 965 1 / USD 90.00 (Hardcover)
Rest of world: 90 272 3694 1 / NLG 180.00 (Hardcover)

This volume is an investigation and classification of dialects along
the Wu and Jiang-Hwai Mandarin border in China's eastern Yangtze
Valley. It is the first monograph-length study to critically question
the traditional single criterion of initial voicing for the
classification of Wu dialects and propose a comprehensive comparative
framework as a more successful alternative. Arguing that dialect
affiliation is best determined through analysis of dialect
correspondence to common phonological systems, the author develops a
taxonomic analysis that definitively distinguishes Common Northern Wu
and Mandarin dialects. By clarifying dialect affiliation in the Wu and
Mandarin border region, this volume makes significant contributions to
our understanding of the true nature of the region's dialects and
their history.

Using primarily data drawn from the author's own fieldwork, the volume
contains copious comparative examples and an extensive lexicon of the
Old Jintarn dialect.

			John Benjamins Publishing Co.
Offices:	Philadelphia			Amsterdam:
Websites: 	http://www.benjamins.com	http://www.benjamins.nl
E-mail:		servicebenjamins.com		customer.servicesbenjamins.nl
Phone:		+215 836-1200			+31 20 6762325
Fax: 		+215 836-1204			+31 20 6739773