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This book considers the evolution of the grammatical structure of words in the more general contexts of human evolution and the origins of language. The consensus in many fields is that language is well designed for its purpose, and became so either through natural selection or by virtue of non-biological constraints on how language must be structured. Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy argues that in certain crucial respects language is not optimally designed. This can be seen, he suggests, in the existence of not one but two kinds of grammatical organization - syntax and morphology - and in the morphological and morpho-phonological complexity which leads to numerous departures from the one-form-one-meaning principle. Having discussed the issue of good and bad design in a wider biological context, the author shows that conventional explanations for the nature of morphology do not work. Its poor design features arose, he argues, from two characteristics present when the ancestors of modern humans had a vocabulary but no grammar. One of these was a synonymy-avoidance expectation, while the other was an articulatory and phonological apparatus that encouraged the development of new synonyms. Morphology developed in response to these conflicting pressures. In this stimulating and carefully argued account Professor McCarthy offers a powerful challenge to conventional views of the relationship between syntax and morphology, to the adaptationist view of language evolution, and to the notion that language in some way reflects 'laws of form'. This fundamental contribution to understanding the nature and evolution of language will be of wide interest to linguists of all theoretical persuasions as well as to scholars in cognitive science and anthropology.
What exactly are words? Are they the things that get listed in dictionaries, or are they the basic units of sentence structure? Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy explores the implications of these different approaches to words in English. He explains the various ways in which words are related to one another, and shows how the history of the English language has affected word structure. Topics include: words, sentences and dictionaries; a word and its parts (roots and affixes); a word and its forms (inflection); a word and its relatives (derivation); compound words; word structure; productivity; and the historical sources of English word formation. Requiring no prior linguistic training, this textbook is suitable for undergraduate students of English - literature or language - and provides a sound basis for further linguistic study.
This book considers the evolution of the grammatical structure of words in the contexts of human evolution and the origins of language. The author challenges the conventional views of the relationship between syntax and morphology, the adaptationist view of language evolution, and the notion that language in some way reflects 'laws of form'.
First Published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
What is Morphology? is a concise and critical introduction to the central ideas of morphology, which has been revised and expanded to include additional material on morphological productivity and the mental lexicon, experimental and computational methods, and new teaching material. Introduces the fundamental aspects of morphology to students with minimal background in linguistics Includes additional material on morphological productivity and the mental lexicon, and experimental and computational methods Features new and revised exercises as well as suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter Equips students with the skills to analyze a wide breadth of classic morphological issues through engaging examples Uses cross-linguistic data throughout to illustrate concepts, specifically referencing Kujamaat Joola, a Senegalese language Includes a new answer key, available for instructors online at http://www.wiley.com/go/aronoff
This volume aims to make a contribution to codifying the methods and practices linguists use to recover language history, focussing predominantly on historical morphology. The volume includes studies on a wide range of languages: not only Indo-European, but also Austronesian, Sinitic, Mon-Khmer, Basque, one Papuan language family, as well as a number of Australian families. Few collections are as cross-linguistic as this, reflecting the new challenges which have emerged from the study of languages outside those best known from historical linguistics. The contributors illustrate shared methodological and theoretical issues concerning genetic relatedness (that is, the use of morphological evidence for classification and subgrouping), reconstruction and processes of change with a diverse range of data. The volume is in honour of Harold Koch, who has long combined innovative research on understudied languages with methodological rigour and codification of practices within the discipline.
GBS_insertPreviewButtonPopup('ISBN:9780748613267);What exactly are words? Are they the things that get listed in dictionaries, or are they the basic units of sentence structure? Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy explores the implications of these different approaches to words in English. He explains the various ways in which words are related to one another, and shows how the history of the English language has affected word structure.Topics include: words, sentences and dictionaries; a word and its parts (roots and affixes); a word and its forms (inflection); a word and its relatives (derivation); compound words; word structure; productivity; and the historical sources of English word formation.Key Featurespresupposes no linguistic trainingaimed at students of English (literature or language) and also provides a sound basis for further linguistic studycontains ample exercise material, with answers and discussion, which can serve as models for further exercises"e;
Morphology, the science of words, is a complex theoretical landscape, where a multitude of frameworks, each with their own tenets and formalism, compete for the explanation of linguistic facts. The Oxford Handbook of Morphological Theory is a comprehensive guide through this jungle of morphological theories. It provides a rich and up-to-date overview of theoretical frameworks, from Structuralism to Optimality Theory and from Minimalism to Construction Morphology...
Introduces students to the scientific study of language, using the basic principles of complexity theory.