Comparative Dravidian Linguistics: Current Perspectives

This volume is a contribution both to comparative Dravidian studies and to the theory of language change and linguistic reconstruction. It makes available the author's most important published articles on Dravidian over the last forty years and includes a new and substantial introduction to the field. The book concludes with a survey of Dravidian language studies over the last thousand years and a critical account of work since 1950. Those articles reprinted in the work appear substantially unchanged, with individual comments.

Bhadriraju Krishnamurti is Honorary Professor of Linguistics, University of Hyderabad. During his long academic career he has held many positions including most recently Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad (1986-93) and Tagore Professor of Linguistics at Osmania University (1962-88). In 1970 he was elected President of the Linguistic Society of India; in 1980 he was President of the Dravidian Linguistic Association; and in 1985 he was elected Honorary Member of the Linguistic Society of America. He has held several prestigious fellowships including Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University (1975-6); Tokyo University Centenary Fellow (1980); and Member, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (1999-2000). He has served on the editorial advisory boards of several international journals and book series. His own publications cover a wide range of themes such as lexicography, dialectology, language planning, literacy, etc.