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
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vii
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Map
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viii
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Contributor’s addresses
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ix
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xi
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1
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17
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61
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69
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93
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127
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151
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179
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207
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223
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241
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269
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291
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313
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Combined references
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341
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Language index
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365
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Subject index
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373
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Appendices
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379
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“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
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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.
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: A view from Asia, Australia and the Pacific.
Diachronica 31:2 ► pp. 267 ff.
McConvell, Patrick & Claire Bowern
2011. The Prehistory and Internal Relationships of Australian Languages.
Language and Linguistics Compass 5:1 ► pp. 19 ff.
McGregor, William B.
2014.
In Events, Arguments, and Aspects [Studies in Language Companion Series, 152],
► 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.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 january 2020. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
Additional web materials
Appendixes
Ch. 1 Introduction: subgrouping methodology in historical linguistics
Claire Bowern and Harold Koch
Ch. 4 The coherence and distinctiveness of the Pama-Nyungan language family within the Australian linguistic phylum
Geoff O'Grady and †Ken Hale
Ch. 5 Pama-Nyungan: phonological reconstruction and status as a phylogenetic group
Barry Alpher
- Pama-Nyungan etyma
- Hypothesised phonological developments in some individual Pama-Nyungan languages of the Southeast
- Sources consulted in the compilation of Appendix Ch. 5:1, 2
Ch. 6 The Arandic subgroup of Australian languages
Harold Koch
Ch. 8 Thura-Yura as a subgroup
Jane Simpson and Luise Hercus
Ch. 9 The Yarli languages
Luise Hercus and Peter Austin
Ch. 10 Evolution of the verb conjugations in the Ngarna languages
Gavan Breen
- Comparative table of Ngarna nominals
- Comparative table of Ngarna verbs
- Comparative table of Ngarna pronouns
Ch. 11 The failure of the evidence of shared innovations in Cape York Peninsula
Paul Black
Ch. 12 Diagnostic similarities and differences between Nyulnyulan and neighbouring languages
Claire Bowern
Ch. 14 Stem forms and paradigm reshaping in Gunwinyguan
Brett Baker
Subjects
Electronic/Multimedia Products
BIC Subject: CFF – Historical & comparative linguistics
BISAC Subject: LAN009000 – LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General
U.S. Library of Congress Control Number: 2004041132