Welcome to our book review site www.go-pdf.online!
You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Diachrony of differential argument marking
While there are languages that code a particular grammatical role (e.g. subject or direct object) in one and the same way across the board, many more languages code the same grammatical roles differentially. The variables which condition the differential argument marking (or DAM) pertain to various properties of the NP (such as animacy or definiteness) or to event semantics or various properties of the clause. While the main line of current research on DAM is mainly synchronic the volume tackles the diachronic perspective. The tenet is that the emergence and the development of differential marking systems provide a different kind of evidence for the understanding of the phenomenon. The present volume consists of 18 chapters and primarily brings together diachronic case studies on particular languages or language groups including e.g. Finno-Ugric, Sino-Tibetan and Japonic languages. The volume also includes a position paper, which provides an overview of the typology of different subtypes of DAM systems, a chapter on computer simulation of the emergence of DAM and a chapter devoted to the cross-linguistic effects of referential hierarchies on DAM.
Coptic Interference in the Syntax of Greek Letters from Egypt
Egypt in the early Byzantine period was a bilingual country where Greek and Egyptian (Coptic) were used alongside each other. Historical studies along with linguistic studies of the phonology and lexicon of early Byzantine Greek in Egypt testify to this situation. In order to describe the linguistic traces that the language-contact situation left behind in individuals' linguistic output, Coptic Interference in the Syntax of Greek Letters from Egypt analyses the syntax of early Byzantine Greek texts from Egypt. The primary object of interest is bilingual interference in the syntax of verbs, adverbial phrases, clause linkage as well as in semi-formulaic expressions and formulaic frames. The study is based on a corpus of Greek and Coptic private letters on papyrus, which date from the fourth to mid-seventh centuries, originate from Egypt and belong to bilingual, Greek-Coptic, papyrus archives.
Coping with Obscurity
Coping with Obscurity publishes the papers discussed at the Brown University Workshop on Earlier Egyptian grammar in March, 2013. The workshop united ten scholars of differing viewpoints dealing with the central question of how to judge and interpret the grammatical value of the written evidence preserved in texts of the Old and Middle Kingdoms (ca. 2350-1650 BC). The nine papers in the volume present orthographic, lexical, morphological, and syntactic approaches to the data and represent a significant step toward a new, pluralistic understanding of Earlier Egyptian grammar.
The Negative Existential Cycle
In 1991, William Croft suggested that negative existentials (typically lexical expressions that mean ‘not exist, not have’) are one possible source for negation markers and gave his hypothesis the name Negative Existential Cycle (NEC). It is a variationist model based on cross-linguistic data. For a good twenty years following its formulation, it was cited at face-value without ever having been tested by (historical)-comparative data. Over the last decade, Ljuba Veselinova has worked on testing the model in a comparative perspective, and this edited volume further expands on her work. The collection presented here features detailed studies of several language families such as Bantu, Chad...
Valency over Time
Valency patterns and valency orientation have been frequent topics of research under different perspectives, often poorly connected. Diachronic studies on these topics is even less systematic than synchronic ones. The papers in this book bring together two strands of research on valency, i.e. the description of valency patterns as worked out in the Leipzig Valency Classes Project (ValPaL), and the assessment of a language's basic valency and its possible orientation. Notably, the ValPaL does not provide diachronic information concerning the valency patterns investigated: one of the aims of the book is to supplement the available data with data from historical stages of languages, in order to make it profitably exploitable for diachronic research. In addition, new research on the diachrony of basic valency and valency alternations can deepen our understanding of mechanisms of language change and of the propensity of languages or language families to exploit different constructional patterns related to transitivity.
The Modal System of Old Babylonian
This monograph is a corpus-based description of the modal system of epistolary Old Babylonian, one of the best attested Akkadian dialects, using the European structural method. The study strives to match a concrete exponent (i.e., an array of formal features, morphological and syntactic) with a semantic value, in using syntactic criteria. The book treats: 1. the asseverative paradigm (used for insistence, concession and oath), explaining the syntactic mechanism behind these forms; 2. the various precative-based paradigms in various syntactic conditions: the directive group, the wish group and the interrogative group; 3. the same forms occurring in special syntactic patterns-the sequential precative and the concessive-conditional precative; 4. the paratactic conditional; and 5. the modal nominal syntagm sa para: sim. Together with this description, some additional problems are addressed for which solutions are developed: the focus system of Old Babylonian; the general linguistic issue of "emphatic assertion" (using an English corpus); and a way to describe the syntactic nature of paratactic conditional structures.
Polymer Durability and Radiation Effects
The utilization of polymeric materials and their optimization for high performance applications requires a detailed understanding of their degradation sensitivities, and the various features affecting durability. This book provides an overview of the current trends in this research field. Topics are the latest concepts related to material lifetime prediction methodologies, new insight into degradation mechanisms in radiation environments, and how the knowledge of degradation processes can be applied to the design of materials with improved performance. Similarly of interest are appropriate analytical characterization techniques that are fundamental to all areas of polymer degradation and optimization studies. This book discusses the overlapping performance interests in a range of existing and developing applications. The audience will be polymer chemists and material engineers dealing with polymer design, testing and durability issues. The market will range from academia, to large research institutes and industry.
So, You Want to Learn Coptic?
Coptic was the last phase in the development of Hieroglyphics, and the language of the first Chrisitans of Egypt. Most scholarly attention has been directed towards the Sahidic dialect, leaving Bohairic as a much maligned second cousin, in spite of it remaining the liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church. While there are many excellent grammar books catering for Sahidic lovers, there are many less options available for those interested in learning Bohairic. This book aims to cater for those people, especially for those without a formal introduction to linguistics. With a fresh and lively approach, it will be of great value to those with an interest in this area.
