Linguistic Epidemiology: Semantics and Grammar of Language Contact in Mainland Southeast Asia

by Enfield,N.J.

• ISBN13: 9780415297431
• ISBN10: 0415297435
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-11-15
• Publisher: RoutledgeCurzon

Summary

This important new study examines in detail a semantic-pragmatic pattern surrounding the basic verb 'acquire' in nearly 30 Southeast Asian languages, concentrating on Lao, Vietnamese, Khmer, Kmhmu, Hmong, and varieties of Chinese. The book makes a significant contribution to empirical work on semantic and grammatical change in a linguistic area, as well as representing theoretical advances in cognitive semantics. Gricean pragmatics, semantic change, grammaticalization, language contact, and areal linguistics. The book also examines how changes in the speech of individuals actually become changes in large-scale public convention, 'language contact' is reconsidered, and traditional distinctions such as that between 'internal' and 'external' linguistic mechanisms are challenged. This groundbreaking new book is for specialists in Southeast Asian linguistics as well as scholars of descriptive semantics and pragmatics, grammaticalization, linguistic change and evolution, areal linguistics and language contact,history and linguistic anthropology.

Author Biography

N. J. Enfield is a Scientific Staff member in the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgements	xi
Language and language family abbreviations	xiii
Abbreviations	xiv
Note to the reader	xvi
Part One: Preliminaries
Introduction	1	(44)
Linguistic epidemiology: a non-metaphorical view of language	2	(19)
Description of polyfunctionality: semantics and pragmatics	21	(15)
Grammaticalisation	36	(2)
Three conceptual preliminaries	38	(3)
Two methodological issues	41	(2)
Summary and comment	43	(2)
Outline of the book	44	(1)
Background---mainland Southeast Asia	45	(28)
The setting	45	(5)
Language(s)	50	(23)
Part Two: Lao	73	(90)
Polyfunctionality of daj4	75	(88)
What does daj mean?	77	(2)
Main verb functions	79	(20)
Postverbal functions: modal `can' and resultative `succeed'	99	(34)
Descriptive complementation	133	(7)
Preverbal aspect-modality marking	140	(17)
Polyfunctionality of daj4: summary discussion	157	(6)
Part Three: Other sample languages	163	(188)
Main verb functions	167	(21)
Main verb `come to have'	167	(7)
Further meanings and interpretations	174	(12)
Summary discussion	186	(2)
Postverbal functions	188	(62)
Postverbal modal `can'	189	(39)
Acquire as a V2 resultative verb	228	(14)
Possible historical paths	242	(4)
Summary and discussion	246	(4)
Descriptive complementation	250	(40)
Quantifying complementation	251	(13)
Complement as a predicate	264	(24)
Summary	288	(2)
Preverbal functions	290	(30)
Aspect function of preverbal Acquire---'result of prior event'	292	(14)
'Must'	306	(6)
'Past tense' and associated aspectual properties	312	(5)
Polite/formal usage	317	(1)
Summary discussion	318	(2)
Diversity of Form	320	(31)
Tai *?dai and descendants	321	(7)
Sinitic *tak and descendants	328	(2)
Hmong tau, Mien tu?42	330	(2)
Eastern Mon-Khmer	332	(16)
Kmhmu Cwang bwan	348	(1)
Summary	349	(2)
Part Four: Conclusion	351	(19)
Conclusion	353	(17)
The historical dimension	353	(13)
Conclusion	366	(4)
References	370	(14)
Index of names	384	(4)
Index of languages and language families	388	(2)
Index of topics	390	(5)
Index of linguistic items	395