Comparative Chukotko-Kamchatkan Dictionary

Michael Fortescue

ISBN 10: 3110184176 / ISBN 13: 9783110184174

Published by De Gruyter Mouton, 2005

About this Item

Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - This volume is the first comprehensive comparative dictionary to cover the whole of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan family. The genealogical status of this family (whether from a common source or due to convergence) has long been controversial, but its coherence as a family can now be taken as proven. Its geographical position between Siberia and northernmost America renders it crucial in any attempt to relate the languages and peoples of these large linguistic regions. The dictionary consists of cognate sets arranged alphabetically according to reconstructed proto-forms and covers all published lexical sources for the languages concerned (plus a good deal of unpublished material). The criterion for setting up Proto-Chukotian sets is the existence of clear cognates in at least two of the four languages: Chukchi, Koryak, Alutor, and (now extinct) Kerek, and for Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan sets cognates in at least one of these plus Itelmen. Internal loans between the two branches of the family are indicated - this is particularly important in the case of the many loans from Koryak to modern western Itelmen. Proto-Itelmen sets without clear cognates in Chukotian are listed separately, without reconstructions. The data is presented in a reader-friendly format, with each set divided into separate lines for the individual languages concerned and with a common orthography for all reliable modern forms (given as full word stems, not just 'roots'). The introduction contains information on the distribution of the individual languages and dialects and all sound correspondences relating them, plus a sketch of what is known of their (pre)historical background. Inflections and derivational affixes are treated in separate sections, and Chukchi and English proto-form indexes allows multiple routes of access to the data. A full reference list of sources is included.

Seller Inventory # 9783110184174

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Comparative Chukotko-Kamchatkan Dictionary
• Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3110184176
• ISBN 13: 9783110184174
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 236W x 160H x 33D millimeters 236 millimeters width by 160 millimeters height by 33 millimeters depth
• Weight: 902 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This volume is the first comprehensive comparative dictionary to cover the whole of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan ('Paleosiberian') family. Reconstructions for both the proto-Chukotian and Proto-Chukokto-Kamchatkan levels are set up. Separate sections on inflections and derivational affixes and an outline of what is known of the (pre-)historical background are included. The genealogical status of this family has long been controversial, but its coherence as a family can now be considered as proven. Its geographical position between Siberia and northernmost America provides it with particular importance as regards attempts to relate the languages and peoples of the Old World with those of the New. This dictionary is aimed at scholars andstudents of linguistic typology and historical linguistics in general as well as to a smaller audience of specialists in the field of Paleosiberian language studies. The dictionary makes the typologically interesting Paleosiberian language groups more accessible to linguistic researchers who do not read Russian.

About the Author

Michael Fortescue is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.