Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics)

In his introduction, Clackson says that he set out to write a book focusing on argumentation and theory rather than presenting masses of data- and he does just that. He focuses on ideas and processes, making this a very clear and easy to read book. The high point is surely the explanation of accent-ablaut variation in nouns, although his treatments of phonology and general morphology are solid. Other parts of the book, namely verbal morphology and syntax, were also very informative although they might have benefited with a couple more sections in each (a clear discussion of analogy for verbs, and generative approaches to syntax). But throughout, the emphasis on focused argumentation makes the book quite followable: Clackson is always talking to you, not writing on the board, so to speak. The best part about this book is perhaps the exercises. The book at first sight seems not only to avoid masses of data, but perhaps to be data-deficient, with incomplete paradigms and key forms missing. But Clackson usually gives precisely enough information to round out reconstructions in the exercises, and as a student I appreciated the chance to work through things myself (although he's of course done the hard part by selecting and presenting the forms and guiding you through the tricky parts). Obviously this 'hidden data' that you have to work for makes the book less useful as a reference (something it's not claiming to be), but it increases its value as an introduction vastly by allowing the reader to actively engage with the material. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 5 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Contents......Page 9 Figures......Page 10 Tables......Page 11 Preface......Page 14 Armenian......Page 16 Etruscan......Page 17 Greek......Page 18 Latin......Page 19 Old Church Slavonic......Page 20 Old Irish......Page 21 Russian......Page 22 Tocharian......Page 23 Welsh......Page 24 1.1 Introduction......Page 25 1.2 The IE languages......Page 26 1.3 The branches of the IE tree......Page 29 1.4 Cladistics: constructing family trees......Page 33 1.5 The time and place of PIE......Page 39 1.6 Nostratic and other supergroups......Page 44 Further reading......Page 47 2.1 Reconstruction and the comparative method......Page 51 2.2 The sounds of PIE......Page 57 2.3 The realisation of PIE phonemes: the glottalic model......Page 64 2.4 Mergers and splits: PIE velars......Page 73 2.5 Reconstructing lost phonemes: laryngeals......Page 77 Further reading......Page 86 3.2 Morpheme structure constraints......Page 88 3.3 PIE ablaut and word-structure......Page 95 3.4 PIE accent......Page 99 3.5 Accent and ablaut paradigms......Page 103 3.6 The relation of accent and ablaut......Page 110 Further reading......Page 112 4.1 Introduction......Page 114 4.2 Overview of nominal declensions......Page 116 4.3 Reconstructing number: the collective......Page 124 4.4 Reconstructing gender: the feminine......Page 128 Further reading......Page 136 5.1 Introduction......Page 138 5.2 The Greco-Aryan model of the PIE verb......Page 139 5.3 Reconciling Anatolian to the Greco-Aryan model......Page 153 5.4 The Hittite -hi conjugation......Page 162 5.5 The PIE middle......Page 166 5.6 Roots and stems......Page 175 Further reading......Page 179 6.1 Syntactic reconstruction......Page 181 6.2 Word order......Page 189 6.3 Clause-linking and subordination......Page 195 6.4 Alignment change......Page 200 6.5 PIE phraseology......Page 204 Further reading......Page 209 7.1 The PIE lexicon......Page 211 7.2 Derivation......Page 214 7.3 PIE lexical semantics......Page 215 7.4 Reconstructed lexical fields......Page 220 7.5 Uses of the reconstructed lexicon......Page 233 Further reading......Page 237 Glossary......Page 240 References......Page 254 Word index......Page 270 Language index......Page 281 Person index......Page 282 Subject index......Page 283

The Indo-European language family consists of many of the modern and ancient languages of Europe, India and Central Asia, including Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Russian, German, French, Spanish and English. Spoken by an estimated three billion people, it has the largest number of native speakers in the world today. This textbook provides an accessible introduction to the study of the Indo-European languages. It clearly sets out the methods for relating the languages to one another, presents an engaging discussion of the current debates and controversies concerning their classification, and offers sample problems and suggestions for how to solve them. Complete with a comprehensive glossary, almost 100 tables in which language data and examples are clearly laid out, suggestions for further reading, discussion points, and a range of exercises, this text will be an essential toolkit for all those studying historical linguistics, language typology and the Indo-European languages for the first time.

"This textbook provides an accessible introduction to the study of the Indo-European languages. It clearly sets out the methods for relating the languages to one anther, presents an engaging discussion of the current debates and controversies concerning their classification, and offers sample problems and suggestions for how to solve them. Complete with a comprehensive glossary, almost 100 tables in which language data and examples are clearly laid out, suggestions for further reading, discussion points and a range of exercises, this text will be an essential tool kit for all those studying historical linguistics, language typology and the Indo-European languages for the first time."--BOOK JACKET The Indo-European language family comprises several hundred languages and dialects, including all of those spoken in Europe, and most of those spoken in South, Southwest and Central Asia. This textbook provides an accessible introduction to the study of the Indo-European languages