Filling a critical gap in modern Romance language scholarship, and providing a theoretically strong, factually reliable reference source for future generations of linguists, this book surveys the structure and evolution of the Romance language family. A systematic balance of diachronic and synchronic approaches, it is the most comprehensive treatment of Romance languages available for both general reference and specialized linguistic investigation, examining Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Rumanian, Catalan, Occitan, Sardinian, Rhaeto-Romance, and Romance-based pidgins and creoles. The treatments of each Romance language, by scholars of established reputation in that language, cover all main features, including phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexis. To aid the reader, each chapter concludes with a select list of reference works and further readings, and the book includes both an analytic index and a system of cross-references within the main body of the text.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Readers interested in linguistic investigation of Romance languages have been aware for some time that there is a lack of comprehensive reference sources in that field. The present work, written by leading scholars, fills this gap....[An] excellent book."--The Antioch Review
"An outstanding volume."--Joseph Solodow, Southern Connecticut State University
"A high-quality survey....The thorough coverage of the Romance family and the thorough (and roughly parallel) treatment of the structures of each language will make this volume useful both as a textbook and as a reference manual."--Language Problems, Language Planning
"An invaluable reference for all researchers in the Romance languages. It introduces the beginners to the diversity of the Romance family and it keeps the 'veterans' on their toes with its abundance of details."--Graziella Saccon, University of Texas, Austin
"An outstanding volume."--Joseph Solodow, Southern Connecticut State University
"A high-quality survey....The thorough coverage of the Romance family and the thorough (and roughly parallel) treatment of the structures of each language will make this volume useful both as a textbook and as a reference manual."--Language Problems, Language Planning
"An invaluable reference for all researchers in the Romance languages. It introduces the beginners to the diversity of the Romance family and it keeps the 'veterans' on their toes with its abundance of details."--Graziella Saccon, University of Texas, Austin
About the Author
Martin Harris, Vice-Chancellor, University of Essex. Nigel Vincent, Professor of Linguistics, Manchester University.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent reference to the romance languages,
By
This review is from: The Romance Languages (Paperback)
This is an excellent book for either the interested layman or the refined linguist concerning the romance languages (more than the typial five, incidentally). The included languages are: Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, Occitan, Rhaeto-Romance and Sardinian, with another chapter about various romance-based creoles and pidgins. Within each chapter, there is a section on phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon. There are also interesting charts and maps, contrasting different features of the different languages.The tone of the book is serious and academic, although the language is not so erudite that a hobby-linguist (like myself) cannot understand it. The five "standard" romance languages in the book also feature in Bernard Comrie's "The World's Major Languages", to which this book is best described as a supplement (it's the same publishing company and features many of the same writers), although these five have approximately twice as much treatment as they do in the latter book, albeit some of the text is lifted directly from "Major Languages". The tone and "feel" of the entries here are identical to those of "Major Languages", incidentally, so if you are familiar with that book you will instantly be comfortable with this one. One feature that I appreciated was the many comparisons drawn between the various languages, with all of the shifts in phonology, morphology and syntax explained and contrasted. For example, if you have ever wondered why many words in French that begin with "f-" have a corresponding word in Spanish that begins with "h-", this is explained as are all other issues of this sort. All in all, an excellent book for anyone interested in the romance languages.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
review of "The Romance Languages",
By David Simon (Bainbridge Island, Washington United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Romance Languages (Paperback)
This book offers an incredible comparison and representation of the romance languages. It discusses their similarities and individual characteristics. I recommend it not only for all students of the any romance languages but for anybody looking for an in-dept look at the grammar and developement of the romance languages from their "parent language" latin! This truly is a great book!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Romance Languages,
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This review is from: The Romance Languages (Paperback)
The book satisfied the strict demands of my university professor and I enjoy reading it. However,the vendor did not do a good job at describing the quality of the book.
The cover is falling apart, the borders are dirty,brown and curling, so much so that I had to take a wet paper towel with clorox and wipe the book before I could dare to touch it and read it, not to mention the expected highlighted pages. I paid over $ 80.00 for it. A classmate bought the same book for $35 in great condition. Shame on the seller that dares to get so much money for that book.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
result of its widespread use by the early Jesuit missionaries; there are, however, also significant Amerindian-speaking communities from Chile northwards to Mexico. In linguistic terms, the Spanish of Latin America shares a number of features, especially at the phonological level, with the southern variant of peninsular Castilian, Andalusian, which, given the provenance of most of the early settlers, is hardly surprising. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
past perfective indicative, subjunctive desinences, atonic vowels, personal desinences, preterit stem, possessive pronominal adjectives, prepositional accusative, theme vowel, atonic syllables, subjunctive stem, conditional paradigms, thematic vowel, dummy pronoun, personal infinitive, disjunctive pronouns, popular registers, impersonal reflexive, prenominal position, past imperfective, present subjunctive forms, past subjunctive, several creoles, clitic pronouns, antepenultimate stress, que venha Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, European Romance, Balkan Romance, Old French, Latin America, Western Romance, The Hague, Old Spanish, Old Portuguese, Eastern Catalan, Swiss Rhaeto-Romance, Cambridge University Press, Middle Ages, Middle French, New York, Georgetown University Press, Lia Rumantscha, North Catalan, Old Occitan, Rio de Janeiro, Roman Empire, Ann Arbor, Buenos Aires, Inherited Lat New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
result of its widespread use by the early Jesuit missionaries; there are, however, also significant Amerindian-speaking communities from Chile northwards to Mexico. In linguistic terms, the Spanish of Latin America shares a number of features, especially at the phonological level, with the southern variant of peninsular Castilian, Andalusian, which, given the provenance of most of the early settlers, is hardly surprising. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
past perfective indicative, subjunctive desinences, atonic vowels, personal desinences, preterit stem, possessive pronominal adjectives, prepositional accusative, theme vowel, atonic syllables, subjunctive stem, conditional paradigms, thematic vowel, dummy pronoun, personal infinitive, disjunctive pronouns, popular registers, impersonal reflexive, prenominal position, past imperfective, present subjunctive forms, past subjunctive, several creoles, clitic pronouns, antepenultimate stress, que venha Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, European Romance, Balkan Romance, Old French, Latin America, Western Romance, The Hague, Old Spanish, Old Portuguese, Eastern Catalan, Swiss Rhaeto-Romance, Cambridge University Press, Middle Ages, Middle French, New York, Georgetown University Press, Lia Rumantscha, North Catalan, Old Occitan, Rio de Janeiro, Roman Empire, Ann Arbor, Buenos Aires, Inherited Lat New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 39
books:
See all 39 books this book cites
79
books
cite this book:
See all 79 books citing this book
- The Romance Languages (Cambridge Language Surveys) by Rebecca Posner on page 25, and page 77
- A History of the French Language by Peter Rickard on page 244
- A Bibliography of Pidgin and Creole Languages (Oceanic linguistics special publications) by John E. Reinecke on page 473
- La Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri on page 299
- The Phonology of Catalan (Phonology of the World's Languages) by Max W. Wheeler on page 208
See all 39 books this book cites
- The Syntax of Italian Dialects (Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax) by Christina Tortora on 4 pages
- Pronouns (Oxford Studies in Typology and Linguistic Theory) by D. N. S. Bhat on 4 pages
- The Syntax of Italian Dialects (Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax) by Christina Tortora on 4 pages
- Parameters and Universals (Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax) by Richard S. Kayne in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Bright Boys: A History of Townsend Harris High School (Contributions to the Study of Education) by Eileen Lebow on page 160, page 162, and page 194
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