Abstract
Frontmatter -- Preface -- Contributors -- Funding and support -- Abbreviations -- Orthographic conventions for Caucasian languages -- Overview of conventions -- Overview of tables -- Overview of figures -- Overview of maps -- Overview of appendices -- Contents -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Theoretical backdrop: words, things, and humans in their environment -- 3. Language: classification, reconstruction, and principles of change -- 4. Description of the database Diachronic Atlas of Comparative Linguistics -- 5. Atlas: Grammar -- 6. Atlas: Lexicon -- 7. Concluding chapter: an integrated view of the linguistic and cultural histories of Eurasia -- Literature -- Appendix 1: Languages of the current atlas -- Appendix 2a: Grammar: Features, complete list (from DiACL) -- Appendix 2b: Grammar: State combinations -- Appendix 2c: Grammar: State combinations in languages -- Appendix 2d: Grammar: Solutions 1–10 by Structure -- Appendix 3a: Lexicon: list of concepts, coverage by family -- Appendix 3b: Lexical data -- Appendix 3c: Lexical data: statistics -- Appendix 3d: Lexicon: Source language data, flow map -- Appendix 4a: Language consultants -- Appendix 4b: Literary sources -- Appendix 4c: Geographical sources -- Map Credits -- Index
Historical linguistics is a growing field, and so is the notion of the role of cultural aspects as involved in language diversity. However, a collective work on the current stand within this field is lacking, in particular for little researched areas such as the Amazon.Computational methods, as well as new technologies for geographic mapping and data base management have opened new possibilities for looking at history of language and culture, based on earlier theories. These methods are used as complementary to established methods, such as comparative method, areal method, and relative and absolute chronology.The current atlas will focus on the following topics: 1. language spread and diversity in relation to ecology, subsistence, and cultural contact, 2. functionality in culture, as expressed in cultural vocabulary, 3. indications of contact by means of borrowings of cultural vocabulary and linguistic typology.The book will be based on a rich new data (from about 400 languages), which will be available open source via a geographic database. The volume will be of relevance for students and researchers of linguistics, cultural anthropology, human ecology, archaeology, and adjacent disciplines. DiACL - Diachronic Atlas of Comparative Linguistics https://snd.gu.se/en/catalogue/study/ext0269