The Life Cycle of Language: Past, Present, and Future [Hardcover]

This volume brings together an international group of linguists from a diverse range of research backgrounds to explore the cycles of change in the world's languages. The chapters in this book draw on data both from languages from the distant past, such as Hittite and Proto-Bantu, and from a wide range of present-day languages.This volume brings together an international group of linguists from a diverse range of research backgrounds to explore the cycles of change in the world's languages. Historical linguistics does not solely focus on reconstructing a language's linguistic past and exploring the mechanisms underlying previous language changes; it also addresses broader questions concerning the development and ongoing evolution of language. The chapters in this book draw on data both from languages from the distant past, such as Hittite, Proto-Turkic, and Proto-Bantu, and from present-day languages including Akan, Cantonese, Kuuk Thaayorre, Selia-Ql'isp?, Nivacl?, and Spanish. The contributions showcase current research in historical linguistics and exemplify the dynamism and inherently interdisciplinary nature of the field.Part I. Reconstructing the past1. The fall and rise of vowel length in Bantu,Larry M. Hyman2. The rise and fall of rounding harmony in Turkic,Darya Kavitskaya and Adam McCollum3. The life cycle of the Kuuk Thaayorre desiderative,Alice Gaby4. Akan morphological 'reversal' in historical context,Mary Paster5. Increasing morphological mismatch via category loss: The Spanish future subjunctive,Matthew L. Juge6. Toward a non-teleological account of demonstrative reinforcement,David Goldstein7. Typology and history of unusual traits in Nivacl?,Lyle Campbell8. Greek ??*w?? and the perfect of PIE *?neh3 'know',Jay H. Jasanoff9. The surface position of Hittite subordinating kuit,H. Craig Melchert10. PIE *meh2- 'grow, be fruitful' and Proto-Basque *ma, *maha l#,