The period of 1965 to 1978 was an extremely productive time for U.S. (Russian born) Romance etymologist and philologist Yakov Malkiel whose specialty was the development of Latin words, roots, prefixes, and suffixes in modern Romance languages, particularly Spanish. Malkiel will be known as the great champion of etymology in linguistics as evidenced by several of the selected essays in From Particular to General Lingusitics. But here Malkiel also moves in several other subfields of linguistics and proves that whatever the subject of discussion is, it is characterized by a tenaciously comprehensive use of evidence.
Etymology has been largely neglected since the beginning of this century. Professor Yakov Malkiel here sets out to rescue it from its fate. He enquires into the style, structure, presuppositions, and purposes of etymological enquiries over the last two centuries, and sets them against the practice of etymology in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. He also examines the complex and changing interrelationship between etymology and general linguistics in recent times, with the intention of revitalising etymological research. Professor Malkiel is undoubtedly one of the most distinguished practitioners of the discipline, and brings to this work a remarkable breadth and depth of scholarship. Wide-ranging and imaginative, Etymology will be welcomed by all historical linguists and Romance linguists.
The ten articles collected in this volume are an impressive indication of the range and depth of Malkiel's knowledge of diachronic processes in the Romance languages. In the author's experience, etymological studies of lexis frequently lead one into the areas of phonology and morphology, and the title of the book reflects these interrelationships. The volume opens with a previously unpublished paper which centers around the history of English. The other papers deal with topics from the Romance languages in general, and from Old French and Spanish in particular. The author has added a Retrospect, in which all articles are discussed once more in the light of recent developments. An Index of Names and an exhaustive Index of Key Concepts round off the volume.
Phonosymbolism, or sound symbolism (Lautsymbolik), is a vital ingredient of language growth. Many serious scholars, however, have regarded it with embarrassment or indifference. A cautious reintroduction of phonosymbolism as a factor responsible for changes undergone, in varying degrees, by most languages would now seem to be in order. The present volume brings together a number of recent articles on this subject, focusing mostly on problems from Romance languages, especially Spanish; but English also figures prominently.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.