Date: 10-Apr-2006
From: Julia Ulrich <julia.ulrich degruyter.com>
Subject: Markedness and Language Change: Elšik, Matras
Title: Markedness and Language Change
Subtitle: The Romani Sample
Series Title: Empirical Approaches to Language Typology 32
Publication Year: 2006
Publisher: Mouton de Gruyter
http://www.mouton-publishers.com
Book URL: http://www.degruyter.de/rs/bookSingle.cfm?id=IS-3110184524-1&l=E
Author: Viktor El?ik,
Author: Yaron Matras, University of Manchester
Hardback: ISBN: 3110184525 Pages: 475 Price: Europe EURO 98.00 Comment: for USA,
Canada, Mexico US$ 132.30
Abstract:
'Markedness' is a central notion in linguistic theory. This book is the
first to provide a comprehensive survey of markedness relations across
various grammatical categories, in a sample of closely-related speech
varieties. It is based on a sample of over 100 dialects of Romani,
collected and processed via the Romani Morpho-Syntax (RMS) Database - a
comparative grammatical outline in electronic form, constructed by the
authors between 2000-2004. Romani dialects provide an exciting sample of
language change phenomena: they are oral languages, which have been
separated and dispersed from some six centuries, and are strongly shaped by
the influence of diverse contact languages.
The book takes a typological approach to markedness, viewing it as a
hierarchy among values that is conditioned by conceptual and cognitive
universals. But it introduces a functional-pragmatic notion of markedness,
as a grammaticalised strategy employed in order to priositise information.
In what is referred to as 'dynamic', such prioritisation is influenced by
an interplay of factors: the values within a category and the conceptual
notions that they represent, the grammatical structure onto which the
category values are mapped, and the kind of strategy that is applied in
order to prioritise certain value. Consequently, the book contains a
thorough survey of some 20 categories (e.g Person, Number, Gender, and so
on) and their formal representation in various grammatical structures
across the sample. The various accepted criteria for markedness (e.g.
Complexity, Differentiation, Erosion, and so on) are examined
systematically in relation to the values of each and every category, for
each relevant structure. The outcome is a novel picture of how different
markedness criteria may cluster for certain categories, giving a concrete
reality to the hitherto rather vague notion of markedness. Borrowing and
its relation to markedness is also examined, offering new insights into the
motivations behind contact-induced change.
Linguistic Field(s):
Typology
Applied Linguistics
Language Change
Subject Language(s): None ()
Language Family(ies): Romani
Written In: English (eng)
See this book announcement on our website:
http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=19015
This Year the LINGUIST List hopes to raise $52,932. This money will go to help keep the
List running by supporting all of our Student Editors for the coming year.
See below for donation instructions, and don't forget to check out our Fund Drive 2006
LINGUIST List Cruise for some Fund Drive fun!
http://linguistlist.org/cruise.html
There are many ways to donate to LINGUIST!
You can donate right now using our secure credit card form.
Alternatively you can also pledge right now and pay later.
For all information on donating and pledging, including information on how to donate by
check, money order, or wire transfer, please visit:
http://linguistlist.org/donate.html
The LINGUIST List is under the umbrella of Eastern Michigan University and as such can
receive donations through the EMU Foundation, which is a registered 501(c) Non Profit
organization. Our Federal Tax number is 38-6005986. These donations can be offset against
your federal and sometimes your state tax return (U.S. tax payers only). For more
information visit the IRS Web-Site, or contact your financial advisor.
Many companies also offer a gift matching program, such that they will match any gift
you make to a non-profit organization. Normally this entails your contacting your human
resources department and sending us a form that the EMU Foundation fills in and returns
to your employer. This is generally a simple administrative procedure that doubles the
value of your gift to LINGUIST, without costing you an extra penny. Please take a moment
to check if your company operates such a program.
Thank you very much for your support of LINGUIST!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue
|
