Hardback: ISBN: 0199257736 Pages: 296 Price: U.S. $ 74.00
Abstract:
This book presents an exhaustive treatment of a long-standing problem of
Proto-Indo-European and Italic philology: the development of the
Proto-Indo-European voiced aspirates in the ancient languages of Italy. In
so doing it tackles a central issue of historical linguistics: the
plausibility of explanations for sound change. The author argues that the
problem can be resolved by combining a traditional philological
investigation with experimental phonetics. Philological methods enable the
presentation of the first integrated account of the evidence for the Italic
languages, with detailed discussion of languages other than Latin. Theory
and methods from experimental phonetics are then adopted to offer a new
explanation for how the sound change might have taken place. At the same
time, phonetic methods also confirm the traditional reconstruction of voiced
aspirates for Proto-Indo-European. Thus the book offers a case-study of the
successful application of synchronic theory and method to a problem of diachrony.
Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics
Phonetics
Phonology
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