Thomas Stolz - Böcker

This is the first book-length functional-typologically inspired crosslinguistic study of comitatives and related categories such as the instrumental. On the basis of data drawn from 400 languages world-wide (covering all major phyla and areas), the authors test and revise a variety of general linguistic hypotheses about the grammar and cognitive foundations of comitatives. Three types of languages are identified according to the morphological treatment of the comitative and its syncretistic association with other concepts. It is shown that the structural behaviour of comitatives is areally biassed and that the languages of Europe tend to diverge from the majority of the world's languages. This has important repercussions for a language-independent definition of the comitative. The supposed conceptual closeness of comitative and instrumental is discussed in some detail and a semantic map of the comitative is put forward. Markedness is the crucial concept for the evaluation of the relation that ties comitatives and instrumentals to each other. In a separate chapter, the diachrony of comitatives is looked into from the perspective of grammaticalisation research. Throughout the book, the argumentation is richly documented by empirical data. The book contains three case-studies of the comitative in Icelandic, Latvian and Maltese - each of which represents one of the three language types identified earlier in the text. For the purpose of comparing the languages of Europe, a chapter is devoted to the analysis of a large parallel literary corpus (covering 64 languages) which reveals that the parameters of genetic affiliation, areal location and typological classification interact in intricate ways when it comes to predicting whether or not two languages of the sample behave similarly as to the use to which they put their comitative morphemes. With a view to determining the degree of similarity between the languages of the European sub-sample, methods of quantitative typology are employed. General linguists with an interest in case, functional typologists, grammaticalisation researchers and experts of markedness issues will value this book as an important contribution to their respective fields of interest.We regret that, due to a PDF problem, the figure on page 111 is partly shown in black. Please find the correct table here.

This edited volume brings together fourteen original contributions to the on-going debate about what is possible in contact-induced language change. The authors present a number of new vistas on language contact which represent new developments in the field.In the first part of the volume, the focus is on methodology and theory. Thomas Stolz defines the study of Romancisation processes as a very promising laboratory for language-contact oriented research and theoretical work based thereon. The reader is informed about the large scale projects on loanword typology in the contribution by Martin Haspelmath and on contact-induced grammatical change conducted by Jeanette Sakel and Yaron Matras. Christel Stolz reviews processes of gender-assignment to loan nouns in German and German-based varieties. The typology of loan verbs is the topic of the contribution by Søren Wichmann and Jan Wohlgemuth. In the articles by Wolfgang Wildgen and Klaus Zimmermann, two radically new approaches to the theory of language contact are put forward: a dynamic model and a constructivism-based theory, respectively.The second part of the volume is dedicated to more empirically oriented studies which look into language-contact constellations with a Romance donor language and a non-European recipient language. Spanish-Amerindian (Guaraní, Otomí, Quichua) contacts are investigated in the comparative study by Dik Bakker, Jorge Gómez-Rendón and Ewald Hekking. Peter Bakker and Robert A. Papen discuss the influence exerted by French on the indigenous languages ofCanada. The extent of the Portuguese impact on the Amazonian language Kulina is studied by Stefan Dienst. John Holm looks at the validity of the hypothesis that bound morphology normally falls victim to Creolization processes and draws his evidence mainly from Portuguese-based Creoles. For Austronesia, borrowings and calques from French still are an understudied phenomenon. Claire Moyse-Faurie’s contribution to this topic is thus a pioneer’s work. Similarly, Françoise Rose and Odile Renault-Lescure provide us with fresh data on language contact in French Guiana. The final article of this collection by Mauro Tosco demonstrates that the Italianization of languages of the former Italian colonies in East Africa is only weak. This volume provides the reader with new insights on all levels of language-contact related studies. The volume addresses especially a readership that has a strong interest in language contact in general and its repercussions on the phonology, grammar and lexicon of the recipient languages. Experts of Romance language contact, and specialists of Amerindian languages, Afro-Asiatic languages, Austronesian languages and Pidgins and Creoles will find the volume highly valuable.

Literally hundreds of languages world-wide have experienced direct or indirect Hispanisation during the heyday of the Spanish colonial empire. The number of languages which continue to borrow from Spanish on a daily basis is considerable especially in Latin America. This volume gives the reader a better idea of the range of contact constellations in which Spanish functions as the donor language. Moreover, the contributions to this collection of articles demonstrate that it is not only possible to compare the contact-induced processes in the (Hispanised) languages of Austronesia and the Americas. It is emphasized that one can draw far-reaching conclusions from the presented borrowing facts for the theory of language contact in general. The volume is divided into two sections according to geographical principles: section I is devoted to contacts of Spanish in Latin America. Two contributions look at the Hispanisation of varieties of Nahuatl (Classical Nahuatl studied by Anne Jensen and modern varieties studied by José Antonio Flores Farfán). Martina Schrader-Kniffki discusses Spanish-Zapotec contacts and their relations to language mixing and purism. Luciano Giannelli and Raoul Zamponi address the issue of Hispanisms in Kuna, a language from Panama. For South America, Jorge Gómez-Rendón discusses whether or not there are constraints on lexical borrowing from Spanish into Imbabura Quichua. Suzanne Dikker studies the intertwined language Media Lengua in her attempt at redefining the notion of relexification. Section II focuses on the impact of Spanish on the languages of Austronesia and South-East Asia. Steven Roger Fischer shows that the heavy Hispanisation of Rapanui is currently being reverted. Steve Pagel compares Hispanisation processes and their results in the Mariana Islands and on Rapa Nui. The second comparative study is by Patrick O. Steinkrüger who reviews a variety of Philippinian languages and their degrees of Hispanisation. The attitudes of native speakers of Chamorro as to Hispanisms is the topic of the study by Rosa Salas Palomo and Thomas Stolz. The volume is especially interesting for students of language contact. But also scholars with a background in Romance linguistics or Hispanic philology will find the assembled articles very useful, as well as Austronesianists and Amerindianists.

Die sich etablierende Forschungsdisziplin der Koloniallinguistik greift den Zusammenhang von sprachlicher Kommunikation und kolonialen und postkolonialen Machtkonstellationen auf, der in der aktuellen Forschung von immer größerem Interesse ist. Zum einen erfährt das Fachgebiet wachsende Aufmerksamkeit in der linguistischen Community, zum anderen findet es Resonanz in der universitären Lehre im Bachelor- und Master-Bereich, wo das Thema „Sprache und Kolonialismus“ aufgegriffen und mit Studierenden (weiter-)entwickelt wird.Zur Beförderung von Lehre und Selbststudium liegt mit diesem Studienbuch eine Einführung vor, die den aktuellen Forschungsstand und zentrale Konzepte der wissenschaftlichen Beschäftigung mit sprachlicher Kommunikation in (post-)kolonialen Kontexten verständlich darstellt.Das Buch ermöglicht den Studierenden einen sprachwissenschaftlich angeleiteten Zugang zum Thema, legt dann real-, literar- und sprachhistorische Fundamente, führt in praktische Probleme der sprachwissenschaftlichen Korpusbildung ein, zeigt die Bandbreite der Möglichkeiten koloniallinguistischer Forschung auf und reißt postkoloniale Perspektiven an. Eine editorisch aufbereitete Bibliographie von bestehender Forschung, anderen einführenden Werken und zentralen Quellenarten und -orten ist den Kapiteln abschließend beigegeben.

The extant generalizations about the grammar of space rely heavily on the analyses of declarative sentences. There is a need to check whether these generalizations also hold in the domain of interrogation. To this end this book analyzes data from some 450 languages (including non-standard varieties). The focus is on paradigms of spatial interrogatives such as English where, whither and whence and their internal organization. These paradigms are checked for recurrent patterns of morphological mismatches (such as syncretism) and different degrees of complexity (e.g. the number of segments). The data-base consists of a large parallel literary corpus (Le petit prince and translations thereof) which is complemented by further sources of information such as descriptive grammars. The data are analyzed from a synchronic perspective. However, diachronic issues are addressed unsystematically, too. It is shown that the distribution of phenomena which characterize paradigms of spatial interrogatives are subject to areal-linguistic factors. This is the first typological study of spatial interrogatives. It provides new insights for students of the grammar of space, morphological paradigms, and language typology.

Koloniale und Postkoloniale Linguistik / Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics (KPL/CPL) provides the platform for a new research program which is currently taking shape in the realm of linguistics, viz. "Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics". This new sub-discipline of linguistics is inspired by the work carried out within the framework of Missionary Linguistics and by the recent discussion about language, linguistics and colonialism. The integration of these two perspectives in one approach makes "Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics" special. KPL/CPL serves the purpose of making accessible to the interested public (linguists, historians, native speakers of the object languages, etc.) and commenting upon those texts the topic of which are languages of the former European possessions in overseas and which were written during the European colonial era. The focus is on hitherto unpublished manuscripts and texts which nowadays are hard to come by. KPL/CPL also investigate in what ways the cultural and political discourse of the (post-)colonial times is reflected in the contemporary linguistic contributions dedicated to the languages of the colonized peoples. The new series publishes monographs and collections of articles. All incoming manuscripts are peer-reviewed (double blind). The languages of publication are preferably English and German.

Koloniale und Postkoloniale Linguistik / Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics (KPL/CPL) provides the platform for a new research program which is currently taking shape in the realm of linguistics, viz. "Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics". This new sub-discipline of linguistics is inspired by the work carried out within the framework of Missionary Linguistics and by the recent discussion about language, linguistics and colonialism. The integration of these two perspectives in one approach makes "Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics" special. KPL/CPL serves the purpose of making accessible to the interested public (linguists, historians, native speakers of the object languages, etc.) and commenting upon those texts the topic of which are languages of the former European possessions in overseas and which were written during the European colonial era. The focus is on hitherto unpublished manuscripts and texts which nowadays are hard to come by. KPL/CPL also investigate in what ways the cultural and political discourse of the (post-)colonial times is reflected in the contemporary linguistic contributions dedicated to the languages of the colonized peoples. The new series publishes monographs and collections of articles. All incoming manuscripts are peer-reviewed (double blind). The languages of publication are preferably English and German.

In contrast to many other levels of language, there is as yet no comprehensive areal-linguistic description of the segmental phonological properties of the languages of Europe.To complement the synchronic picture of the languages of Europe, it is time to take stock of their phoneme inventories to provide an empirical basis for generalizations about the similarities and dissimilarities of the languages of Europe. The best way to visualize the areal phonology of Europe is that of the Phonological Atlas of Europe (Phon@Europe) which features the isoglosses of phonological phenomena on a plethora of maps. As a prequel to Phon@Europe, this study not only outlines the goals, methodology, sample, and theory of the project but also focuses on loan phonemes whose diffusion across the 210 doculects of the sample yields meaningful patterns. The patterns are indicative of recent processes of convergence which have transformed a diverse phonological mosaic into a superficially homogeneous linguistic area. The developments which have led to the present situation are traced back through the history of the sample languages.

Koloniale und Postkoloniale Linguistik / Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics (KPL/CPL) provides the platform for a new research program which is currently taking shape in the realm of linguistics, viz. "Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics". This new sub-discipline of linguistics is inspired by the work carried out within the framework of Missionary Linguistics and by the recent discussion about language, linguistics and colonialism. The integration of these two perspectives in one approach makes "Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics" special. KPL/CPL serves the purpose of making accessible to the interested public (linguists, historians, native speakers of the object languages, etc.) and commenting upon those texts the topic of which are languages of the former European possessions in overseas and which were written during the European colonial era. The focus is on hitherto unpublished manuscripts and texts which nowadays are hard to come by. KPL/CPL also investigate in what ways the cultural and political discourse of the (post-)colonial times is reflected in the contemporary linguistic contributions dedicated to the languages of the colonized peoples. The new series publishes monographs and collections of articles. All incoming manuscripts are peer-reviewed (double blind). The languages of publication are preferably English and German.

The grammar of Maltese prepositions is described in detail starting from the definition of what counts as a preposition in Maltese. The sixty simple prepositions are analyzed as to their phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic properties in synchronic perspective. In this way several classes of prepositions can be distinguished on the basis of their structural behavior. The empirical data stem from the Korpus Malti 3.0 and a broad selection of conventionally published literature in contemporary Maltese. The study combines qualitative and quantitative methods. The results are evaluated with reference to the typology of adpositions as proposed by Hagège (2010).

For the first time, proper names are made the topic of a cross-linguistic account of morphosyntactic properties which formally distinguish place names, personal names, and common nouns. It is shown that the behaviour of place names and personal names in morphology and syntax frequently disagrees with the rules established for other word classes independent of the language’s genetic affiliation, grammatical structure, and geographic location. Place names and personal names each boast a grammar of their own. They are candidates for the status of a distinct word class. Their special grammar comes frequently to the fore in the domain of spatial and possessive relations. This fact is explained with reference to functional notions.

For the first time, proper names are made the topic of a cross-linguistic account of morphosyntactic properties which formally distinguish place names, personal names, and common nouns. It is shown that the behaviour of place names and personal names in morphology and syntax frequently disagrees with the rules established for other word classes independent of the language’s genetic affiliation, grammatical structure, and geographic location. Place names and personal names each boast a grammar of their own. They are candidates for the status of a distinct word class. Their special grammar comes frequently to the fore in the domain of spatial and possessive relations. This fact is explained with reference to functional notions.