The LINGUASPHERE BOOKSHELF
displays information about recently published works describing or
discussing the modern languages of the world, or of a specific region
or country, or dealing with the recent or current development of
languages in any part of the world. The bookshelf includes works
which contribute to an understanding of the linguasphere as a whole,
and of linguistic development and inter-relationships in modern times.
Authors and publishers are invited to submit copies of relevant volumes on modern languages for exposure on this electronic bookshelf, to the Linguasphere Observatory, Hebron SA34 0XT, Wales. Works may be in any language, but should be accompanied by a descriptive paragraph in English. Details should be included of where and how each work may be purchased or otherwise obtained, including website links as appropriate.
BOOKSHELF CONTENTS:
The Westminster Creolistics Series
Series Editor: Philip Baker
Launched in 1995, this series is already widely recognised as a key source of information on the linguistic analysis and social history of Pidgin and Creole languages.
From Contact to Creole and
Beyond
Edited by Philip Baker Westminster
Creolistics Series 1
This, the inaugural book in the series, contains sixteen papers on a
wide range of current issues in Pidgin and Creole studies from some of
the leading scholars in the field. (December 1995 ISBN
) £17.50
Changing Meanings,
Changing Functions: Grammaticalization in Contact Languages
Edited by Philip Baker and Anand Syea
Westminster Creolistics Series 2
This volume brings together seventeen new contributions, all concerned
with investigating the role and nature of the grammaticalization
process in Pidgin and Creole languages. (July 1996 ISBN ) £17.50
Pidgin and Creole
Linguistics
Peter Mühlhäusler Westminster
Creolistics Series 3
Expanded and revised edition. When first published in 1986, this
book was immediately acclaimed as the most accomplished general work
on the subject. For this new edition, the author has updated the
work throughout and expanded it by some 30 per cent with three
completely new chapters, on the sociology of Pidgins and Creoles, and
their use in both education and literature. (October 1997 ISBN ) £20.00
St Kitts and the
Atlantic Creoles: the Texts of Samuel Augustus Mathews in
Perspective
Edited by Philip Baker and Adrienne Bruyn
Westminster Creolistics Series 4
It was on the small island of St Kitts in the 1620s that both the
English and the French established their first colonies in the
Caribbean. And it was from St Kitts that both nations began to
settle other islands in the region, while the Dutch colonization of
nearby St Eustatius began in the 1630s. The St Kitts area is
thus potentially the birthplace of the first English, French and
Dutch-based Creole languages of the Caribbean. Despite this, the
area has until recently been largely ignored by Creolists. The
recent rediscovery of Samuel Augustus Mathews' writings provided
Creolists with the opportunity of analysing these texts and assessing
their significance for the various theories which have been proposed
to account for the striking similarities among the Atlantic English
Creoles. (January 1999 ISBN X) £20.00
From French to Creole: The Development of New Vernaculars in the French Colonial World
Chris Corne Westminster Creolistics
Series 5
Around the world there are many languages whose vocabulary comes
mainly from France. They are found all over the French colonial
world, which began in the 17th century and of which small parts still
exist. Some of these languages are mutually intelligible with
French; others are not (but may be so with each other). In this
book, Chris Corne discusses a representative sample of these languages
and describes the historical and social background of each of them to
show the factors that made each language what it is, and each language
is broadly portrayed in a way accessible to the general reader. (February
1999 ISBN ) £20.00
Spreading the Word: The
Issue of Diffusion Among the Atlantic Creoles
Edited by Magnus Huber and Mikael
Parkvall Westminster Creolistics Series 6
This book deals with the question of diffusion among Atlantic Creoles.
The two main themes addressed by the contributors are Afrogenesis and
the controversy about the existence and spread of a Brazilian
Portuguese proto-Pidgin to other places in the New World. (March
1999 ISBN ) £20.00
The above publications are
published by, and can be ordered from, Battlebridge Publications,
Box 421, 37 Store Street, London WC1E 7BS,
Great Britain.
Atlas
international de la vitalité linguistique / International Atlas of
Language Vitality
Direction: GRANT D. McCONNELL et JEAN-DENIS GENDRON
The four volumes of the International
Atlas of Language Vitality offer a unique cartography of language
functions, based on their measurement in terms of a language vitality
rating. The Atlas consists of a quantitativity based cartography
expressed in vitality rates originating from the sociolinguistic data
base of
'The Written Languages of the World' . The concept of language
vitality as a precise and useful tool for comparing the functional
utility of a language, grew out of a need to quantify what macro
and micro-sociolinguistic studies had been merely qualifying for a
long time. For example, when comparing two languages in contact,
one was considered strong in terms of institutional usage, whereas the
other was considered weak. These qualifying terms were useful
when comparing two languages but soon became confusing when several
languages were compared. The Atlas volumes express the
development of the vitality concept.
Volume 1: Les langues
constitutionnelles de l'Inde / Constitutional Languages of India.
(1993). G-13, Québec, CIRAL*, 357 p. (Introduction de G.-D.
McConnell).
The first volume explores the vitality of
the constitutional languages in each Indian State.
Volume 2: L'Europe
occidentale / Western Europe. (1993).
G-14, Québec, CIRAL, 130 p.
(Introduction de J.-D. Gendron).
This volume covers 83 minority and
regional languages of Western Europe.
Volume 3: L'Afrique
occidentale / Western Africa. (1995).
G-15, Québec, CIRAL, 137 p. (Présentation
de R. Breton).
Volume 3 covers 13 countries of West
Africa and 59 major within and between state mother tongues of this
region.
Volume 4: La Chine / China.
(1998).
G-16, Sainte-Foy, CIRAL, 205 p. (Présentation
de Tan Kerang).
This volume covers the majority
(Han/Mandarin) language and some 59 officially recognised minority
languages of China.
The above volumes are published by
the Presses de l'Université Laval
E-mail:
*CIRAL (le centre international de
recherche en aménagement linguistique) rattaché à l'Université
Laval, à Québec, regroupe dix-huit chercheurs et quelque
soixante-dix étudiants de deuxième et troisième cycles. Ces
derniers se consacrent à diverses disciplines de la linguistique en
partageant une même approche : ils étudient la langue et les
questions s'y rattachant dans leur contexte social (conditions
historiques, économiques, politiques, etc.). Leurs recherches ont
ainsi pour objet des situations concrètes.
Atlas
of the Languages and Ethnic Communities of South Asia
By Prof. Roland J.L. Breton
This geographical atlas constitutes the first systematic presentation of the spatial and quantitative characteristics of the distribution of languages in the seven countries of South Asia. The atlas enables readers to actually see the geographical location, extension, and linguistic affinities of any of the numerous languages spoken in South Asia by combining and comparing language data from various national censuses. Part I introduces the reader to the relationship between language and the complex ethnocultural structure of the subcontinent. Professor Breton stresses both the importance of and difficulties in analyzing the vitality of South Asian language groups and examines the similarities and differences in language use and various ethnic traits among similar population groups. The second part - which comprises 60 plates along with supporting text - is devoted to graphically analyzing various aspects including regional distribution of language and ethnic communities; the relationship between language and race, tribe, caste, and religion; the main linguistic minorities; and ethno-political factors.
Atlas of the Languages and Ethnic Communities of South Asia, Second Edition will be an indispensable reference and resource tool to academics, students, and researchers interested in linguistics, geography, cultural studies, reference, anthropology, ethnology, and political science.
(First edition 1997, second edition
1999, Delhi: Sage Publications)
Dictionary
of Languages
The
Definitive Guide to More Than 400 Languages by Andrew Dalby
Hardcover - 800 pages (February 1999)
From Booklist , May 15, 1999
'This dictionary, written by a linguist, provides an introduction to
the world's languages. The subtitle of the book demonstrates its
scope. The alphabetical entries cover all languages with official
status as well as those with a written literature and 175 minor
languages with significant historical and/or anthropological interest.
The entries themselves are from two to four pages long. Each one discusses a specific language (Diola, Chinese, Zapotec) or language family (Afroasiatic languages, Indo-Aryan languages, Niger-Congo languages). Entries for individual languages include the language name, estimated number of speakers, the country or countries in which it is spoken, an essay on the origin of the language, its characteristics and cultural links, a map, a list of dialects and related languages, and an example of the script and/or alphabet. Some entries also have quotations of proverbs or poetry. The entries for historical languages that are no longer spoken (Gothic, Old Slavonic, Sumerian) are briefer and do not have maps.
With coverage of languages from Abkhaz
to Zulu, explanations of Egyptian hieroglyphics and Sumerian script,
and a discussion of Chinese dialects and characters, Dictionary of
Languages is a welcome addition to public and academic library
collections.'
Copyright© 1999, American Library Association. All rights
reserved.
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
by David Crystal
Paperback - 496 pages 2nd edition (May 1997)
Crystal offers a straightforward, narrative account of language - its variety, history, and structure - to cover a broad range of information in a lively and visually appealing manner. Includes a glossary of more than 1,000 terms and a table of the world's languages. More than 350 illustrations and 30 maps, with encyclopedic coverage over 65 thematic chapters. Very Highly Recommended.
Handbook
of Dialects and Language Variation
Edited by Michael D. Linn
Hardcover - 697 pages 2nd edition (June 1998)
This collection of essays is divided
into five sections covering: dialect theory, regional dialects, social
and gender dialects, ethnic dialects (including education and social
issues), and historical development and language change. While
focussing on dialects of English, topics covered include areas as
diverse as american creolistics, the relationship between language and
sex, african american English, american indian English and sound
change in English dialect geography.
(Full contents displayed on the Amazon.com page.)
Linguistic
Diversity in Space and Time
by Johanna Nichols
Hardcover (July 1992)
In this ground-breaking book, Johanna Nichols proposes means of describing, comparing, and interpreting linguistic diversity, both genetic and structural, providing the foundations for a theory of diversity based upon population science. This book will interest linguists, archaeologists, and population specialists.
"An awe-inspiring book, unequalled in scope, originality, and the range of language data considered." - Anna Siewierska, Linguistics
"Fascinating. . . . A brilliant pioneering study." - Journal of Indo-European Studies
"A superbly reasoned book." - John A. C. Greppin, Times Literary Supplement
Language
and Communication : A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia (Encyclopedias
of the Human Experience)
by Michael Shaw Findlay
Hardcover - 229 pages (May 1998)
From Booklist , September 15, 1998
'The purpose of this volume in ABC-CLIO's Encyclopedias of the Human
Experience series is to explore Western and non-Western traditions and
sociocultural language conventions in an effort to deemphasize the
Indo-European approach often used in the past. Findlay, a social
scientist, defines 151 terms from an anthropological, ethnographic,
and sociolinguistic point of view. Entries range from one or two
paragraphs to several pages depending upon the topic. Discourse
analysis and gender differences, for example, are among the longest.
The author presents complex concepts in cross-cultural communication
in thoughtful, clear terms. Findlay's work is valuable, informative,
and very browsable, offering a concise approach for undergraduate,
high-school, and popular linguistics collections.'
Copyright© 1998, American Library Association. All rights
reserved.
The Ascent of
Babel : An Exploration of Language, Mind, and Understanding
by Gerry T. M. Altmann
Paperback - 304 pages (March 1999)
From Booklist , January 1, 1998
'Altmann explains in lay terms what psycholinguistics is and how its
findings affect what we know of human experience. He also makes clear
why experiments are designed the way they are and the inferences drawn
from the results. For anyone who has ever pondered why babies speak
only their native language, how
dyslexics misperceive language, what language learning tells us about
human behavior in general, or (especially interesting to readers) the
relation of writing to speech, this book explains all in a clear,
simple, if sometimes dry manner.'
Copyright© 1998, American Library Association. All rights
reserved.
"... fascinating... an extraordinarily accessible introduction to psycholinguistics, equally valuable to students of the subject, to linguists, psychologists and the general reader." - New Scientist
Language
Creation and Language Change
Creolization, Diachrony, and Development
by Michel DeGraff (ed.)
586 pages (June 99)
Research on creolization, language change, and language acquisition has been converging toward a triangulation of the constraints along which grammatical systems develop within individual speakers - and (viewed externally) across generations of speakers. The originality of this volume is in its comparison of various sorts of language development from a number of linguistic-theoretic and empirical perspectives, using data from both speech and gestural modalities and from a diversity of acquisition environments. In turn, this comparison yields fresh insights on the mental bases of language creation.
The book is organized into five parts:
creolization and acquisition; acquisition under exceptional
circumstances; language processing and syntactic change; parameter
setting in acquisition and through creolization and language change;
and a concluding part integrating the contributors' observations and
proposals into a series of commentaries on the state of the art in our
understanding of language development, its role in creolization and
diachrony, and implications for linguistic theory.
Surftipps:
- Reference about Gif and JPEG
- Many
Encyclopedias and Glossaries, covering various subjects in different
languages.
© 2004 The Linguasphere Observatory.