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This book combines studies of a broad range of minority and minoritized languages from the past and present to examine the dynamics of changes in the status of language use and language perception. They address two fundamental questions of sociolinguistics, namely, A. How is linguistic variation at speaker and/or community level structured so that certain variants and varieties have a particular indexical value whereas others do not? and B. What language ideologies underpin our perceptions of the linguistic world, i.e. how do we perceive the way we speak, and/or the way other people speak, and what do we do with this perception? Chapters include discussions of a large number of languages, some of which have largely been ignored in much scholarly discussion, such as Californian Spanish, Maritime Sign Language, or Danish and Frisian in the Duchy of Schleswig, as well as marginalized varieties of bigger languages, such as Scots or Nynorsk. The chapters, many of which were presented at the 2022 HiSoN conference in Murcia, offer insights into processes of stigmatization and promotion and offer a comprehensive comparison between seemingly different case studies focused on a core set of research questions.

This collection showcases the contributions of the study of endangered and understudied languages to historical linguistic analysis, and the broader relevance of diachronic approaches toward developing better informed approaches to language documentation and description. The volume brings together perspectives from both established and up-and-coming scholars and represents a globally and linguistically diverse range of languages.The collected papers demonstrate the ways in which endangered languages can challenge existing models of language change based on more commonly studied languages, and can generate innovative insights into linguistic phenomena such as pathways of grammaticalization, forms and dynamics of contact-driven change, and the diachronic relationship between lexical and grammatical categories. In so doing, the book highlights the idea that processes and outcomes of language change long held to be universally relevant may be more sensitive to cultural and typological variability than previously assumed. Taken as a whole, this collection brings together perspectives from language documentation and historical linguistics to point the way forward for richer understandings of both language change and documentary-descriptive approaches, making this key reading for scholars in these fields.

Dieses Buch enthält wissenschaftliche Beiträge von jungen und etablierten Forscherinnen und Forschern zu mehreren Aspekten diachroner und synchroner Sprachwissenschaft. Die Autorinnen und Autoren gehen u.a. auf textlinguistische, onomastische und lexikologische Fragestellungen sowie Sprachkontakte und Fachsprachen ein. „Der vorliegende Band ist eine gelungene, ausgewogene Monographie, die Prof. Józef Wiktorowicz (Universität Warschau) gewidmet ist. Er fügt sich in die in den letzten Jahren wieder aufgenommene sprachwissenschaftliche Forschung mit historisch-kultureller Ausrichtung ein und stellt dabei einen wichtigen Versuch dar, Ergebnisse dieser Forschung zu dokumentieren. […] Der viele treffende Erkenntnisse und Schlüsse präsentierende Band leistet einen wichtigen Beitrag zu sprachwissenschaftlichen Untersuchungen und kann darüber hinaus selbst eine Grundlage für breiter angelegte philologische Forschung sein.'Dr. habil. Andrzej S. Feret (Jagiellonen-Universität in Karków)

This volume is a selection of papers presented at the 10th International Conference on Middle English held at the University of Stavanger, Norway from 31 May to 2 June 2017. The collection bridges the gap between traditional ‘linguistic'and ‘literary'topics and provides a holistic view of current research within Middle English studies. The papers are organized under four main headings: The transmission of Middle English texts, Syntax and morphology, Genre and discourse and Textual afterlives. The contributions deal with materials ranging from canonical works such as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to little-studied texts such as administrative documents and scientific treatises.

This volume contains a selection of papers presented at the 8th International Conference of Middle English, held in Spain at the University of Murcia in 2013. The contributions embrace a variety of research topics and approaches, with a particular interest in multilingualism, multidialectalism and language contact in medieval England, together with other more linguistically-oriented approaches on the phonology, syntax, morphology, semantics and pragmatics of Middle English. The volume gives a specialized stance on various aspects of the Middle English language and reveals how the interdisciplinary confluence of different approaches can shed light on manifold evidences of variation, contact and change in the period.

Eight Decades of General Linguistics presents the key lectures delivered at the eighteen conferences organized by the Permanent International Committee of Linguists and also a history of the Committee itself. The contributions of outstanding scholars such as Otto Jesperson, Louis Hjelmslev, André Martinet, Uriel Weinreich, Noam Chomsky and many other linguists cannot be over-estimated. The majority of the papers address a radically new topic, each of which became one of the central issues in subsequent linguistic research. In addition to their empirical findings and/or the theoretical innovations presented in their papers, each contribution is still interesting and pivotal to the development of contemporary linguistics.

This volume brings together 15 papers on the evolution and origin of language. The authors approach the subject from various angles, exploring biological, cultural, psychological and linguistic factors. A wide variety of topics is discussed, such as animal communication, language acquisition, the essentialist-evolutionist debate, and genetic classification.