Dialectology as Dialectic

Abstract

(hardback). Reviewed by Jesse P. Gates SIL International Overview of Dialectology as Dialectic Dialectology as Dialectic (D as D henceforth) by Jamin Pelkey (JP henceforth) is a revision of JP's 2008 Ph.D. dissertation entitled The Phula languages in synchronic and diachronic perspective. D as D is published within the prolific Trends in Linguistics series by De Gruyter Mouton as the 229th of 280 volumes to date. The editors of the series regard "linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language," as is stated on the back cover of this book. D as D lives up to this viewpoint-that research in linguistic variation enlightens linguistic science-and thus is well suited for this series. An underlying theme of D as D is an insistence that dialectology is best carried out in the context of both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. As JP writes, "[s]ynchronic language definitions are shown to provide the categories necessary for diachronic subgrouping, and diachronic subgroupings are shown to provide validation for synchronic language definition. The two sets of knowledge are interdependent; neither can be adequately defined in a vacuum" (ix). Since the research of D as D involves the Phula languages (Tibeto-Burman > Burmic > Ngwi or Yi or Loloish) of Yunnan Province, China and Northern Vietnam, D as D is an especially important read for Ngwi specialists. However, the content of D as D is also consequential for Sino-Tibetanists, historical linguists, dialectologists, and more broadly, philosophers of science and language and Peircean semioticians. D as D involves the testing, disproving, and refining of the "Phula hypothesis" stated in the introductory chapter: "All synchronic languages traditionally affiliated with the Phula ethnonym also belong to a single exclusive diachronic clade linguistically" (2). The conclusion of JP's research results in a major revision of the "Phula hypothesis" as is stated in the "Phula theorem" at the end of the book: "24 synchronic languages are affiliated with the traditional Phula ethnonym, and 22 of these languages belong to two exclusive diachronic clades linguistically" (398). It should be noted that 18 of these languages were previously unclassified. JP subgroups 22

Ca2+ current facilitation determines short‐term facilitation at inhibitory synapses between cerebellar Purkinje cells

“…Target-dependent short-term synaptic plasticity has been reported at various synapses, such as those in J Physiol 593.22 neocortex, cerebellum and hippocampus (Markram et al 1998;Rozov et al 2001;Koester & Johnston, 2005;Pelkey et al 2006;Beierlein et al 2007;Bao et al 2010). For example, excitatory synapses from a cortical pyramidal neuron on basket cells exhibit short-term depression, whereas those on Martinotti cells show facilitation (Markram et al 1998).…”

Once again on methodology and argumentation in linguistics

“…David Bradley long ago pointed out the sociological fact that within the Indosphere there is maximal differentiation of language varieties into languages, such that closely related mutually intelligible varieties are considered different languages, while in the Sinosphere there is minimal differentiation, and so many mutually unintelligible varieties are lumped together as languages (Bradley & Bradley 2002, Bradley 2015; see also Poa & LaPolla 2007 on the effects of the latter tendency on language maintenance in China). An example of the sort of diversity we can find is Pelkey 2008Pelkey , 2011, which document the existence of 24 mutually unintelligible languages within a small area on the China-Vietnam border, all originally considered part of a single dialect of the Yi language. There is in fact much greater diversity northeast of the Himalayas, as we would expect, given the origin of the family there.…”

The Major Dialects of Nyamwezi and Their Relationship to Sukuma: A Time-Based Perspective

“…A distance-based network analysis is a quantitative analysis used as “an introductory visual means of data exploration” (Pelkey, 2011:279). The Neighbor-Netalgorithm, as developed by Bryant & Moulton (2004) is applied to a distance matrix , or a standard lexicostatistical matrix with the figures converted into their opposite values.…”

“…The principles of a time-based, or Baileyean dialectology (Bailey, 1996), are used in this paper to explore the spread of linguistic innovation through space and time. Pelkey (2011:31ff.) uses an integrative approach to dialectology, which incorporates insights from Baileyean dialectology, to examine the Phula languages within the Tibeto-Burman language family.…”