Grammatical Reconstruction: The Sogeram Languages of New Guinea

By Don Daniels

Book Overview

There is still widespread disagreement among historical linguists about how, or whether, syntactic reconstruction can be done. This book presents a comprehensive methodology for syntactic reconstruction, grounded in a constructional understanding of language. The author then uses that methodology to reconstruct Proto-Sogeram, the ancestor to ten languages in Papua New Guinea. Chapters are devoted to phonology, lexicon, verbal morphosyntax, nominal morphosyntax, and syntactic constructions. The work culminates in a sketch of Proto-Sogeram grammar. Based largely on the author's original fieldwork, this is an innovative application of a novel methodology to new data, and the most complete reconstruction of a Papuan proto-language to date. It will be of interest to scholars of language change, language reconstruction, typology, and Papuan languages.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 3110777134
• ISBN13: 9783110777130
• Release Date: January 2022
• Publisher: de Gruyter Mouton
• Length: 356 Pages
• Weight: 1.21 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.2"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary