This book provides a comprehensive cross-linguistic account of 98 typologically diverse minority languages in Southern China. A number of important parameters are analyzed based on rich case studies ranging from the Tibeto-Burman languages, Kam-Tai languages, Hmong-Mien languages, and Austroasiatic languages to the Austronesian Languages. Adopting a descriptive approach, Professor Li seeks to testify theories and principles underlying word order typology and generally considers how word order patterns relate to contact-induced variations. The book is of interest to scholars of linguistic typology as well as to researchers and students involved in ethnolinguistics, syntax, and sociolinguistics.
Chapter
1. Ethnic Minorities and Minority Languages in Southern China.
Chapter
2. Theories and Principles of Word Order Typology.
Chapter
3. The Word Order Typology of the Tibeto-Burman Languages.
Chapter
4. The Word Order Typology of the Kam-Tai (Zhuang-Dong) Languages.
Chapter
5. The Word Order Typology of the Miao-Yao Languages.
Chapter
6. The Word Order Typology of the Ge-Yang Languages.
Chapter
7. The Word Order Typology of the Austro-Asiantic Languages.
Chapter
8. The Word Order Typology of the Austronesian Languages in Taiwan.
Chapter
9. A Cross-Linguistic Typology Comparison of Word Orders of Minority Languages in Southern China.
Yunbing Li is currently a professor in Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Editorial Board of Minority Languages in China. He has been dedicated to research on minority languages in Southern China since 1991. This book presents his major findings drawn from decades of fieldwork, providing new insights into the word order typology across a broad range of minority languages. His major areas of interest cover linguistic typology, descriptive linguistics and cognitive linguistics. In addition to essays on various typological and areal features of Chinese minority languages, his other recent publications include A Comparative Study of Hmong-Mien Languages (2018) and A Study on the Syntactic and Semantic Attributes of Verbs in Miao Language (2015).
