The development of the prosodic system from Indo-European to Balto-Slavic is dominated by two major innovations: the rise of mobility and the rise of acuteness. This book provides a new account of the latter. It stands out from previous works for being informed by recent advances in phonological typology and tonogenesis and, especially, for its comprehensiveness. All matters related to the rise of acuteness are treated in detail. As a result, the book includes new insights on several issues of Balto-Slavic historical phonology and morphology as well.

The Prehistory of the Balto-Slavic Accent has been written to fill a gap. The interested non-specialist can easily learn about the complex accent systems of the individual Baltic and Slavic languages and how they relate to each other. But the reader interested in the Proto-Balto-Slavic parent system, and how it evolved from the very different system of Proto-Indo-European, has few reliable places to turn. The goal of this book is to provide an accentological interface between Indo-European and Balto-Slavic—to identify and explain the accent shifts and other early changes that give the earliest stages of Baltic and Slavic their distinctive prosodic cast.

The Prehistory of the Balto-Slavic Accenthas been written to fill a gap. The interested non-specialist can easily learn about the complex accent systems of the individual Baltic and Slavic languages and how they relate to each other. But the reader interested in the Proto-Balto-Slavic parent system, and how it evolved from the very different system of Proto-Indo-European, has few reliable places to turn. The goal of this book is to provide an accentological interface between Indo-European and Balto-Slavic--to identify and explain the accent shifts and other early changes that give the earliest stages of Baltic and Slavic their distinctive prosodic cast.

The Avgust Pavel’s Vend nyelvtan or Prekmurje Slovene Grammar (1942) offers linguists insight into a key part of the remarkable variation in Slovene. A peripheral area of Slovene, the Prekmurje dialect is in contact with German, Hungarian, and Croatian Kajkavian.

It is tempting to take the tremendous rate of contemporary linguistic change for granted. What is required, in fact, is a radical reinterpretation of what language is. Steven Roger Fischer begins his book with an examination of the modes of communication used by dolphins, birds and primates as the first contexts in which the concept of "language" might be applied. As he charts the history of language from the times of Homo erectus, Neanderthal humans and Homo sapiens through to the nineteenth century, when the science of linguistics was developed, Fischer analyses the emergence of language as a science and its development as a written form. He considers the rise of pidgin, creole, jargon and slang, as well as the effects radio and television, propaganda, advertising and the media are having on language today. Looking to the future, he shows how electronic media will continue to reshape and re-invent the ways in which we communicate. "[a] delightful and unexpectedly accessible book ... a virtuoso tour of the linguistic world."—The Economist "... few who read this remarkable study will regard language in quite the same way again."—The Good Book Guide

This unique text draws on the tools of modern linguistics to help the student acquire an effective understanding of learned, specialized, and scientific vocabulary. English Vocabulary Elements (EVE) helps develop familiarity with over 350 Latin and Greek word elements in English, and shows how these roots are the building blocks within thousands of different words. Along the way the authors introduce and illustrate many of the fundamental concepts of linguistics. Offering a thorough approach to the expansion of vocabulary, EVE is an invaluable resource that provides students a deeper understanding of the language. This book will be useful to upper level high school students, undergraduates in English, Linguistics, and Classics departments, ESL students, and anyone interested in building vocabulary skills. This edition is refined and thoroughly updated. It includes updated cultural references, and the authors have revised and improved the pedagogy based on classroom experience. In particular they account for variations in pronunciation among students; clarify when historical details are important or peripheral; and improve the many examples and exercises that form the core of the book.