Development of Afro-Asiatic (Semito-Hamitic) Comparative-Historical Linguistics in Russia and the Former Soviet Union

Gábor Takács
 

This study gives the first science history and a detailed and extensive scientific appraisal of the works by the Russian school (or "Moscow school") of Afro-Asiatic (Semito-Hamitic) comparative-historical linguistics in the past three decades.

The book contains the following parts: 1. A general overview of roots of Afro-Asiatic linguistics in Russia before 1965. 2. A concise survey of development of Afro-Asiatic studies from 1965 in Russia. 3. A most detailed presentation and critical appraisal of works by the Russian comparativists on the reconstruction of Afro-Asiatic comparative phonology and lexicon in the light of research results of other ("Western") scholars (incl. my own observations). 4. A concise description of the so-called "Nostratic theory" and introduction of the "Moscow school of comparative linguistics" in the latest three decades. 5. The work ends with a comprehensive bibliography of all cited works. This is at the same time the first bibliography that includes all Russian works on Afro-Asiatic linguistics from 1965.

ISBN 9783895865916. LINCOM Studies in Afroasiatic Linguistics 02. 200pp. 1999.

A Moroccan Arabic Secret Language

The X…XinCa Family

Nasser Berjaoui
Ibn Tofail University, Kénitra, Morocco

The present work studies one category (family) of the Moroccan Arabic Secret Languages of the Tafilalet (TSLs), the south-east of Morocco. In this family, which involves thirty-three varieties, a consonant of the word is substituted by the consonant of the variety. Then the new word is followed by the consonant of the TSL, the element “in”, the substituted consonant (that of the word) and the vowel “a”. For instance, the word “ktab” (a book) is encoded in one variety of the TSLs as “stabsinka” and as “wtabwinka” in another one.

The book involves eight chapters and a detailed bibliography for secret languages research. The first chapter presents major previous works on the topic, like the French Verlan, for instance. Chapter two introduces major sociolinguistic aspects of the TSLs with reference to such aspects as sex, age and locations, for example. Chapter three investigates the encoding operations of prefixless words, like nouns and adjectives. Chapter four scrutinizes the encoding of prefixed items like verbs and passive participles. Chapter five is concerned with the encoding of long, short and lengthened parts of speech. Chapter six aims at a description of the encoding of phrases, clauses and sentences. Chapter seven mirrors the uses of the TSLs in everyday encounters. Chapter eight presents a detailed account of the rules governing the varieties of the x…xinCa family of the TSLs.

ISBN 9783895868863. LINCOM Studies in Afroasiatic Linguistics 03. 130pp. 2007.

Comparative Morphology of Standard Egyptian Arabic

Hassan A. H. Gadalla
Assiut University

The major concern of this book is the comparison of the morphological aspects of Standard Arabic (SA) and Egyptian Arabic (EA). It is divided into five chapters. Chapter One provides a phonological outline of SA and EA. It also analyses morphological basics and the morphosyntactic preliminaries of the two varieties. Chapter Two is devoted to the morphology of triradical and quadriradical verbs. In addition, the inflection of verbs for aspect/mood and voice and a treatment of verbal affixes and verb derivation are provided.

Chapter Three deals with the morphology of primary and deverbal nouns. Moreover, the divergence between definite and indefinite nouns and the inflection of nouns for case, gender and number are explained. The formation of the diminutive is also illustrated. Chapter Four handles the morphology of adjectival stems. Then, the difference between definite and indefinite adjectives and the inflection of adjectives for case, gender, number and degree are analyzed. Furthermore, participial forms and relational adjectives are discussed. Chapter Five is related to the morphology of closed-list classes, including pronouns, prepositions, adverbs, as well as interrogative and responsive particles. Finally, negative and possessive particles are exhibited.

ISBN 9783895869723. LINCOM Studies in Afroasiatic Linguistics 05. 264pp. 2000.

Verb Classes and Transitivity in Amharic

Mengistu Amberber
The University of New South Wales

The book provides a detailed analysis of verb classes and transitivity alternations in the Ethiosemitic language Amharic. It investigates the lexical-semantic and morphosyntactic properties of a number of constructions including causatives, passives, applicatives, and experiencer predicates.

The lexical semantic analysis of the verbs appeals to the theory of Conceptual Semantics as developed by Ray Jackendoff. Thus, the study assumes a decompositional approach to the meaning of lexical items in which the meaning of a given lexical item is decomposed into smaller universal conceptual primitives. Each chapter begins with a succinct introduction of the Amharic data under investigation and a concise statement of the theoretically relevant issues.

Then the Amharic data is analysed within a cross-linguistic context in order to uncover deep and underlying grammatical properties. The book would interest theoretical and descriptive linguists studying the interface between lexical semantics and morphosyntax. As it explores the relationship between conceptual structure and language, the book would also be of interest to psycholinguists and researchers interested in the mental lexicon.

ISBN 9783895864049. LINCOM Studies in Afroasiatic Linguistics 06. 160pp. 2002.

Die St-Stämme des Altäthiopischen

(The St-Stems of Old Ethiopic)

Michael Waltisberg


Das Altäthiopische oder mit einheimischem Namen Ge'ez ist die klassische Literatur- und Kirchensprache Äthiopiens. Es wurde im 1. Jahrtausend unserer Zeit im Norden Äthiopiens mit dem Zentrum Aksum (heute Provinz Tigre) gesprochen, fand aber bis ins 19. Jh. als Schriftsprache Verwendung und dient noch heute als Liturgiesprache der äthiopischen und eriträischen Kirche.

Das Altäthiopische steht strukturell anderen altsemitischen Sprachen wie dem Akkadischen oder Arabischen nahe, zeichnet sich aber ihnen gegenüber durch eine sehr regelmässige Morphologie aus. Dies gilt insbesondere für den Bereich der Verbalderivation, d.h. die sogenannten Verbalstämme.

Bisher fehlen Untersuchungen zur Funktion der altäthiopischen Verbalstämme fast völlig. Die Studie von Waltisberg versucht, diese Lücke für die St-Stämme zu schliessen.

Das Werk bietet eine eingehende, synchron ausgerichtete Diskussion der Morphologie, Funktion und Stellung der St-Stämme und wertet den Befund statistisch aus. Im abschliessenden Teil wird das Ergebnis in den gesamtsemitischen Rahmen eingeordnet und mit dem Befund der anderen semitischen Sprachen verglichen.

Ein Index erschliesst die in der Studie behandelten Verbalwurzeln.

(The monograph by Waltisberg treats the morphology and functions of the so-called St-stems of Old Ethiopic and compares the result with related Semitic languages.)

ISBN 9783895863912. LINCOM Studies in Afroasiatic Linguistics 08. 100pp. 2001.

Die Interaktion der Aspektsemantik mit Lexikon im Marokkanisch-Arabischen

Fadoua Chaara
Universität zu Köln

Die Aspektfrage im Marokkanisch-Arabischen (MA) wird aus einem neuen Aspektverständnis betrachtet, das sich in den modernen Aspekttheorien (Dowty, Smith, Bäuerle, Breu, Sasse, u.a.) entwickelt hat. Demnach bezieht sich "Aspekt" auf temporale Begrenzungseigenschaften von Sachverhalten, die ihren Ausdruck sowohl durch lexikalische Formen (Verbbedeutungen) als auch durch grammatische Kategorien (Aspektmarker) finden. Die Interdependenz von Lexik und Grammatik bei der Aspektfrage wird vor allem in den Selektionstheorien von Breu und Sasse thematisiert. Auch bei der Aspektanalyse des MA als Sprache mit morphologischem Aspektsystem scheint die Interaktion beider Sprachebenen von zentraler Bedeutung zu sein. Denn die Aspektbedeutung jedes Verblexems (bzw. jeder Verbphrase oder jedes Satzes) im MA hängt von der Kompatibilität bzw. Inkompatibilität der eigenen lexikalischen und aspektsensitiven Bedeutung mit der Bedeutung des betreffenden Aspektmarkers zusammen.

Nach der Besprechung von für das MA relevanten Aspektansätzen wird ein kurzer überblick über die Verbmorphologie des MA, und anschliessend werden die Formkategorien des Tempus-Aspekt-Modus-Systems des MA samt ihren unterschiedlichen Funktionen im Satz- und Diskurskontext gegeben. Zentral für das Verbalsystem des MA sind die drei Hauptkategorien: Perfektiv (die suffigierte Verbform), Imperfektiv (die mit ka- markierte präfigierte Verbform) und das Partizip Aktiv.

Danach wird versucht, repräsentative marokkanisch-arabische Verben ausgehend von ihrem Aspektverhalten in die bereits etablierten Verbklassen (wie inzeptiv-statische oder graduell-terminative Klassen, u.a.) einzuordnen. Im Gegensatz zu den allgemein anerkannten Hauptklassen von telischen und atelischen Verben ergeben sich aus der Verbklassifikation im MA zwei Hauptklassen, die sich beide als telisch erweisen und sich nur durch die Lexikalisierung von Anfangs- oder Endpunkt von einander unterscheiden. Die weiteren Subklassen von Verben im MA werden aufgrund der Vor- und Nachphasenstruktur der in den Verben bezeichneten Situationen differenziert.

Im MA kann es auch zum Klassenwechsel kommen, wenn die betreffenden Verben aus syntaktischen Gründen (in Kombination mit bestimmten Argumenten) oder aus rein lexikalischen Gründen (durch Polysemie ) ihr Aspektverhalten ändern. Die Fallstudien zur Polysemie im MA haben das wichtige Ergebnis erbracht, dass eine lexikalische Form mit ihren verschiedenen "senses" unterschiedlichen Aspektklassen zugeordnet werden kann. Deshalb scheint es schwierig, wenn nicht unmöglich, eine Grundbedeutung und somit eine Grundklassifikation für diese Verben zu postulieren. Wenn also allgemein gesagt wird, ein "Verb" gehöre einer bestimmten Aspektklasse an, so kann dies nur als eine abgekürzte Ausdruckweise für "das Verb x mit der Lesart a" interpretiert werden.
 
 
 

L'aspect en arabe marocain s'exprime au niveau de la lexique (par les différentes classes verbales) et au niveau de la grammaire (par les catégories du perfectif, imperfectif et participe actif). Mais c'est l'interaction des deux plans, lexical et morpho-syntactique, qui détermine le comportement aspectuel de chaque Verbe (ou bien de chaque phrase) ainsi que sa classe aspectuelle. En outre, les études empiriques sur quelques verbes polysèmes représentatifs en arabe marocain ont montré clairement que la classification verbale ne peut être basée sur le sens absolu et " global " du verbe. Le recours à l'un des différents sens du verbe semble être inévitable. Chaque sens du verbe peut mener à une interprétation aspectuelle différente ainsi qu'à une classification différente.

ISBN 9783895868702. LINCOM Studies in Afroasiatic Linguistics 11. 220pp. 2003.

If

Conditional Sentences in Contemporary Hebrew, Structure, Meaning, and Usage of Tenses

Tali Bar

The book deals with Contemporary Hebrew Conditional Sentences, classified from a structural point of view.

The Hebrew language is rich in conditional expressions, simple and complex. Conditionality is expressed there by various means, specific conjunctions on the one hand, and negators and adverbial subordinators on the other hand. Conditional sentences are among the most complicated of structures. They contain a great variety of subtlety of nuances; some constructions are transparent, in which the condition is expressed in typical patterns, and in others the conditional meaning is implied from the context. The tense and mood system there, characterized by complex tenses and by shifting to the past, is different from that found elsewhere. These issues are discussed here.

The book is aimed and intended to introduce the structural, semantic, contextual, and stylistic aspects of the Present-Day Hebrew Conditionals. It provides a short presentation of their logical aspect without being sidetracked to areas irrelevant to the linguistic discussion, and it clarifies their boundaries as a linguistic category. The description and conclusions are based on evidence taken from a wide and diverse corpus, which gives a comprehensive coverage of the language. Dealing with conditionality, the author also briefly discusses some other important traits of the language, such as the modal usage of the Hebrew infinitive; the relation between coordination and subordination and general features of the Hebrew tense system.

ISBN 9783895867002. LINCOM Studies in Afroasiatic Linguistics 12.130pp. 2003.

Selected Comparative-Historical Afrasian Linguistic

in Memory of Igor M. Diakonoff

M. Lionel Bender, Gabor Takacs & David L. Appleyard (eds.)

This volume contains overviews on Afrasian as a whole and its constituent families plus 23 articles
by internationally known contributors. In order to arrive at a focussed volume of high-quality
papers, the editors chose to restrict the contents to what is arguably Diakonoff's major field among
the many in which he was a world-renowned scholar. Diakonoff was the greatest comparativehistorical
Afrasianist during his long productive career spanning the 20th century. After a photograph of the dedicatee and a brief biography and bibliography of major publications of Diakonoff, written by Gabor Takacs, there follow
the seven overviews and articles as follows (some titles abbreviated):
Afrasian Overview (Bender)
Semitic táwar- 'bull' and its Relatives (Vaclav Blazhek)
Some Afrasian Etymologies (Andrzej Zaborski)
Proto-Afrasian Vowels (Saul Levin)
Berber Overview (D. Appleyard)
Origin of the Berber 'Participle' (Maarten Kossmann)
La Vocalisation du protoberbere (Karl-G. Prasse)
Chadic Overview (Russell G. Schuh)
Third Consonants in Chadic Verbal Roots (Christopher Ehret)
West Chadic Verbal Suffixes (Schuh)
Sibilant Affricates in Chadic (Olga Stolbova)
Arabic D-stem in Chadic? (Herrmann Jungraithmayr)
Cushitic and Omotic Overview (Mauro Tosco)
The Omotic Lexicon (Bender)
Infix Genesis in South Cushitic (Roland Kießling)
Cushitic Adpositions and Semitic (Hans-Jurgen Sasse)
South Cushitic Sibilant Affricates (Takacs)
Carakter der "Zweiradikalen" Verben des Agyptischen (Joachim Friedrich Quack)
Reduplicative Passive in Older Egyptian (Chris H. Reintges)
Semitic Overview (Appleyard)
Ablaut and Aspect in Akkadian and Proto-Semitic (Vit Bubenik)
Ethio-Semitic Negative NonPast (Grover Hudson)
relative Markers in Ancient Ethiopic (Olga Kapeliuk)
Proto-Semitic *yš (Adrian Macelaru)
Cognates to Akkadian Preposition ana in Ethiopia and South Arabia (David Testen)
Surveying Bi-Consonantal Reduplication in Semitic (Peter Unseth).

ISBN 9783895868573. LINCOM Studies in Afroasiatic Linguistics 14. 340pp. 2003.

Yehuda ben David Hayyuwj

Tanqiytc : A Treatise on Hebrew Vowels
Translation, notes and analysis

Solomon I. Sara, S.J. & Simon M. Mauck
Georgetown University

Hayyuwj is a 10th century Hebrew scholar and linguist who was born in Fez, North Africa c945. He migrated to Cordova, Spain c960, where he studied, taught and wrote on Hebrew linguistics and biblical matters. He died in around the year 1000. He is a pivotal figure in the history of Hebrew linguistics, in that he abandoned the traditional linguistics methods and adopted and adapted the more sophisticated linguistic paradigm developed by the 8th century Arab grammarians of the School of Basrah. He was the first Hebrew linguist to apply the newly realized formal linguistic methods to the analysis of Biblical Hebrew text.

He wrote two detailed treatises on the weak and doubled verbs of Biblical Hebrew: kita:b 'al-'af`a:l dhawa:t Huru:f 'al-liyn, and kita:b 'al-'af`a:l dhawa:t 'al-mithlayn, and a treatise on selected biblical topics: kita:b 'al-nutaf. He also wrote this gem of a treatise on tanqiyt, the textual pointing system of the biblical text that was developed by the Masoretes to indicate vowels , accents, and prosodic features in the otherwise purely consonantal system biblical text and gave it a clear statement and a coherent basis. This is a singular treatise and one of a kind, written in Arabic about Hebrew vowels, called Haraka:t ‘motions’, using the Semitic paradigm of analysis. He wrote clearly and elegantly on an obscure, intractable and neglected topic that has engaged the Biblical scholars ever since.

ISBN 9783895863127 (Hardbound). LINCOM Studies in Afroasiatic Linguistics 16. 215pp. 2005.