When Minoritized Languages Change Linguistic Theory

This book explores how minoritized languages challenge and modify mainstream linguistic theory,providing case studies and examples from a range of languages. It is essential reading for students and researchers of theoretical syntax,phonology,and morphology,and language policy and politics.

Format: Hardback
Length: 280 pages
Publication date: 01 December 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

For decades, a select group of major world languages has served as the foundation of the vast majority of linguistic theory. Nonetheless, minoritized languages can also offer valuable insights into the workings of the human language faculty. This groundbreaking book delves into the profound impact that minoritized languages have on mainstream linguistic theory, which, due to their typically unique syntactic, morphological, and phonological characteristics, pose challenges and question frameworks primarily designed to account for more widely studied languages. The chapters cover the four core pillars of linguistic theory: syntax, semantics, phonology, and morphology, and offer numerous case studies to demonstrate how minoritized languages can disrupt assumptions and prompt modifications to the theory itself. Illustrated with examples from a diverse range of languages, the book is written in an engaging and accessible style, making it an essential resource for students and researchers interested in theoretical syntax, phonology, morphology, language policy, and politics.

Weight: 464g
Dimension: 157 x 235 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781316516379