Introduction to Linguistic Field Methods

Bert Vaux & Justin Cooper
Harvard University

The present volume addresses the need for an up-to-date, accessible, and comprehensive introduction to the elicitation of linguistic data from native speaker informants. The material, following an introductory chapter surveying the general enterprise of field research, is organized into eight major areas of current linguistic and anthropological interest: Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, Sociolinguistics/ Dialectology, Lexicography, and Folklore. The chapters are designed to be covered at a rate of one per week, based on a sixteen-week semester. Each chapter presents basic structures to be elicited, and provides cautionary tales drawn from the experiences of seasoned field workers who have attempted to elicit these structures. These, in turn, are followed by suggested readings and illustrative exercises for each chapter. Emphasis is placed not on developing a theory of field work, but rather on providing enlightening suggestions and entertaining anecdotes designed to guide students down their own personal path to linguistic discovery.

Contents: Introduction - Transcription - Basic Lexicography - Semantics - Articulatory Phonetics - Acoustic Phonetics - Segmental Phonology - Prosodic Phonology - Nominal Phonology - Verbal Phonology - Syntax I: Collection Techniques and Session Planning - Syntax II: Advanced Work in Syntax Pragmatics - Sociolinguistics and Dialectology - Historical Linguistics - Text Collection - Appendix - References.

ISBN 9783895861987. LINCOM Coursebooks in Linguistics 01. 210pp. 1999.

Coursebook in Feature Geometry

John Newman
Massey University, New Zealand

The Coursebook in Feature Geometry is an undergraduate course introducing students to current phonology through a sustained use of the Feature Geometry framework. It is written as a coherent, accessible, and well-illustrated introduction to the key ideas of Feature Geometry, focusing on rules of assimilation. In its 20 units and 40 exercises, it takes the reader step-by-step through the representational devices of Feature Geometry.

The Coursebook attempts to present the core ideas of Feature Geometry in a unified way, rather than attempting to incorporate the (considerable) debate concerning almost every aspect of the theory.

The version of Feature Geometry underlying the Coursebook is basically that found in Sagey's The Representation of features in non-linear phonology (1990), revised in accordance with the claims of Lahiri and Evans' 1991 article on Palatalization and coronality.

The author is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and Second Language Teaching, Massey University, New Zealand. The author has a PhD in linguistics from the University of California at San Diego.

ISBN 9783895861024 . LINCOM Coursebooks in Linguistics 02. 160pp. 1997.

El Significado

Fernando García Murga
Universidad del País Vasco

Las lenguas permiten el entendimiento entre los seres humanos gracias, fundamentalmente, a que las expresiones están cargadas de significado. Qué hay detrás del significado es una cuestión que ha despertado la curiosidad humana desde tiempos remotos. El estudio del significado de las expresiones de un lenguaje es el objeto de estudio del campo de la Semántica.

La Semántica ha sufrido transformaciones radicales en el siglo XX que, seguramente, no se detendrán en el siglo XXI. Estas transformaciones han permitido ahondar en el conocimineto de la naturaleza misma del significado. Asimismo, se han desarrollado potentes herramientas formales para capturar el significado de las expresiones de una lengua y se han postulado modelos para la integración de la Semántica en gramáticas descriptiva y explicativamente muy avanzadas. Sin duda, los avances en la Semántica han sido posibles por el 'giro lingüístico' de la Filosofía, por los estudios lógico-matemáticos y por la revolución lingüística que supuso la gramática generativa. Seguramente estos tres hechos esenciales están relacionados entre sí.

Este libro constituye una introducción a la Semántica en la que se integran las diferentes fuentes de la Teoría Semántica y se presentan mediante ejemplos numerosos fenómenos semánticos y se exponen los conceptos y las argumentaciones fundamentales de la Teoría Semántica actual.

ISBN 9783895863004. LINCOM Coursebooks in Linguistics 05. 320pp. 2002.

 An Introduction to the Study of Morphology

Vit Bubenik
Memorial University of Newfoundland

Contents: 1. Introduction. 2. Grammatical Units. 3. Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Relations. 4. Inflectional and Derivational Morphology. 5. Inflectional Categories Associated with Nominal Elements. 6. Inflectional Categories Associated with Verbal Elements. 7. Morphosyntactic Properties and their Exponents. 8. Morpheme and Allomorph. 9. Derivational Morphology. 10. Theoretical Models of Morphology.

Each chapter (with the exception of the last one) is provided with pertinent exercices. Its data are taken from languages the author has been researching over the last twenty years (Latin, Greek, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian). Its argumentation is built around the major turning points in the history of morphology linked with scholars such as Hockett (1954), Matthews (1974), Bybee (1985), Dressler (1985), Bauer (1988), Spencer (1991), Carstairs-McCarthy (1992) and Aronoff (1993). In the last chapter the author explicates a cognitively conceived subdiscipline of Morphology in its relation to Formal Syntax, Generative Phonology, Functional Grammar, so-called Natural Morphology, Universal Grammar, and Typology.

ISBN 9783895865701 . LINCOM Coursebooks in Linguistics 07. 210pp. 1999.

Le cours de linguistique contemporaine

Edmond Biloa
Université de Yaoundé I

Ce texte constitue une initiation à la linguistique contemporaine. Il est destiné aux étudiants de linguistique des premier et deuxième cycles de lettres et sciences humaines, ainsi qu’à toute personne qui s’intéresserait à l’analyse du langage (philosophie, études littéraires, psychologie, sciences cognitives).

Les différentes composantes linguistiques sont méthodiquement et systématiquement exposées : phonologie, morphologie, syntaxe, sémantique, pragmatique, sociolinguistique, psycholinguistique et linguistique historique. Ces composantes constituent, du reste, les grandes divisions (ou parties) qui meublent ce livre :

1.Introduction aux concepts généraux de la linguistique

2.Phonétique et phonologie

3.Morphologie

4.Syntaxe

5.Sémantique

6.Pragmatique

7.Psycholinguistique

8.Sociolinguistique

9.Linguistique historique

Ce livre a pour but principal de décrire le langage humain tel qu’il se manifeste à travers les langues concrètes (humaines). C’est la raison pour laquelle les exemples illustratifs sont empruntés à une grande variété de phylums linguistiques.

Les linguistes ont decouvert, au fil des siecles, que le langage etait complexe, aussi bien du point de vue de son usage que de sa production.

Jusqu'a une date relativement recente, la communaute scientifique savait tres peu sur la maniere dont le cerveau humain arrivait a produire le langage. La partie du livre reservee a la psycholinguistique traite, de maniere extensive, des rapports entre le cerveau et le langage humain et fait un etat de la question qui permet au lecteur d'evaluer le chemin parcouru. La partie du livre reservee a la sociolinguistique etablit le rapport entre le langage et la societe d'une part, et parle des variables qui affectent l'emploi du langage dans une communaute donnee d'autre part. En gros, en alliant l'apport des linguistiques formelles et theoriques a la pratique descriptive issue de l'ecole saussurienne, ce livre espere avoir atteint un degre respectable de description et d'analyse.

ISBN 9783895864223 . LINCOM Coursebooks in Linguistics 09. 400pp. 2004.

Fundamentals of French Syntax

Christopher Gledhill
University of Lille 3

This book provides an accessible syntax of French as well as a grounding in the fundamental principles of syntactic theory, unhindered by considerations of theory and cross-linguistic comparisons. The aim is to describe modern French in breadth rather than to analyse problems of theory in depth. Each chapter progressively develops a system of notation that is consistent with current approaches to generative grammar, but which allows the reader to describe a wider variety of linguistic features of French than is normally associated with model-based grammars.
After studying this book, learners should be able to move on to texts both in generative theory and comparative studies of French and other Romance languages. The book uses corpus-driven data and also incorporates core ideas from systemic-functional grammar. An original feature of the book is that each section has copious examples, exercises and model answers.

Contents:

1 Phrases
2 Clauses
3 Complex Phrases
4 Complex Clauses
5 Phrases and Groups
6 Lexico-grammar
7 Moving on: structural and systemic theories of syntax.

ISBN 9783895867545. LINCOM Coursebooks in Linguistics 11. 210pp. 2003.

Semantics

an Introduction to Non-Lexical Aspects of Meaning

Paul Bennett
UMIST

This is an intermediate-level textbook on semantics. It assumes some prior acquaintance with linguistics, i.e. a basic knowledge of grammatical terminology and previous introductory study of syntax and semantics, but does not presuppose any particular theoretical orientation, or any prior knowledge of the topics it covers. It is aimed at intermediate and advanced undergraduates and beginning postgraduates in general linguistics, as well as those interested in the grammar of particular languages. It will also be relevant to students of computational linguistics and artificial intelligence.

An introductory chapter deals with useful background notions such as grammaticalization and prototype theory. The remaining chapters each cover a single topic: links between syntactic and semantic categories, proposition types, deixis, tense, aspect, modality, negation and determination. The basic approach taken is to examine each phenomenon in English before setting up a more general framework and then looking at a number of other languages (including material on French and German, and on non-standard varieties of English, and presenting some - but not masses of - data from 'exotic' languages). Each chapter concludes with copious suggestions for further reading.

Paul Bennett received his PhD from the School of Oreintal and African Studies, University of London. He is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at UMIST, Manchester. Previous publications include Multilingual Aspects of Information Technology (co-author, 1986), Linguistic Theory and Computer Applications (co-editor, 1987) and A Course in Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar (1995).

Table of Contents:

Preface and Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
1.1 Overview
1.2 Grammaticalization
1.3 Prototypes
1.4 Semantics and Pragmatics
1.5 Polysemy and Monosemy
1.6 Conclusion - Notes and Further Reading

2 Syntactic and Semantic Categories
2.1 Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives
2.2 Alternative Views
2.3 Semantic Sub-Classes
2.4 Adverbs and Adpositions
2.5 Styles and Statistics
2.6 Cross-Linguistic Points
2.7 Summary - Notes and Further Reading

3 Proposition Types
3.1 States, Activities, Achievements and Accomplishments
3.2 The Behaviour of the Four Classes
3.3 Some Questions about this Typology
3.4 The Foundation of the Classification of Propositions
3.5 Grammatical Relations and Argument Structure
3.6 Thematic Roles
3.7 Some Contrastive Remarks
3.8 Summary - Notes and Further Reading

4 Deixis
4.1 Person Deixis
4.2 Social Deixis
4.3 Spatial Deixis
4.4 Temporal Deixis
4.5 Summary - Notes and Further Reading

5 Tense
5.1 Past, Present and Future
5.2 Speech, Event and Reference Times
5.3 Alternative Analyses
5.4 Analyses of the Perfect
5.5 Reference to the Future
5.6 Tense, Text-Type and Discourse
5.7 Other Times, Other Languages
5.8 Summary - Notes and Further Reading

6 Aspect
6.1 Habitual
6.2 Progressive
6.3 Perfective and Imperfective
6.4 A Framework for Aspect
6.5 Reference Time, Topic Time and Aspect
6.6 Aspect and Discourse
6.7 Aspect in Russian
6.8 Summary - Notes and Further Reading

7 Modality
7.1 The Meanings of \textit Must
7.2 Types and Degrees of Modality
7.3 Systems of Modality
7.4 Evidentiality
7.5 Modal Ambiguity and Core Meanings
7.6 Modality and the Future
7.7 Mood
7.8 Summary - Notes and Further Reading

8 Negation
8.1 Sentential Negation
8.2 Scope and Focus of Negation
8.3 Negative and Positive Polarity
8.4 Negative Events and Situations
8.5 Use of Negatives
8.6 Negation Cross-Linguistically
8.7 Summary - Notes and Further Reading

9 Determination
9.1 Types of Determination
9.2 Definite and Indefinite
9.3 Genericness
9.4 Demonstratives
9.5 Cross-Linguistic Points
9.6 Summary - Notes and Further Reading

Glossary, References, Index

ISBN 9783895866913. LINCOM Coursebooks in Linguistics 12. 200pp. 2001.

Fundamentos de fonología y fonética española para hablantes de inglés

Fundamentos de fonología y fonética española para hablantes de inglés

Modern Chinese as a Foreign Language

A Practical Course for American Students

Ming Chao Gui
University of Oklahoma

The book is considered by the author the “rich fruit” of his language teaching experience for 39 years, including 14 years of teaching modern Chinese as a foreign language at the universities in the United States.

The fundamental differences between teaching and learning Modern Chinese as a foreign language and as a native language have been a brand new topic in the past decade or so when the status of the Chinese language has been changing rapidly and the demand for this language has been increasing dramatically in the face of the globalization of the world’s economy and the growing influence of China to the world in many aspects and fields.

The book, written from the perspective of teaching and learning modern Chinese as a foreign language, is intended for American students studying the Chinese language, especially those who want to become a teacher of the language. Beginning learners with some basic knowledge of the language will also benefit from this book.

This practical course book not only gives the readers the basic yet essential knowledge of the grammar of the language on different levels of its linguistic hierarchy when learned as a foreign language, but also discloses and discusses in detail the fundamental differences between learning and teaching modern Chinese as a native language and as a foreign language. It makes it clear that the effective way in acquiring modern Chinese as a foreign language is to learn it in a functional way, in other words, to learn and teach the actual functions of words, phrases, grammatical patterns in context, or sentences, rather than the classifications of words or types of sentences. Comparison to the different features of English is another concept and practice behind all the discussions in this book, which has also been proven to an effective teaching and learning technique in the acquisition of a foreign language.

The author Ming Chao Gui, also the author of three other books on Chinese dialects addressed as his “Trilogy of Chinese Dialects” by LINCOM EUROPA in 2000, 2001 and 2005 respectively, is Associate Professor of Chinese and Linguistics at the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics of the University of Oklahoma, Norman campus, Oklahoma, U.S.A. He lived and worked in China from 1946 to 1983 and in the U.S. from 1983 till present. In the past two decades, he has presented over fifty papers on linguistics and Chinese dialects at international conferences in the U.S., China, France, and Sweden and has regular publications on Chinese dialects, teaching and learning Chinese as a foreign language, comparative studies of Chinese and English phonetics, phonology and translation in China, the U.S, and Germany.

ISBN 9783895869440. LINCOM Coursebooks in Linguistics 14. 193pp. 2008. Course discounts available!