The Romance Languages

400 Pages·1996·9.117 MB·

by  Rebecca Posner

What is a Romance language? How is one Romance language related
to others? How did they all evolve? And what can they tell us about
language in general? In this comprehensive survey Rebecca Posner, a
distinguished Romance specialist, examines this group of languages
from a wide variety of perspectives. Her analysis combines philolog¬
ical expertise with insights drawn from modern theoretical linguistics,
both synchronic and diachronic. She relates linguistic features to his¬
torical and sociological factors, and teases out those elements which
can be attributed to divergence from a common source and those
which indicate convergence towards a common aim. Her discussion is
extensively illustrated with new and original data, and an up-to-date
and comprehensive bibliography is included. This volume will be an
invaluable and authoritative guide for students and specialists alike.

THE ROMANCE LANGUAGES
Cambridge Language Surveys
General editors: B. Comrie, C. Ewen, R. Huddleston, R.
Lass, D. Lightfoot, J. Lyons, P.H. Matthews, R. Posner,
S. Romaine, N.V. Smith, N. Vincent
This series offers general accounts of all the major language families
of the world. Some volumes are organised on a purely genetic basis,
others on a geographical basis, whichever yields the most convenient
and intelligible grouping in each case. Sometimes, as with the
Australian volume, the two in any case coincide.
Each volume compares and contrasts the typological features of
the languages it deals with. It also treats the relevant genetic relation¬
ships, historical development and sociolinguistic issues arising from
their role and use in the world today. The intended readership is the
student of linguistics or general linguist, but no special knowledge of
the languages under consideration is assumed. Some volumes also
have a wider appeal, like that on Australia, where the future of the
languages and their speakers raises important social and political
issues.
Already published:
The languages of Australia R. M. W. Dixon
The languages of the Soviet Union Bernard Comrie
The Mesoamerican Indian languages Jorge A. Suarez
The Papuan languages of New Guinea William A. Foley
Chinese Jerry Norman
Languages of Japan M. Shibatani
Pidgins and Creoles (Volume I: Theory and structure; Volume II;
Reference survey) John H. Holm
The Indo-Aryan languages Colin Masica
Forthcoming titles include:
Korean Ho-Min Sohn
The languages of South-East Asia J.A. Matisoff
The Austronesian languages R. Blust
The Slavonic languages R. Sussex
The Germanic languages R. Lass
THE ROMANCE
LANGUAGES
REBECCA POSNER
University of Oxford
Cambridge
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA
10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia
© Cambridge University Press 1996
First published 1996
Printed in Great Britain at the University Press, Cambridge
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data
Posner, Rebecca.
The Romance Languages / Rebecca Posner.
p. cm. - (Cambridge Language Surveys)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0 521 23654 1 (hardcover). - ISBN 0 521 28139 3 (paperback)
1. Romance languages. 1. Title. 11. Series.
PC43.P595 1996
440-dc20 95-42167 CIP
ISBN 0 521 23654 1
ISBN 0 521 28139 3
TAG
CONTENTS
Preface page xi
List of language names xv
List of abbreviations xvii
Maps xviii
INTRODUCTION
Why the Romance languages? 1
What do Romanists worry about? 7
What do Romanists argue about? 10
What contribution can Romance studies make to
synchronic and diachronic linguistics? 11
Conclusion 30
Further reading 30
PART I THE SIMILARITIES
1 What is a Romance language? Part 1
1.1 What is a Romance language? 35
1.2 Person markers 39
1.3 Noun gender 55
1.4 In place of a partial conclusion 69
Further reading 70
2 What is a Romance language? Part 2
2.1 Romance‘family’and Romance‘type’ 71
2.2 Romance functional morphemes 71
2.3 Word formation 80
2.4 Shared lexicon 87
vii
viii Contents
2.5 Loanwords 93
2.6 How close are Romance lexieons? 94
2.7 Romanceness as a continuum? 94
Further reading 96
3 Latin and Romance
3.1 Derivation 97
3.2 Proto-Romance or Vulgar Latin 98
3.3 Differences between Latin and Romance 104
3.4 Latin influence 139
3.5 Who killed Latin? 152
Further reading 154
4 Convergence, interinfluence and parallel development
4.1 Drift and metarules 155
4.2 Diphthongization 157
4.3 The infinitive 163
4.4 Object clitics 167
4.5 Periphrastic aspectual forms 175
4.6 The future 177
4.7 The passive 179
4.8 Lexicon 181
4.9 Conclusion 184
Further reading 186
PART II THE DIFFERENCES
5 How many Romance languages?
5.1 How many Romance languages are there? 189
5.2 Genetic classification 196
5.3 Typology 200
5.4 Dialectometry 202
5.5 Standardology 206
5.6 Language and dialect 217
5.7 Creole and dialect 219
5.8 Creolization as creation, or as catastrophic change? 224
5.9 Conclusion 225
Further reading 226