The Changing Languages of Europe (Oxford Linguistics) - Hardcover

Heine, Bernd; Kuteva, Tania

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199297339 ISBN 13: 9780199297337

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2006

Synopsis

This book shows that the languages and dialects of Europe are becoming increasingly alike and furthermore that this unifying process goes back to Roman times, is accelerating, and affects every European language including those of different families such as Basque and Finnish. The unifying process involves every grammatical aspect of the languages and operates through changes so minute that native speakers fail to notice them. The authors reveal when, how, and why common grammatical structures have evolved and continue to evolve in processes of change that will transform the linguistic landscape of Europe.

About this title

About the Author:

Bernd Heine is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at the Institute of African Studies, University of Cologne. His 33 books include Auxiliaries: Cognitive forces and grammaticalization (OUP USA, 1993); Cognitive Foundations of Grammar (OUP USA, 1997); Possession: Cognitive sources, forces, and grammaticalization (CUP, 1997); and, with Derek Nurse, African Languages: An introduction (CUP, 2000). Tania Kuteva is Professor of English Language and Linguistics at the University of Dusseldorf and author of Auxiliation: An enquiry into the nature of grammaticalization (OUP, 2001).

Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva are the joint authors of World Lexicon of Grammaticalization (CUP, 2002) and Language Contact and Grammatical Change (CUP, 2005).

Review:

This excellent monograph offers an insightful study in which European languages have influenced each other in their grammar...[a] richly documented and convinvingly argued book. * Edith Moravcsik, Studies in Language *

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0199297339
• ISBN 13: 9780199297337
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 374