LINGUIST List 10.670

Thu May 6 1999

Books: Historical Linguistics

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

Links to the websites of all LINGUIST's supporting publishers are available at the end of this issue.

Directory

Paul Peranteau, Nostratic; History in Language, Linguistics and Text

Message 1: Nostratic; History in Language, Linguistics and Text

Date: Mon, 03 May 1999 20:40:41 -0400
From: Paul Peranteau <paulbenjamins.com>
Subject: Nostratic; History in Language, Linguistics and Text

John Benjamins Publishing announces the availability of these two works:

Nostratic. Sifting the Evidence. Joseph C. SALMONS and Brian D. JOSEPH (eds.) Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 142 US & Canada: 1 55619 597 4 / USD 75.00 (Hardcover) Rest of world: 90 272 3646 1 / NLG 150.00 (Hardcover)

The "Nostratic" hypothesis - positing a common linguistic ancestor for a wide range of language families including Indo-European, Uralic, and Afro-Asiatic - has produced one of the most enduring and often intense controversies in linguistics. Overwhelmingly, though, both supporters of the hypothesis and those who reject it have not dealt directly with one another's arguments. This volume brings together selected representatives of both sides, as well as a number of agnostic historical linguists, with the aim of examining the evidence for this particular hypothesis in the context of distant genetic relationships generally.

The volume contains discussion of variants of the Nostratic hypothesis (A. Bomhard; J. Greenberg; A. Manaster-Ramer, K. Baertsch, K. Adams, & P. Michalove), the mathematics of chance in determining the relationships posited for Nostratic (R. Oswalt; D. Ringe), and the evidence from particular branches posited in Nostratic (L. Campbell; C. Hodge; A. Vovin), with responses and additional discussion by E. Hamp, B. Vine, W. Baxter and B. Comrie.

The Virtues of Language. History in language, linguistics and texts. Papers in memory of Thomas Frank. Dieter STEIN and Rosanna SORNICOLA (eds.) Studies in the History of the Language Sciences 87 US & Canada: 1 55619 624 5 / USD 74.00 (Hardcover) Rest of world: 90 272 4575 4 / NLG 148.00 (Hardcover)

The volume contains 13 specially written specialist articles on a wide range of subjects within the ambit of the history of the English language and prominent literary uses of it. In uniting linguistic and literary pursuits in a single volume, it follows the noble Neapolitan scholar's research interests, as well as representing topics that figure prominently in any comprehensive university course in English. Subjects range from the rise of the present progressive in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle via issues in Medieval English, concepts of language inherent in the Early Modern English grammatical treatises and an evaluation of their value as evidence for the development of the language, the "new science" and language in the 17th century, on literary issues like the "implied director" in Macbeth, Sir Elyot's Enigmatic "Image of Governance", English history reflected in Ben Jonson to the history of text types and Jespersen's reading of Saussure's "Cours".

Apart from an introductory section with articles on Frank's biography, his scientific activities and his impact on the field, the book contains work by Susan Fitzmaurice, Nicola Pantaleo, Gabriella Di Martino, Konrad Koerner, Stefano Manferlotti, Uwe Baumann, Anna Maria Palombi Cataldi, Rosanna Sornicola and Dieter Stein.

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

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