LINGUIST List 11.2078

Fri Sep 29 2000

Books: Syntax, Language Evolution

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



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

Directory

  • Joyce Reid, Syntax of Early English, Fischer, Koopman, van Kemenade & van der Wurff
  • Joyce Reid, Evolutionary Emergence of Language, Knight, Studdert-Kennedy & Hurford

    Message 1: Syntax of Early English, Fischer, Koopman, van Kemenade & van der Wurff

     Date: 29 Sep 2000 09:56:10 +0800
    From: Joyce Reid <jreidcup.org>
    Subject: Syntax of Early English, Fischer, Koopman, van Kemenade & van der Wurff


    The Syntax of Early English

    Olga Fischer, University of Amsterdam Willem Koopman, University of Amsterdam Ans van Kemenade, University of Nijmegen Wim van der Wurff, University of Leiden

    This book is a guide to the development of English syntax between the Old and Modern periods. Beginning with an overview of the main features of early English syntax, it gives a unified account of the significant grammatical changes that occurred during this period. Four leading experts demonstrate how these changes can be explained in terms of grammatical theory and the theory of language acquisition. Drawing on a wealth of empirical data, the book covers a wide range of topics including changes in word order, infinitival constructions and grammaticalization processes.

    Contents:

    1. Language change and grammar change; 2. An outline of Old English syntax; 3. An outline of Middle English syntax; 4. The Verb Second constraint and its loss; 5. The loss of object-verb word order; 6. Verb-particles in Old and Middle English; 7. Changes in infinitival constructions; 8. The history of the 'easy to please' construction; 9. Grammaticalization and grammar change.

    Cambridge Syntax Guides

    2001/354 pp./23 figures/3 graphs/16 tables 55410-1/Hb/List: $69.95^LDisc.: $55.96 55626-0/Pb/List: $24.95^LDisc.: $19.96

    AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW

    http://www.cambridge.org

    Message 2: Evolutionary Emergence of Language, Knight, Studdert-Kennedy & Hurford

     Date: 29 Sep 2000 10:22:46 +0800
    From: Joyce Reid <jreidcup.org>
    Subject: Evolutionary Emergence of Language, Knight, Studdert-Kennedy & Hurford




    The Evolutionary Emergence of Language Social Function and the Origins of Linguistic Form

    Editors Chris Knight, University of East London Michael Studdert-Kennedy^, Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT James R. Hurford, University of Edinburgh

    The Evolutionary Emergence of Language covers the origins and early evolution of language. Its main purpose is to synthesize current thinking on this topic, particularly from a standpoint in theoretical linguistics. It is suitable for students of human evolution, evolutionary psychology, linguistic anthropology and general linguistics. It is the outcome of a major international conference on the evolution of language and includes contributions from many of the best known figures in this field. Very few truly interdisciplinary volumes on this topic have previously been published.

    Contributors:

    Chris Knight, Robbins Burling, Jason Noble, Jean-Louis Dessalles, Camilla Power, Michael Studdert-Kennedy, Marilyn M. Vihman, Rory A. DePaolis, Peter J. MacNeilage, Barbara L. Davis, Bart de Boer, Daniel Livingstone, Colin Fyfe, James R. Hurford, David Lightfoot, Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy, Derek Bickerton, Alison Wray, Simon Kirby, Robert P. Worden, Frederick J. Newmeyer, Mark Pagel

    Contents:

    SECTION I: THE EVOLUTION OF COOPERATIVE COMMUNICATION; 1. Introduction: The evolution of cooperative communication Chris Knight; 2. Comprehension, production and conventionalization in the origins of language Robbins Burling; 3. Co-operation, competition and the evolution of pre-linguistic communication Jason Noble; 4. Language and hominid politics Jean-Louis Dessalles; 5. Secret language use at female initiation: Bounding gossiping communities Camilla Power; 6. Play as precursor of phonology and syntax Chris Knight;

    SECTION II: THE EMERGENCE OF PHONETIC STRUCTURE; 7. Introduction: The emergence of phonetic structure Michael Studdert-Kennedy; 8. The role of mimesis in infant language development: Evidence for phylogeny? Marilyn M. Vihman and Rory A. DePaolis; 9. Evolution of speech: The relation between ontogeny and phylogeny Peter J. MacNeilage and Barbara L. Davis; 10.Evolutionary implications of the particulate principle: Imitation and the dissociation of phonetic form from semantic function Michael Studdert-Kennedy; 11.Emergence of sound systems through self-organisation Bart de Boer; 12.Modelling language-physiology coevolution Daniel Livingstone and Colin Fyfe;

    SECTION III: THE EVOLUTION OF SYNTAX; 13.The emergence of syntax James R. Hurford; 14.The spandrels of the linguistic genotype David Lightfoot; 15.The distinction between sentences and noun phrases: An impediment to language evolution? Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy; 16.How protolanguage became language Derek Bickerton; 17.Holistic utterances in protolanguage: The link from primates to humans Alison Wray; 18.Syntax without natural selection: How compositionality emerges from vocabulary in a population of learners Simon Kirby; 19.Social transmission favours linguistic generalization James R. Hurford; 20.Words, memes and language evolution Robert P. Worden; 21.On the reconstruction of "Proto-world" word order Frederick J. Newmeyer;

    EPILOGUE;

    22. The history, rate and pattern of world linguistic evolution Mark Pagel

    2000/392 pp./68 line diagrams/22 tables 78157-4/Hb/List: $74.95 Disc.: $59.96 78696-7/Pb/List: $27.95 Disc.: $22.36



    AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW

    http://www.cambridge.org






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