Bowern Claire, Koch Harold (Eds.). Australian Languages: Classification and the Comparative Method

John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2004. — 703 p. — (Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 249).This book addresses controversial issues in the application of the comparative method to the languages of Australia which have recently come to international prominence. Are these languages ‘different’ in ways that challenge the fundamental assumptions of historical linguistics? Can subgrouping be successfully undertaken using the Comparative Method? Is the genetic construct of a far-flung ‘Pama-Nyungan’ language family supportable by classic methods of reconstruction? Contrary to increasingly established views of the Australian scene, this book makes a major contribution to the demonstration that traditional methods can indeed be applied to these languages. These studies, introduced by chapters on subgrouping methodology and the history of Australian linguistic classification, rigorously apply the comparative method to establishing subgroups among Australian languages and justifying the phonology of Proto-Pama-Nyungan. Individual chapters can profitably be read either for their contribution to Australian linguistic prehistory or as case studies in the application of the comparative method.Introduction: subgrouping methodology in historical linguistics - Claire Bowern and Harold Koch
A methodological history of Australian linguistic classification - Harold Koch
Pama-Nyungan as a genetic entity - Luisa Miceli
The coherence and distinctiveness of the Pama-Nyungan language family within the Australian linguistic phylum - Geoffrey O’Grady and Kenneth L. Hale
Pama-Nyungan: phonological reconstruction and status as a phylogenetic group - Barry Alpher
The Arandic subgroup of Australian languages - Harold Koch
The Ngumpin-Yapa subgroup - Patrick McConvell and Mary Laughren
Thura-Yura as a subgroup - Jane Simpson and Luise Hercus
The Yarli languages - Luise Hercus and Peter Austin
Evolution of the verb conjugations in the Ngarna languages - Gavan Breen
The failure of the evidence of shared innovations in Cape York Peninsula - Paul Black
Diagnostic similarities and differences between Nyulnyulan and neighbouring languages - Claire Bowern
Revisiting Proto-Mirndi - Ian Green and Rachel Nordlinger
Stem forms and paradigm reshaping in Gunwinyguan - Brett Baker