Defining A Linguistic Area – South Asia
Colin P. Masica
Price
575
ISBN
9788180280221
Language
English
Pages
248
Format
Hardback
Dimensions
140 x 216 mm
Year of Publishing
2005
Territorial Rights
World
Imprint
D C Publishers
Catalogues

In this seminal study, Colin P. Masica explores the theoretical preciseness of the common notion of “linguistic area”. He demonstrates that this concept needs to be subjected to careful analysis as well as comprehensive description to be of use to cultural historians, geographers, and historical linguists. By collating existing descriptive literature, Masica attempts to identify and establish syntactic, morphological, and phonological criteria that characterize this area. He suggests a methodology emphasizing the tracing and mapping of the geographic distribution of these characteristics, to establish their centers and peripheries, which can serve to define a “linguistic area” by their coincidence.

Colin P. Masica is Professor Emeritus of the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. Early in his career, he worked for four years as a Ford Foundation Program Specialist in linguistics with what is now the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad