Product Description
by Benjamin W. Fortson (Author)
This revised and expanded edition provides a comprehensive overview of comparative Indo-European linguistics and the branches of the Indo-European language family, covering both linguistic and cultural material. Now offering even greater coverage than the first edition, it is the definitive introduction to the field.
- Updated, corrected, and expanded edition, containing new illustrations of selected texts and inscriptions, and text samples with translations and etymological commentary
- Extensively covers individual histories of both ancient and modern languages of the Indo-European family
- Provides an overview of Proto-Indo-European culture, society, and language
- Designed for use in courses, with exercises and suggestions for further reading included in each chapter
- Includes maps, a glossary, a bibliography, and comprehensive word and subject indexes
Back Jacket
Blackwell Textbooks in Linguistics
Linguistics"Ben Fortson's book is the best existing introduction to Indo-European linguistics: up-to-date and comprehensive, accessible without being oversimplified. Students andinterested laypersons will find it indispensable."
Don Ringe, University of Pennsylvania
"Fortson's Introductioncontinues to be the textbook of choice for introductory Indo-European. In its presentation of both fact and theory, it is a marvel of accuracy, completeness, and sound judgment."
Brent Vine, UCLA
Praise for the Previous Edition:
"Superb ... [Fortson's] short general discussions of the histories and ecologies of theindividual languages are the best I have ever read."
Recensiones - Salesianum, 2008Indo
"Finally, there is a reliable, engaging and accessible presentation of the communis opinio. And there are even exercises! ... Fortson has produced an excellent book that fulfills its goals admirably. I hope it will inspire a renaissance of Indo-European linguistics in English speaking countries."
Journal of the American Oriental Society
ndo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction provides a comprehensive overview of comparative Indo-European linguistics and the branches of the Indo-European language family, covering both linguistic and cultural material.
Opening with an introduction to the comparative method of linguistic reconstruction and discussion of the culture and homeland of the Indo-Europeans, the volume continues with detailed overviews of the phonology, morphology, and syntax of reconstructed Proto-Indo-European. Each branch's development from ancient to modern times is then outlined, and illustrative text samples are given along with translations, etymological commentary, exercises, and suggestions for further reading in all chapters.
This new edition contains illustrations and photographs of inscriptions illustrating the ancient writing systems, and enhanced and new coverage of dozens of languages. Corrected, revised, and augmented, Indo-European Language and Culture is the definitive introduction to the field.
Author Biography
Benjamin W. Fortson IV is Associate Professor of Greek and Latin Language, Literature, and Historical Linguistics in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Michigan.
