This workbook guides students through 12 problems on the establishment of genetic relationship among languages, 24 problems on sound change, 35 problems on phonological reconstruction, 10 problems on internal reconstruction, and 20 problems on subgrouping.
Focusing on an underexplored aspect of Austronesian languages, this book examines recurrent submorphemic sound-meaning associations characterized by the pattern -CVC. It delves into the linguistic significance of these associations, providing insights into their role in language structure and meaning. Through detailed analysis, the work contributes to a deeper understanding of phonological and morphological interactions within this language family.
Renward Brandstetter (1860–1942), a Swiss linguist, significantly advanced our understanding of ‘Indonesian’ languages, now known as Austronesian languages. He utilized texts, dictionaries, and grammars from over 30 languages to propose a proto-language (Urindonesisch) for this family and systematically compared their sound systems and morphology. Following the First World War, Brandstetter was motivated by a desire for peace and equality among nations. Through his series “We peoples of the Indonesian earth,” he highlighted the richness of “Indonesian” languages and literatures, asserting their equality with Indo-European languages. His contributions have been pivotal in the field of Austronesian linguistics. This volume offers a detailed analysis of Brandstetter’s work for the first time. The articles stem from a conference held in Lucerne in 2010, marking the 150th anniversary of his birth, and encompass the diverse areas he explored over 60 years, including Swiss-German dialects, historical and comparative linguistics, Austronesian languages, Malay and Buginese literature, and the cultural and language history of the Swiss canton of Lucerne.