The comparative method is not a single method of reconstruction but a complex set of procedures based on different assumptions and hypotheses about language change. The paper examines sound-meaning relationships, traditions, phonetic distinctions and the sets of oppositions, & regularity and irreversibility of phonetic change in the discussion.…

IN RECENT YEARS IT HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED THAT A LARGE NUMBER OF THE LANGUAGES IN THE LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSIFIED SUB-SAHARAN AREA OF NORTHERN NIGERIA, THE NORTHERN CAMEROONS, AND THE CHAD REPUBLIC, INCLUDING MANY OF THE LANGUAGES OF THE JOS PLATEAU GROUP, CAN BE CLASSIFIED AS A SINGLE LINGUISTIC UNIT--THE CHAD FAMILY. BY USING THE TRADITIONAL…

Examines and evaluates 20th-century studies in Zhunyanese linguistics, particularly work accomplished since 1955. Discussion focuses on how the studies were developed, what their current state is, and where problems are. A bibliography follows, covering only those works mentioned in the main text. (Author/KM)

Critical analysis of Fan-Kuei Li's article which appeared in "Journal of Chinese Linguistics", v1 n1 p1-13 Jan 1973. (DD)

Research supported by the Alexander Humboldt Foundation. (DD)

Revised version of a paper presented at the 1970 summer meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, Columbus, Ohio. Research leading to the paper supported in part by a National Science Foundation grant to the Phonology Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley. (VM)

This paper considers morphophonemic changes that take place in verbal stem formation in Gude, a Chadic language of Nigeria. It is necessary to assign the classificatory features of the phonology to syllables rather than to single segments. (CK)

Colombian Inga is of particular interest to the Quechuanist because it is the northernmost member of the Quechuan language family spoken in modern times. In the present work, the relationship of Colombian Inga to other varieties of Quechua is examined. The affiliation of Inga with the Ecuadorian group of Parker's (1969a) Quechua A branch of the…

The problems of measurement and type-formation are discussed in the light of two approaches toward systems of linguistic objects. First, they are discussed as gestalt systems; second, they are discussed in the light of systems of general type viewed as sets of collections of arbitrary distinctive features. (Author/RM)

The present volume, the second part of a final report on tone systems of the Tibeto-Burman languages of Nepal, contains the following papers: "Gurung, Tamang, Thakali, Sherpa, and Chepang Prosodies," by Richard S. Pittman; "Proto-Tamang-Gurung-Thakali," by Pittman and Jessie Glover; "Cognate Counts via the Swadesh List in…