Australian Languages
Classification and the comparative method
Editors
| Harvard University
| Australian National University
This book addresses controversial issues in the application of the comparative method to the languages of Australia which have recently come to international prominence. Are these languages ‘different’ in ways that challenge the fundamental assumptions of historical linguistics? Can subgrouping be successfully undertaken using the Comparative Method? Is the genetic construct of a far-flung ‘Pama-Nyungan’ language family supportable by classic methods of reconstruction? Contrary to increasingly established views of the Australian scene, this book makes a major contribution to the demonstration that traditional methods can indeed be applied to these languages. These studies, introduced by chapters on subgrouping methodology and the history of Australian linguistic classification, rigorously apply the comparative method to establishing subgroups among Australian languages and justifying the phonology of Proto-Pama-Nyungan. Individual chapters can profitably be read either for their contribution to Australian linguistic prehistory or as case studies in the application of the comparative method.
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 249] 2004. xii, 377 pp. (incl. CD-Rom)
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
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Acknowledgements | p. vii
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Map | p. viii
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Contributor’s addresses | p. ix
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ForewordLyle Campbell | p. xi
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Introduction: subgrouping methodology in historical linguisticsClaire Bowern and Harold Koch | p. 1
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A methodological history of Australian linguistic classificationHarold Koch | p. 17
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Pama-Nyungan as a genetic entityLuisa Miceli | p. 61
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The coherence and distinctiveness of the Pama-Nyungan language family within the Australian linguistic phylumGeoffrey O’Grady and Kenneth L. Hale | p. 69
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Pama-Nyungan: phonological reconstruction and status as a phylogenetic groupBarry Alpher | p. 93
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The Arandic subgroup of Australian languagesHarold Koch | p. 127
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The Ngumpin-Yapa subgroupPatrick McConvell and Mary Laughren | p. 151
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Thura-Yura as a subgroupJane Simpson and Luise Hercus | p. 179
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The Yarli languagesLuise Hercus and Peter Austin | p. 207
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Evolution of the verb conjugations in the Ngarna languagesGavan Breen | p. 223
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The failure of the evidence of shared innovations in Cape York PeninsulaPaul Black | p. 241
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Diagnostic similarities and differences between Nyulnyulan and neighbouring languagesClaire Bowern | p. 269
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Revisiting Proto-MirndiIan Green and Rachel Nordlinger | p. 291
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Stem forms and paradigm reshaping in GunwinyguanBrett Baker | p. 313
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Language index | p. 365
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Subject index | p. 373
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Appendices | p. 379
“This volume critically assesses interrelationships between Australian languages in the light of the most recent descriptive data and a detailed understanding of the most recent developments in the comparative method. The result is a wonderfully detailed and convincing rebuttal of claims that Australian languages have been subject to different kinds of forces.”
Terry Crowley, University of Waikato
“[...] a strong volume of reconstruction, sophisticated in its methodology and successful in its application.”
Barry J. Blake, La Trobe University, Australia, in Language Vol. 82:2 (2006)
“It's by far the best statement I've ever seen on issues of subgrouping methodology; [...] it would be ideal for assignment to students of historical linguistics who need to know about these issues. It is also, of course, a valuable introduction to the issues for specialists in Australian historical linguistics.”
Sarah Thomason, University of Michigan [on the Introduction]
“This book marks a coming of age of Australian historical linguistics. It is the first concerted attempt by Australianists to apply the classical comparative method to the core issues of subgrouping, reconstruction and diffusion and it does so with considerable success.”
Andrew Pawley, Australian National University
Cited by
Cited by 24 other publications
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2019.
In Noun Phrases in Article-less Languages [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 253],
Bowern, Claire
2010. Correlates of Language Change in Hunter-Gatherer and Other ‘Small’ Languages.
Language and Linguistics Compass 4:8 ► pp. 665 ff.
Bowern, Claire
2010. Historical linguistics in Australia: trees, networks and their implications.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 365:1559 ► pp. 3845 ff.
Friedlaender, Jonathan, Theodore Schurr, Fred Gentz, George Koki, Françoise Friedlaender, Gisele Horvat, Paul Babb, Sal Cerchio, Frederika Kaestle, Moses Schanfield, Ranjan Deka, Ric Yanagihara & D. Andrew Merriwether
2005. Expanding Southwest Pacific Mitochondrial Haplogroups P and Q.
Molecular Biology and Evolution 22:6 ► pp. 1506 ff.
Harvey, Mark
2009. The Genetic Status of Garrwan.
Australian Journal of Linguistics 29:2 ► pp. 195 ff.
Harvey, Mark
2020.
In The Language of Hunter-Gatherers,
► pp. 392 ff.
Haugen, Jason D.
2020.
In The International Encyclopedia of Linguistic Anthropology,
► pp. 1 ff.
Haynie, Hannah J. & Claire Bowern
2016. Phylogenetic approach to the evolution of color term systems.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113:48 ► pp. 13666 ff.
Koch, Harold
2007. Review of Evans (2003): The Non-Pama-Nyungan Languages of Northern Australia: Comparative studies of the continent’s most linguistically complex region.
Diachronica 24:2 ► pp. 405 ff.
Koch, Harold, Robert Mailhammer, Robert A. Blust, Claire Bowern, Don Daniels, Alexandre François, Simon J. Greenhill, Brian D. Joseph, Lawrence A. Reid, Malcolm D. Ross & Paul J. Sidwell
2014. Research priorities in historical-comparative linguistics.
Diachronica 31:2 ► pp. 267 ff.
Macklin-Cordes, Jayden L., Claire Bowern & Erich R. Round
2021. Phylogenetic signal in phonotactics.
Diachronica 38:2 ► pp. 210 ff.
McConvell, Patrick
2013.
In The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration,
McConvell, Patrick & Claire Bowern
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Language and Linguistics Compass 5:1 ► pp. 19 ff.
McGregor, William B.
2014.
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► pp. 301 ff.
Nichols, Johanna
2015.
In Language Structure and Environment [Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts, 6],
► pp. 261 ff.
Nichols, Johanna
2015.
In Mobility and Ancient Society in Asia and the Americas,
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Rangan, Haripriya, Karen L. Bell, David A. Baum, Rachael Fowler, Patrick McConvell, Thomas Saunders, Stef Spronck, Christian A. Kull, Daniel J. Murphy & Brock Fenton
2015. New Genetic and Linguistic Analyses Show Ancient Human Influence on Baobab Evolution and Distribution in Australia.
PLOS ONE 10:4 ► pp. e0119758 ff.
Rose, David
2013. Phylogenesis of the Dreamtime.
Linguistics and the Human Sciences 8:3
Simpson, Jane & Gillian Wigglesworth
2019. Language diversity in Indigenous Australia in the 21st century.
Current Issues in Language Planning 20:1 ► pp. 67 ff.
Stockigt, Clara
2015. Early Descriptions of Pama-Nyungan Ergativity.
Historiographia Linguistica 42:2-3 ► pp. 335 ff.
SUTTON, PETER & HAROLD KOCH
2008. Australian languages: A singular vision.
Journal of Linguistics 44:2 ► pp. 471 ff.
Turpin, Myfany, Katherine Demuth & April Ngampart Campbell
2014.
In Language Description Informed by Theory [Studies in Language Companion Series, 147],
► pp. 49 ff.
Vaughan, Jill & Debbie Loakes
2020.
In The Handbook of Language Contact,
► pp. 717 ff.
Walkden, George
2019. The many faces of uniformitarianism in linguistics.
Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 4:1
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BIC Subject: CFF – Historical & comparative linguistics
BISAC Subject: LAN009000 – LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General