Darya Kavitskaya - Böcker

This volume brings together an international group of linguists from a diverse range of research backgrounds to explore the cycles of change in the world's languages. Historical linguistics does not solely focus on reconstructing a language's linguistic past and exploring the mechanisms underlying previous language changes; it also addresses broader questions concerning the development and ongoing evolution of language. The chapters in this book draw on data both from languages from the distant past, such as Hittite, Proto-Turkic, and Proto-Bantu, and from present-day languages including Akan, Cantonese, Kuuk Thaayorre, Seliš-Ql'ispé, Nivaclé, and Spanish. The contributions showcase current research in historical linguistics and exemplify the dynamism and inherently interdisciplinary nature of the field.

First Published in 2002. This volume is part of the 'Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics' series, and focuses on phonetics, phonology and diachrony of compensatory lengthening. The term compensatory lengthening (CL) refers to a set of phonological phenomena wherein the disappearance of one element of a representation is accompanied by a corresponding lengthening of another element. This study focuses on descriptive and formal similarities and divergences between CL of vowels triggered by consonant and by vowel loss.