Readings in Historical Phonology: Chapters in the Theory of Sound Change - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0271005394 ISBN 13: 9780271005393

Publisher: Penn State University Press, 1990

Synopsis

This book is a collection of writings representing the most important trends in the theory of sound change over the past century. The emphasis of the volume is theoretical; every selection addresses the central questions of how and why the sounds of language change through time. The volume is divided into three sections, chronologically determined, tracing the evolution of the concept of sound change in the various theories of language. Each section contains an introduction in which the selections are discussed individually and in relation to each other.

Section I represents pre-structural 19th-century linguistics. It contains selections from the Neogrammarian school (Paul, Verner, von der Gabelentz), and an early monograph (Kruszewski). Section II presents 20th-century structuralism of various schools; Prague (Jakobson); Geneva (de Saussure); American structuralism (Greenberg, Hoenigswald); and a selection by Andre Matrinet. Section III is concerned with the post-structuralist era, primarily in the United States. In it are contained papers representative of generative grammar (Kiparsky, King, Vennemann); sociolinguistics (Labov); lexical diffusion theory (Wang); and post-generative trends (Anderson, Anttila).

The contents of this volume make is useful as a source book for historical linguists and phonologists, in addition to its primary value as a textbook for courses in historical linguistics at all levels. All selections are in English.

About this title

About the Author:

Philip Baldi (PhD, University of Rochester) is Associate Professor of Linguistics at Penn State.

Ronald N. Werth (PhD, Cornell University) is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics at the University of Texas at Arlington.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penn State University Press
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0271005394
• ISBN 13: 9780271005393
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432
• Editor: Baldi Phillip, Werth Ronald N.