How and why do language changes begin; how and why do they spread; and how can they ultimately be explained? This new textbook sets out to answer these questions in a clear and helpful way that will be accessible to all students with only an elementary knowledge of linguistics. In the first half of the book Dr. McMahon analyzes changes from every area of grammar. In the second she looks at such topics as language contact, linguistic variation, pidgins and Creoles, and language death. Throughout, the discussion is illustrated by a wealth of examples from English and other languages.
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Editorial Reviews
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"...an admirable review and summary of research and theory of language change over the last two centuries..." Language
"Understanding Language Chnage is a clear and coherent guide to many of the complex issues of contemporary historical linguistics....the book provides an excellent overview of many of the topics involved in language change....Understanding Language Change provides a solid introduction to many of the concerns of sociolinguistics, and in fact would be equally useful as a beginning guide to the issues involved in langiage contact....Understanding Language Change is a well thought out book which should be read by all students of historical linguistics....It is an excellent text, which covers important issues and debates in a disarmingly clear and lucid manner....It is a pleasure to read and shouls encourage students of language change to delve further into the literature." Paula West, Word
"Understanding Language Chnage is a clear and coherent guide to many of the complex issues of contemporary historical linguistics....the book provides an excellent overview of many of the topics involved in language change....Understanding Language Change provides a solid introduction to many of the concerns of sociolinguistics, and in fact would be equally useful as a beginning guide to the issues involved in langiage contact....Understanding Language Change is a well thought out book which should be read by all students of historical linguistics....It is an excellent text, which covers important issues and debates in a disarmingly clear and lucid manner....It is a pleasure to read and shouls encourage students of language change to delve further into the literature." Paula West, Word
Book Description
How and why do language changes begin and spread? This text answers these questions for students with only an elementary knowledge of linguistics by analyzing changes from every area of grammar and looking at language contact, linguistic variation, pidgins and Creoles and language death.
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First Sentence:
I knew that Magyar belonged to the Ugro-Finnic group, part of the great Ural-Altaic family, 'Just', one of my new friends told me, 'as English belongs to the Indo-European.' Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
natural serialisation, palatalised labials, superstrate speakers, morphosyntactic neologisms, lexical diffusion theory, bioprogram features, obsolescing languages, diffusing changes, younger fluent speakers, linguistic obsolescence, constructional iconicity, predisposing changes, clausal order, phonetically gradual, language suicide, postlexical rules, structural borrowing, rule reordering, analogical change, language murder, dialect borrowing, regularity hypothesis, transparency principle, nonfinite forms, recipient language Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Old English, Tok Pisin, Middle English, Great Vowel Shift, Grimm's Law, Transparency Principle, Traditional Dyirbal, Lexical Phonology, Young People's Dyirbal, Guyanese Creole, Humboldt's Universal, Martha's Vineyard, Kupwar Kannada, Scots Gaelic, Standard Generative Phonology, Trinidadian Creole, Universal Grammar, British English, Hawaiian Creole, Kupwar Urdu, Low German, Papua New Guinea, Stress Rules, East Sutherland, Natural Morphology New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
I knew that Magyar belonged to the Ugro-Finnic group, part of the great Ural-Altaic family, 'Just', one of my new friends told me, 'as English belongs to the Indo-European.' Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
natural serialisation, palatalised labials, superstrate speakers, morphosyntactic neologisms, lexical diffusion theory, bioprogram features, obsolescing languages, diffusing changes, younger fluent speakers, linguistic obsolescence, constructional iconicity, predisposing changes, clausal order, phonetically gradual, language suicide, postlexical rules, structural borrowing, rule reordering, analogical change, language murder, dialect borrowing, regularity hypothesis, transparency principle, nonfinite forms, recipient language Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Old English, Tok Pisin, Middle English, Great Vowel Shift, Grimm's Law, Transparency Principle, Traditional Dyirbal, Lexical Phonology, Young People's Dyirbal, Guyanese Creole, Humboldt's Universal, Martha's Vineyard, Kupwar Kannada, Scots Gaelic, Standard Generative Phonology, Trinidadian Creole, Universal Grammar, British English, Hawaiian Creole, Kupwar Urdu, Low German, Papua New Guinea, Stress Rules, East Sutherland, Natural Morphology 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 89
books:
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53
books
cite this book:
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- Historical Linguistics (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics) by Theodora Bynon on 4 pages
- Historical Linguistics: Problems and Perspectives (Longman Linguistics Library) by Charles Jones on 4 pages
- Pidgin and Creole Linguistics by Albert Valdman in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Principles of Diachronic Syntax. Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, Volume 23 by Lightfoot on page 107, and Back Matter
- Aspects of the Theory of Syntax by Noam Chomsky on page 108, and Back Matter
See all 89 books this book cites
- The Transition to Language (Oxford Linguistics) by Alison Wray on page 355, and page 357
- Native and Natural: Aspects of the Concepts of 'Right' and 'Freedom' in Irish (Critical Conditions) by Peter McQuillan in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Language Myth in Western Culture (Routledge Advances in Communication and Linguistic Theory) by Roy Harris on page 27, and page 40
- A Concise Companion to Modernism (Concise Companions to Literature and Culture) by David Bradshaw in Front Matter, and page 156
- Linguistic Evolution through Language Acquisition by Ted Briscoe on page 19, and page 108
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