The Comparative Method Reviewed Regularity and Irregularity in Language Change

by Durie, Mark; Ross, Malcolm

• ISBN13: 9780195066074
• ISBN10: 0195066073
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-05-16
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Historical reconstruction of languages relies on the comparative method, which itself depends on the notion of the regularity of change. The regularity of sound change is the famous Neogrammarian Hypothesis: "sound change takes place according to laws that admit no exception." The comparative method, however, is not restricted to the consideration of sound change, and neither is the assumption of regularity. Syntactic, morphological, and semantic change are all amenable in varying degrees, to comparative reconstruction, and each type of change is constrained in ways that enable the researcher to distinguish between regular and more irregular changes. This volume draws together studies by scholars engaged in historical reconstruction, all focussing on the subject of regularity and irregularity in the comparative method. A wide range of languages are represented, including Chinese, Germanic, and Austronesian.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. v
Introduction	p. 3
Notes	p. 32
References	p. 34
The Comparative Method as Heuristic	p. 39
Notes	p. 68
References	p. 69
On Sound Change and Challenges to Regularity	p. 72
Notes	p. 86
References	p. 87
Footnotes to a History of Cantonese: Accounting for the Phonological Irregularities	p. 90
Notes	p. 110
References	p. 110
Early Germanic Umlaut and Variable Rules	p. 112
Notes	p. 131
References	p. 133
Neogrammarian Hypothesis and Pandemic Irregularity	p. 135
Notes	p. 153
References	p. 155
Regularity of Change in What?	p. 157
Appendix: Table 7.1: Consonant Correspondences Occurring at Least Ten Times in the Cognate List	p. 176
References	p. 178
Notes	p. 178
Contact-Induced Change and the Comparative Method: Cases from Papua New Guinea	p. 180
Notes	p. 211
References	p. 213
Reconstruction in Morphology	p. 218
References	p. 261
Natural Tendencies of Semantic Change and the Search for Cognates	p. 264
Notes	p. 300
References	p. 301
Contributors	p. 305
Subject Index	p. 307
Language Index	p. 313
Name Index	p. 318
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