The Handbook of Language Variation and Change , written by a distinguished international roster of contributors, reflects the vitality and growth of the discipline in its multifaceted pursuits. It is a convenient, hand-held repository of the essential knowledge about the study of language variation and change.
Written by internationally recognized experts in the field.
Reflects the vitality and growth of the discipline.
Discusses the ideas that drive the field and is illustrated with empirical studies.
Includes explanatory introductions which set out the boundaries of the field and place each of the chapters into perspective.

- Collects twelve new papers that explore the syntax of Chinese in comparison with other languages.
- Opens up new avenues of research, connecting studies of Chinese with work being carried out on other languages.
Chinese Syntax in a Cross-linguistic Perspective is a collection of sixteen original papers by leading experts in Chinese syntax. The papers focus on a broad range of topics, demonstrating how the analysis of Chinese can inform our understanding of syntactic phenomena in other languages, and how insights gained in the study of other languages can in turn shed interesting new light on patterns in Chinese. Each chapter compares a specific major phenomenon in Chinese syntax with related patterns in at least one other language from Asia, Europe, North America or Africa, resulting in a series of fresh perspectives on Chinese and what the study of Chinese can offer linguists working on other, genetically unrelated languages.
The volume is divided into three thematic sections, on the nominal domain, the predicate domain, and the C-domain. In addition to chapters on synchronic, adult syntax, the book includes chapters on Chinese diachronic syntax in a comparative perspective and the acquisition of syntax in Chinese, in comparison with that of other languages. The collection is a tribute to Professor C.-T. James Huang's lifelong work on the syntax of Chinese and his attempts to demonstrate how the comparative analysis of Chinese reveals important properties of Universal Grammar. With its broad, cross-linguistic focus and its detailed, new studies of Chinese, this book is essential reading for researchers of all language backgrounds in modern generative syntax.

The phenomenon of language contact, and how it affects the structure of languages, has been of great interest to linguists. This study looks at how grammatical forms and structures evolve when speakers of two languages come into contact, and offers an interesting insight into the mechanism that induces people to transfer grammatical structures from one language to another. Drawing on findings from languages all over the world, Language Contact and Grammatical Change shows that the transfer of linguistic material across languages is quite regular and follows universal patterns of grammaticalization - contrary to previous claims that it is a fairly irregular process - and argues that internal and external explanations of language structure and change are in no way mutually exclusive. Engaging and informative, this book will be of great interest to sociolinguists, linguistic anthropologists, and all those working on grammaticalization, language contact, and language change.

The Writing on the Wall How Asian Orthography Curbs Creativity William C. Hannas "This well-written, well-documented book convincingly argues that there is a 'creativity gap' between East Asian countries and the West."--Choice Students in Japan, China, and Korea are among the world's top performers on standardized math and science tests. The nations of East Asia are also leading manufacturers of consumer goods that incorporate scientific breakthroughs in telecommunications, optics, and transportation. Yet there is a startling phenomenon known throughout Asia as the "creativity problem." While East Asians are able to use science, they have not demonstrated the ability to invent radically new systems and paradigms that lead to new technologies. In fact, the legal and illegal transfer of technology from the West to the East is one of the most contentious international business issues. Yet Asians who study and work in the West and depend upon Western languages for their research are among the most creative and talented scientists, no less so than their Western counterparts. William C. Hannas contends that this paradox emerges from the nature of East Asian writing systems, which are character-based rather than alphabetic. Character-based orthographies, according to the author, lack the abstract features of alphabetic writing that model the thought processes necessary for scientific creativity. When first learning to read, children who are immersed in a character-based culture are at a huge disadvantage because such writing systems do not cultivate the ability for abstract thought. Despite the overwhelming body of evidence that points to the cognitive side-effects, the cultural importance of character-based writing makes the adoption of an alphabet unlikely in the near future. William C. Hannas is a senior officer in the Foreign Broadcast Information Service, specializing in East Asian science and technology issues. He is the author of Asia's Orthographic Dilemma. Encounters with Asia 2003 | 360 pages | 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 | 7 illus. ISBN 978-0-8122-3711-5 | Cloth | $69.95s | GBP45.50 ISBN 978-0-8122-0216-8 | Ebook | $69.95s | GBP45.5 0 World Rights | Asian Studies, Philology and Linguistics, Languages Short copy: Based on the latest scholarship in cognitive science and linguistics, and the author's intimate experience with East Asian languages, The Writing on the Wall provides a balanced and thoughtful account of one of the most important problems facing modern Asia in the age of globalization.

Complex hierarchic syntax is a hallmark of human language. The highest level of syntactic complexity, recursive-embedded clauses, has been singled out by some for a special status as the evolutionary apex of the uniquely - human language faculty - evolutionary yet mysteriously immune to Darwinian adaptive selection. Prof. Givón's book treats syntactic complexity as an integral part of the evolutionary rise of human communication. The book first describes grammar as an adaptive instrument of communication, assembled upon the pre-existing platform of pre-linguistic object- and-event cognition and mental representation. It then surveys the two grand developmental trends of human language: diachrony, the communal enterprise directly responsible for fashioning synchronic morpho-syntax and cross-language diversity; and ontogeny, the individual endeavor directly responsible for acquiring the competent use of grammar. The genesis of syntactic complexity along these two developmental trends is compared with second language acquisition, pre-grammatical pidgin and pre-human communication. The evolutionary relevance of language diachrony, language ontogeny and pidginization is argued for on general bio-evolutionary grounds: It is the organism's adaptive on-line behavior- invention, learning and skill acquisition - that is the common thread running through all three developmental trends. The neuro-cognitive circuits that underlie language, and their evolutionary underpinnings, are described and assessed. Recursive embedding turns out to be not an adaptive target on its own, but the by-product of two distinct adaptive moves: (i) the recruitment of conjoined clauses as modal operators on, or referential specifiers of, other clauses; and (ii) the subsequent condensation of paratactic into syntactic structures.

In 1993 the first edition of ELL (Ron Asher, Editor) was hailed as “the field’s standard reference work for a generation”. Now the all-new second edition matches ELL’s comprehensiveness and high quality, expanded for a new generation, while being the first encyclopedia to really exploit the multimedia potential of linguistics.
The most authoritative, up-to-date, comprehensive, and international reference source in its field
An entirely new work, with new editors, new authors, new topics and newly commissioned articles with a handful of classic articles
The first Encyclopedia to exploit the multimedia potential of linguistics through the online edition
Ground-breaking and International in scope and approach
Alphabetically arranged with extensive cross-referencing
Available in print and online. The online version will include updates as subjects develop
ELL2 INCLUDES:
c. 7,500,000 words
c. 11,000 pages
c. 3,000 articles
c. 1,500 figures: 130 halftones and 150 colour
Supplementary audio, video and text files online
c. 3,500 glossary definitions
c. 39,000 references
Extensive list of commonly used abbreviations
List of languages of the world (including information on no. of speakers, language family, etc)
Indexes available: Full Subject Index, Thematic Index, Name Index (print) and Author Index (online)
Extensive list of commonly used abbreviations
List of languages of the world (including information on no. of speakers, language family, etc)
Approximately 700 biographical entries (now includes contemporary linguists)
Over 100 language maps in print, approx 200 online
"This work is vital to all college-level libraries as the most comprehensive language resource of its kind."
"A strong international focus...the definitive scholarly reference work in linguistics and language studies" -- CHOICE
"An awe-inspiring project of breath-taking scope, bringing together a distinguished list of internationally recognized editors and authors." --
Mark Steedman, University of Edinburgh, UK
"An extraordinary resource, encompassing a comprehensive breadth of major topics in all aspects of language and linguistics, the perspectives of leading scholars, and regional viewpoints from around the world! It does look to be an impressive undertaking, allright." -- Alister Cumming, Professor and Head, Modern Language Centre Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada.
"With over 3,000 articles and 39,000 references, this volume is vital to all college-level libraries as the most comprehensive language resource of its kind. -- John Aiello, The Electric Review.

著名语言学家Stephen C。Levinson的语用学理论我国已多有介绍和评述。从20世纪90年代开始，Levinson的兴趣又转向了空间认知及思维和语言的关系等领域，先后发表一系列关于空间认知的文章。<语言和认知空间--认知多样性探索>就是他近10年来对语言和空间认知关系进行研究的重要成果。该书涉及人类学、语言学和心理学等多种学科，通过对多种语言和文化中的认知模式进行探讨，确认语言和认知空间之间存在很强的相互联系。全书共七章，我们逐一简述。
导读
原书目录
插图列表
表格列表
前言
致谢
第一章 知识背景：西方空间概念两千年
第二章 参照框架
第三章 语言的多样性
第四章 绝对心理
第五章 心理多样性
第六章 超越语言：寻找路径和指明方向的参照框架
第七章 语言与思维
注释
参考列表
语言索引
作者索引
主题索引