The Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages

The Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages is a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the Uralic language family, including its historical development, internal relations, and diversity. It is divided into three parts, exploring the origins and development of the languages, individual structural overviews, and cross-Uralic comparative and typological case studies. The book will be an essential reference for students and researchers specializing in the Uralic languages and typologists and comparative linguists.

Format: Hardback
Length: 1184 pages
Publication date: 24 March 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press

This comprehensive volume provides the most thorough and extensive treatment available today of the Uralic language family, a group of languages spoken in northern Eurasia. While there has been a longstanding tradition of research into these languages, much of it has been conducted within separate national traditions, resulting in limited and often outdated studies of certain languages and topics. The Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages brings together leading scholars and junior researchers to offer a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the internal relations and diversity of the Uralic language family, encompassing its historical development and the interactions with other languages of Eurasia.

The book is organized into three parts. Part I delves into the origins and evolution of the Uralic languages, beginning with an examination of reconstructed Proto-Uralic and its divergence. Subsequent chapters provide comprehensive surveys of the history and codification of the three Uralic nation-state languages (Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian) and the Uralic minority languages found across Baltic Europe to Siberia. This part also explores issues related to language endangerment, revitalization, and language policy.

Part II offers individual structural overviews of the Uralic languages, encompassing a number of understudied minority languages for which no detailed description in English has previously been available. The chapters in this section provide detailed insights into the linguistic characteristics and unique features of each Uralic language, shedding light on understudied aspects of the family.

The final part of the book presents cross-Uralic comparative and typological case studies of various issues in phonology, morphology, syntax, and the lexicon. The chapters cover a wide range of topics, including information structure and clause combining, which have traditionally received limited attention in Uralic studies. By examining these topics from a comparative perspective, the volume offers new insights into the linguistic diversity and complexity of the Uralic language family.

The Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages is an essential reference for scholars, students, and anyone interested in the study of languages and linguistics. Its comprehensive coverage and up-to-date information make it a valuable resource for researchers and enthusiasts alike. By bringing together leading experts in the field, the book contributes to the advancement of our understanding of the Uralic language family and its place in the broader linguistic landscape of Eurasia.

Weight: 2898g
Dimension: 284 x 230 x 62 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780198767664