LINGUIST List 12.1643

Fri Jun 22 2001

Books: Dravidian Linguistics

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

Directory

1. LINCOM EUROPA, Dravidian Linguistics: A Grammar of the Brahui Language by Andronov
2. LINCOM EUROPA, Dravidian Linguistics: Dravidian Historical Linguistics by Andronov

A Grammar of the Brahui Language
in Comparative Treatment

Mikhail S. Andronov

Institute of Oriental Studies,
The Russian Academy of Sciences

The Brahui language, spoken by some 1.5 million people in Pakistan,
Iran and Afghanistan, is the earliest offshoot of the Dravidian stock.
Isolated from the kindred languages for several thousand years, it
combines ancient features inherited from the Proto-Dravidian ancestor
with numerous borrowings from its Iranian and Indo-Aryan neighbours.

Apart from a detailed practical grammar, illustrated with copious
examples from Brahui literary texts, the book offers the latest
comparative-historical information on the evolution and origin of the
main elements of the language. The Brahui phonemes are traced to their
Old Dravidian sources, the origins of case suffixes and other nominal
desinences are expounded, the Brahui numerals and pronouns are also
traced to their ancient archetypes, and so are the personal suffixes
in the verb. The primary systems of gender, tense and mood, lost or
modified in the contemporary language, are reconstructed in comparison
with these of Old Tamil and other classical languages.

The general information on Brahui is given in the Introduction. The
history of its study is also briefly outlined there and, in
particular, the position of Brahui within the Dravidian family is
discussed. A bibliography of earlier works on the Brahui language is
appended in the end. The subject index will make the use of the book
easier.

[Original and unabridged version, set with a typewriter].

ISBN 3 89586 412 9. 
LINCOM Language Research 01.
Ca.100pp. USD 40 / DM 74 / � 24.


New: A Students' and course discount of 40% is offered to the above
title. 

Ordering information for individuals: Please give us your creditcard
no. / expiry date. Prices in this information include shipment
worldwide by airmail. A standing order for this series is available
with special discounts offered to individual subscribers.

Free copies of LINCOM'S newsflashes 24 & 25 are now available from
LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de.

LINCOM EUROPA, Freibadstr. 3, D-81543 Muenchen, Germany;
FAX +49 89 62269404;
http://www.lincom-europa.com
LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de.

Dravidian Historical Linguistics

Mikhail S. Andronov

Institute of Oriental Studies,
The Russian Academy of Sciences

The book is composed of papers dealing with controversial problems in
the history and comparative grammar of the Dravidian languages. A
historical overview of Dravidian studies in the 19th and 20th
centuries is followed by a detailed discussion of various systems of
language classification worked out by leading comparativ-ists in the
past two centuries. The major principles of the comparative-historical
method are discussed in connection with unceasing attempts to
establish genetic relationship between Dravidian and non-Dravidian
languages. The origin and historical evolution ot finite forms of the
Dravidian verb are dealt with in several papers, and those of the
adjective in Tamil and personal pronouns in Brahui are traced in the
other two. A peculiar case of grammar hybridization in Old Malayalam
mixed with Sanskrit and cases of structural borrowing in modern
Dravidian languages are described and analysed in three
papers. Finally, the etymologies of the word 'Dravidian' and a dozen
of other ethnonyms are explained. A bibliography of over 300 items
indicates the relevant literature, both classical and modern.

[Original and unabridged version, set with a typewriter].

ISBN 3 89586 413 7. 
LINCOM Language Research 02.
Ca.160pp. USD 52 / DM 98 / � 33.

New: A Students' and course discount of 40% is offered to the above title. 

Ordering information for individuals: Please give us your creditcard
no. / expiry date. Prices in this information include shipment
worldwide by airmail. A standing order for this series is available
with special discounts offered to individual subscribers.

Free copies of LINCOM'S newsflashes 24 & 25 are now available from
LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de.

LINCOM EUROPA, Freibadstr. 3, D-81543 Muenchen, Germany;
FAX +49 89 62269404;
http://www.lincom-europa.com
LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de.