The Oceanic Languages

John Lynch, Malcolm Ross, Terry Crowley

Taylor & Francis, 2002 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 924 pages

This new volume of the Language Family Series presents an overview of the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian languages, spread across a region embracing eastern Indonesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia. It provides sufficient phonological and grammatical data to give typologists and comparativists a good idea of the nature of these languages, and of how much typological variety there is in this single subgroup. The references will allow those interested in particular topics, geographical areas or specific languages to delve further. Divided into two major parts, the first five chapters of the book place the Oceanic languages in their geographic, demographic and social context. Both the place of the Oceanic subgroup within the wider Austronesian family, and the internal subgrouping of Oceanic itself are dealt with. A typological overview of Oceanic languages is provided, as well as an outline of the reconstructed phonology and morphosyntax of Proto Oceanic. The second part of the book consists of grammar sketches of 43 Oceanic languages that are not at all well known in the linguistic literature. For many of these languages, the sketch in this volume is the first grammatical treatment to appear in print.

About the author

John Lynch is emeritus professor of Latin American history and former director of the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London.

MALCOLM ROSS was professor emeritus at Dalhousie University.

TERRY CROWLEY has been a member of the history department at the University of Guelph since 1971. Originally an eighteenth-century specialist, he has written widely on rural and women\s history.'

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Oceanic Languages; Volume 1 of Routledge Language Family Series
• Editors: John Lynch, Malcolm Ross, Terry Crowley
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis, 2002
• ISBN: 0700711287, 9780700711284
• Length: 924 pages
• Subjects: Foreign Language Study / Oceanic & Australian Languages; Language Arts & Disciplines / General; Language Arts & Disciplines / Reference