Overview
This book deals with the phenomenon of vowel harmony, a phonological process whereby all the vowels in a word are required to share a specific phonological property, such as front or back articulation. Vowel harmony occurs in the majority of languages of the world, though only in very few European languages, and has been a central concern in phonological theory for many years. In this volume, Harry van der Hulst puts forward a new theory of vowel harmony, which accounts for the patterns of and exceptions to this phenomenon in the widest range of languages ever considered.The book begins with an overview of the general causes of asymmetries in vowel harmony systems. The two following chapters provide a detailed account of a new theory of vowel harmony based on unary elements and licensing, which is embedded in a general dependency-based theory of phonological structure. In the remaining chapters, this theory is applied to a variety of vowel harmony phenomena from typologically diverse languages, including palatal harmony in languages such as Finnish and Hungarian, labial harmony in Turkic languages, and tongue root systems in Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, and Tungusic languages. The volume provides a valuable overview of the diversity of vowel harmony in the languages of the world and is essential reading for phonologists of all theoretical persuasions.
Full Product Details
Author: Harry van der Hulst (Professor of Linguistics, Professor of Linguistics, University of Connecticut)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 16.30cm
, Height: 3.70cm
, Length: 24.20cm
Weight: 0.936kg
ISBN: 9780198813576
ISBN 10: 0198813570
Pages: 524
Publication Date: 30 August 2018
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
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Reviews
Asymmetries in Vowel Harmony is a valuable book. It can be recommended to those who are interested in the diverse nature of vowel harmony in different languages. It is a good starting point for seeking phenomena or literature, and its analyses offer an intellectual adventure. However, when using it in one's further research, it is recommended to be careful with its data: check them in the sources, and as far as possible, double-check them in further sources. * László Fejes, Voprosy Jazykoznanija *
Author Information
Harry van der Hulst is Professor of Linguistics and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Connecticut. His particular research interests include stress, syllabic structure, segmental structure, sign language, gesture, language evolution, and phonological acquisition. His many books include The Phonological Structure of Words: An Introduction (with Colin Ewen; CUP 2001) and, as editor, Word Stress (CUP 2014) and he is Editor-in-Chief of the journal The Linguistic Review.
