Contact Language Library

Whose name is hidden behind the anonymity of the key publication on Mediterranean Lingua Franca? What linguistic reality does the label 'Lingua Franca' conceal? These and related questions are explored in this new book on an enduringly important topic. The book presents a typologically informed analysis of Mediterranean Lingua Franca, as documented in the Dictionnaire de la langue franque ou petit mauresque, which provides an important historical snapshot of contact-induced language change. Based on a close study of the Dictionnaire in its historical and linguistic context, the book proposes hypotheses concerning its models, authorship and publication history, and examines the place of the Dictionnaire's Lingua Franca in the structural typological space between Romance languages, on the one hand, and pidgins, on the other. It refines our understanding of the typology of contact outcomes while at the same time opening unexpected new avenues for both linguistic and historical research.

This comprehensive new work provides extensive evidence for the essential role of language contact as a primary trigger for change. Unique in breadth, it traces the spread of the periphrastic perfect across Europe over the last 2,500 years, illustrating at each stage the micro-responses of speakers and communities to macro-historical pressures. Among the key forces claimed to be responsible for normative innovations in both eastern and western Europe is 'roofing' - the superstratal influence of Greek and Latin on languages under the influence of Greek Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism respectively. The author provides a new interpretation of the notion of 'sprachbund', presenting the model of a three-dimensional stratified convergence zone, and applies this model to her analysis of the have and be perfects within the Charlemagne sprachbund. The book also tackles broader theoretical issues, for example, demonstrating that the perfect tense should not be viewed as a universal category.

Linguists and scholars of particular languages explore words in non-English European languages that are popularly thought to be borrowed from English but are not. The topics include getting to grips w

The global spread of English has resulted in the emergence of a diverse range of postcolonial varieties around the world. Postcolonial English provides a clear and original account of the evolution of

Music may be the universal language that needs no words—the “language where all language ends,” as Rilke put it—but that has not stopped poets from ancient times to the present from trying to represen

By integrating novel developments in both contact linguistics and morphological theory, this volume pursues the topic of borrowed morphology by recourse to sophisticated theoretical and methodological

Shakespeare has been called the greatest writer in the English language—but his language and settings can seem remote and forbidding. Welcome to Black Dog’s Graphic Shakespeare Library, w

The book provides a description of the Standard ML (SML) Basis Library, the standard library for the SML language. For programmers using SML, it provides a complete description of the modules, types and functions composing the library, which is supported by all conforming implementations of the language. The book serves as a programmer's reference, providing manual pages with concise descriptions. In addition, it presents the principles and rationales used in designing the library, and relates these to idioms and examples for using the library. A particular emphasis of the library is to encourage the use of SML in serious system programming. Major features of the library include I/O, a large collection of primitive types, support for internationalization, and a portable operating system interface. This manual will be an indispensable reference for students, professional programmers, and language designers.

The book provides a description of the Standard ML (SML) Basis Library, the standard library for the SML language. For programmers using SML, it provides a complete description of the modules, types and functions composing the library, which is supported by all conforming implementations of the language. The book serves as a programmer's reference, providing manual pages with concise descriptions. In addition, it presents the principles and rationales used in designing the library, and relates these to idioms and examples for using the library. A particular emphasis of the library is to encourage the use of SML in serious system programming. Major features of the library include I/O, a large collection of primitive types, support for internationalization, and a portable operating system interface. This manual will be an indispensable reference for students, professional programmers, and language designers.