Research Catalog

Title

Pacific languages : an introduction / John Lynch.

Author

Lynch, John.

Publication

Honolulu : University of Hawai'i Press, [1998], ©1998.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xix, 359 pages : illustrations, maps; 23 cm

Summary

• In addition to describing the structure of Pacific languages, this volume places them in their historical and geographical context, discusses the linguistic evidence for the settlement of the Pacific, and speculates on the reason for the region's many languages. It devotes considerable attention to the effects of contact between speakers of different languages and to the development of pidgin and creole languages in the Pacific.
• Throughout, technical language is kept to a minimum without oversimplifying the concepts or the issues involved. A glossary of technical terms, maps, and diagrams help identify a language geographically or genetically; reading lists and a language index guide the researcher interested in a particular language or group to other sources of information.

Subject

• Pacific Area > Languages

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 321-343) and index.

Contents

Ch. 1. Linguistics: Some Basic Concepts -- Ch. 2. The Languages of the Pacific -- Ch. 3. The History of the Austronesian Languages -- Ch. 4. The History of the Papuan and Australian Languages -- Ch. 5. Sound Systems -- Ch. 6. Oceanic Languages: Grammatical Overview -- Ch. 7. Papuan Languages: Grammatical Overview -- Ch. 8. Australian Languages: Grammatical Overview -- Ch. 9. Languages in Contact -- Ch. 10. Pidgins, Creoles, and Koines -- Ch. 11. Language, Society, and Culture in the Pacific Context -- Conclusion: Ideas about Pacific Language -- App. 1. Data Sources -- App. 2. Phonetic Symbols -- App. 3. Sample Phoneme Systems -- App. 4. Glossary of Technical Terms.

ISBN

0824818989 (alk. paper)

LCCN

97024552

OCLC

ocm37201420

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries