Forty years on: Ken Hale
and Australian languages
Simpson, Jane, David Nash,
Mary Laughren, Peter Austin and Barry Alpher
PL 512
In 1959-60 Ken Hale documented
around seventy Australian languages using the methods of modern
linguistics and anthropology. In the years since, Hale (now
Emeritus Professor at MIT) has written and published numerous
papers on theoretical and descriptive topics, made his field
records available to several generations of linguists, and
encouraged native speakers in studying and maintaining their
languages. The 36 contributions to this volume reflect the
broad diversity of Hale's pioneering work. The 38 contributors
include linguists from Australia and North America, and three
Australian language speakers. The volume starts with several
chapters dealing directly with Hale's fieldwork, beginning
as he did in Alice Springs with Arrernte and Warlpiri. These
include first-hand accounts, by Sara Hale and others, of what
it was like grappling with fresh ideas and being in the field
in Australia in the 1960s, and serve to place his work in
the broader context of Australian language studies. The breathtaking
scope of Hale's contribution, both in terms of languages documented
and topics examined, is reflected in the diversity of languages
and topics covered by the remaining chapters: theory, typology,
methodology; syntax, semantics, phonology, morphology, historical
linguistics, language change and creativity, and language
policy implementation. The volume also includes an interview
with Hale, two vocabularies collected by Hale and O'Grady
in 1960, and a bibliography of Hale's Australian work.
2001
ISBN: 0 85883 524 X
xvii + 528 pp.
Prices: Australia AUD$55.00
(incl. GST) Overseas AUD$50.00
previous
next Place
an order
|
