The Sino-Tibetan Languages

There are more native speakers of Sino-Tibetan languages than of any other language family in the world. Our records of these languages are among the oldest for any human language, and the amount of active research on them has multiplied in the last few decades.

Now in its second edition and fully updated to include new research, The Sino-Tibetan Languages includes overview articles on the individual languages, with an emphasis on the less commonly described languages, as well as descriptions and comments on the subgroups in which they occur.

For Sino-Tibetan languages, there are overviews on genetic classification and language contact, syntax and morphology, and also on word order typology. On the Sinitic side, coverage is on phonology, syntax and the wrtiting system. Supplementing this overview are articles on dialects, Shanghaianese, Cantonese and late Zhou Chinese. Tibeto-Burman is reviewed by genetic or geographical sub-group, and there are also detailed descriptions of over 40 individual Tibeto-Burman languages, written by world experts in the field.

Designed for students and researchers of Asian languages, The Sino-Tibetan Languages is a detailed overview of the field. This book is invaluable to language students, experts requiring concise, but thorough, information on related languages, and researchers working in historical, typological and comparative linguistics.

Graham Thurgood is Professor Emeritus at California State University, Chico, USA.

Randy J. LaPolla is Professor of Linguistics at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.