Historical and comparative linguistics Books
Oxford University Press HobsonJobson
Book SynopsisHobson-Jobson is a unique lexicon of British India. Part dictionary, part encyclopedia it shows how words of Indian origin entered the English language and offers insight into Victorian views of Asia and the way cultures transform one another. Quirky and entertaining, this selected edition includes a fascinating introduction and notes.Trade Review'Everyone interested in British India should have a copy.' * Andrew Robinson, The Independent *'Hobson-Jobson is a rare dictionary that can be read for pleasure' * Christopher Howse, Sunday Telegraph *'Teltscher's introduction to this new abridged edition is a model of scholarship and readability.' * Neel Mukherjee, Financial Times *
£8.99
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Scribblers Sculptors and Scribes
Book SynopsisFrom one of the country?s leading Latinists, this reader is the perfect complement to any Latin program, and the first collection of entirely authentic classical Latin texts that beginning students, from the very first day of their introduction to Latin, can read and enjoy. Beginning with simple graffiti,Scribblers, Sculptors, and Scribesmoves toward longer inscriptions and literary texts as students progress. Designed to accompany the bestsellingWheelock?scurriculum, its 40 chapters are linked with the 40 chapters ofWheelock?s Latin, but the book?s readings and design features make it suitable for use alongside any introductory college or high-school Latin textbook. Packed with hundreds of actual Latin inscriptions, proverbs, and texts, this outstanding textbook also includes dozens of photos and illustrations, maps, discussion and comprehension questions, grammar capsules, a Latin?English vocabulary section, a summary of forms, and much more.
£11.69
Harvard University Press A Myriad of Tongues
Book SynopsisExploring breakthroughs in language and cognition research, Caleb Everett finds that fundamentals of human perception are culturally encoded by the words and sentences we use. The experience of time, space, color, odor, and taste is substantially influenced by language, so that basic interactions with the world vary greatly across peoples.Trade ReviewIn the Amazonian region of Brazil, where anthropologist Caleb Everett spent much of his childhood, speakers of Tupi-Kawahíb never refer to time ‘passing by.’ Indeed, the language has no word for ‘time.’ By contrast, most European languages have few abstract words for odours, whereas languages in a number of other cultures have more than a dozen. Everett’s fascinating book—based on collaboration with biologists, chemists, political scientists and engineers—ponders such differences between the world’s 7,000-plus languages. -- Andrew Robinson * Nature *An assured guide to new thinking about how language shapes the way we see the world—at a time when thousands of languages are vanishing. -- Colin Barras * New Scientist *Historically, academics have looked for commonalities among languages and focused mainly on those used by Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies. But, Everett says, the tide is shifting…His book synthesizes his own and others’ research that brings in data from non-WEIRD languages and broadens our understanding of how words affect cognition, including how we process the concepts of time, space, color, and kinship. -- Lucy Swedberg * Harvard Business Review *Offers readers a tantalizing glimpse into the wide variety of human speech patterns evident in the world today. * Library Journal *An enlightening examination of human communication based on the findings of linguist fieldworkers—himself included—as well as researchers in areas such as cognitive psychology, data science, and respiratory medicine. * Kirkus Reviews *Everett relates complex linguistic discussions in accessible terms, and each page is full of thought-provoking insights. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *Blending an ethnographer’s richness with an experimentalist’s clarity, Everett adroitly explains how what we’ve learned from data-driven studies of a myriad of tongues–from Amazonia and Africa to Australia and Austronesia–has dramatically shifted our understanding of the origins and nature of our species’ most salient ability: language. Far from being an isolated projection of innate psychology, languages evolve like other aspects of culture, adapting to our ecological contexts, social norms, acoustic environments, and cognitive inclinations. Languages also shape how speakers think, feel, and even perceive. With balance and breadth, this book offers an easy entry into a fascinating, though often ferocious, interdisciplinary field. -- Joe Henrich, author of The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly ProsperousA marvelous tour of all that is amazing, perplexing, satisfying, and mysterious about languages and the humans who speak them. Everett combines up-to-date analyses with vivid descriptions of the diverse tools that humans use when they speak. His book drills down into deep mysteries but does so with a light hand, leading readers from one big question to the next. An essential read for anyone who wants to understand what we now know about language and how profoundly that understanding has recently evolved. -- Christine Kenneally, author of The Invisible History of the Human Race: How DNA and History Shape Our Identities and Our FuturesDo different languages create different experiences of the world? Everett offers up a wealth of nuanced insights on the state of the science to replace both the old exoticism and the lazy skepticism. This is an overdue and fascinating book. -- Gaston Dorren, author of Babel: Around the World in Twenty LanguagesA gift for language is a large part of what makes us human, but as Everett shows, that gift manifests itself in an astonishing spectrum of ways. As previous certainties about the structure of language erode and dissolve under pressure from new discoveries, researchers in many fields are finally grasping the importance of linguistic diversity. This is a careful yet deeply provocative work. -- Mark Abley, author of Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened LanguagesThis book resoundingly demonstrates just how different languages can be and what those divergences reveal about us as a species. Based on both cutting-edge research and the author’s own experiences in the Amazon, where he grew up and conducted fieldwork, it will appeal to anyone who is interested in the science of language. -- Nick Evans, author of Words of Wonder: Endangered Languages and What They Tell Us
£21.56
Icon Books The Illustrated Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll
Book SynopsisA NEW, BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED HARDBACK EDITION OF THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER, PUBLISHED ON ITS TENTH ANNIVERSARY.'Witty and erudite ... stuffed with the kind of arcane information that nobody strictly needs to know, but which is a pleasure to learn nonetheless.' Nick Duerden, Independent.'Particularly good ... Forsyth takes words and draws us into their, and our, murky history.' William Leith, Evening Standard.The Etymologicon is an occasionally ribald, frequently witty and unerringly erudite guided tour of the secret labyrinth that lurks beneath the English language.What is the actual connection between disgruntled and gruntled? What links church organs to organised crime, California to the Caliphate, or brackets to codpieces?Mark Forsyth's riotous celebration of the idiosyncratic and sometimes absurd connections between words is a classic of its kind: a mine of fascinating information and a must-read for word-lovers everywhere.'Highly recommended' SpectatorTrade Review[Forsyth] riff[s] very entertainingly on the hidden connections of words (from brackets and codpieces, to cappuccinos and monkeys). -- Robert McCrum, The GuardianI'm hooked on Forsyth's book - Crikey, but this is addictive. -- Mathew Parris, The TimesKudos should go to Mark Forsyth, author of The Etymologicon - Clearly a man who knows his onions, Mr Forsyth must have worked 19 to the dozen, spotting red herrings and unravelling inkhorn terms, to bestow this boon - a work of the first water, to coin a phrase. -- The Daily TelegraphThis year's must-have stocking filler - the angel on the top of the tree, the satsuma in the sock, the threepenny bit in the plum pudding, the essential addition to the library in the smallest room is Mark Forsyth's The Etymologicon. -- Ian Sansom, The GuardianThe stocking filler of the season. -- Robert McCrum, The ObserverWitty and erudite ... stuffed with the kind of arcane information that nobody strictly needs to know, but which is a pleasure to learn nonetheless. -- Nick Duerden, IndependentThis witty book liberates etymology from the dusty pages of the dictionary and brings it alive. -- Good Book Guide'The Etymologicon' contains fascinating facts -- Daily MailFrom Nazis and film buffs to heckling and humble pie, the obscure origins of commonly-used words and phrases are explained. -- Daily TelegraphA collection of verbal curiosities ... fascinating. -- SpectatorA perfect bit of stocking filler for the bookish member of the family, or just a cracking all-year-round read. Highly recommended. -- SpectatorLight, entertaining and fascinating ... This is really one of those books where you have to fight hard to resist telling anyone in earshot little snippets every five minutes. -- Brian CleggAn absolute gem ... a pleasure to read. -- Books MonthlyI want this book to be never-ending ... a real winner. -- Books MonthlyIt makes for a very good read ... a perfect Christmas gift for anyone who might be interested in where our words come from. -- A Common ReaderI adored this book. I read and read and then I read some more until it was all gone. It was just my cup of tea, well presented, engaging, witty, wonderful. Full of usable facts and great anecdotes, it's one of the only 'history' books I've read this year that was anything other than dull as dishwater. Full marks. -- The BookbagMark Forsyth, who blogs as 'The Inky Fool,' is an extreme and hugely entertaining practitioner. -- Financial TimesThe subtitle ... 'A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language' ... is a misdescription. It is not a stroll; it is a plunge on a toboggan where the only way to stop is to fall off. -- Financial Times[A] glorious journey through the English language and its intriguing nuggets. * Daily Mail *
£18.00
Cambridge University Press The IndoEuropean Puzzle Revisited
Book SynopsisThe Indo-European dispersal has puzzled scholars for centuries. When in prehistory did this dramatic linguistic shift take place and from where? What were the main driving forces? This books provides the newest insights from linguistics, archaeology and genetics on the prehistoric spread of one of the world's largest language families.Table of ContentsIntroduction: re-theorizing interdisciplinarity, and the relation between Archaeology, Linguistics, and Genetics Kristian Kristiansen and Guus Kroonen ; Part I. Early Indo-European and the Origin of Pastoralism: 1. The Yamnaya Culture and the invention of Nomadic pastoralism in the Eurasian steppes David W. Anthony; 2. Yamnaya pastoralists in the Eurasian desert steppe zone: new perspectives on mobility Natalia I. Shishlina; 3. Proto-Indo-Anatolian, the 'Anatolian Split' and the 'Anatolian Trek': a comparative linguistic perspective Alwin Kloekhorst; Part II. Migratory Processes and Linguistic Dispersals between Yamnaya and the Corded Ware: 4. The corded ware complex in Europe in light of current archeogenetic and environmental evidence Wolfgang Haak, Martin Furholt, Martin Sikora, Adam Ben Rohrlach, Luka Papa, Karl-Goran Siogren, Volker Heyd, Morten Fischer Mortensen, Anne Brigitte Nielsen, Johannes Muller, Ingo Feeser, Guss Kroonen and Kristian Kristiansen; 5. Emergent properties of the corded ware culture: an information approach Quentin Burgeois and Erik Kroon; 6. Linguistic phylogenetics and words for metals in Indo European Thomas Olander; 7. Word mining: metal names and the Indo-European dispersal Rasmus Thorso, Andrew Wigman, Anthony Jakob, Axel I. Palmer, Paulus Van Sluis and Guus Kroonen; Part III. The Cultural and Linguistic Significance of Bell Beakers Along the Atlantic Fringe: 8. From the steppe to Ireland: the Impact of a DNA research James P. Mallory; 9. Beaker culture metal and mobility in Atlantic Europe: some implications for genetic and language origins William O' Brien; 10. 'From the ends of the earth': a cross-disciplinary approach to long-distance contact in bronze age Atlantic Europe John T. Koch and Johan Ling; 11. With the back to the ocean: the Celtic maritime vocabulary David Stifter; 12. European prehistory between Celtic and Germanic: the Celto-Germanic isoglosses revisited Paulus Van Sluis, Anders Richardt Jorgensen and Guus Kroonen; Part IV. The Bronze Age Chariot and Wool Horizons: 13. Relative and absolute chronologies of the chariot complex in Northern Eurasia and early Indo-European migrations Igor V. Chechushkov and Andrey V. Epimakhov; 14. Indo-European and Indo-Iranian wagon terminology and the date of the Indo-Iranian split Alexander M. Lubotsky; 15. Fire and Water: archaeology and linguistics (The bronze age of the Southern Urals and the Rigveda) Andrey V. Epimakhov and Alexander M. Lubotsky; 16. Wool fibers of the Northern Eurasian bronze age: the cultural and geographical contexts Natalia I. Shishlina, Polina S. Medvedeva; Olga V. Orfinskaya and Daria V. Kiseleva; 17. An archaeolinguistic approach to Indo-European wool terminology Birgit A. Olsen; Part V. Kinship Systems, Marriage, Fosterage, Free and Unfree: 18. Mobility, kinship, and marriage in Indo-European society Tijmen Pronk; 19. Marriage strategies and fosterage among the Indo-Europeans- a linguistic perspective Birgit A. Olsen; 20. Fostering women and mobile children in final neolithic and early bronze age Central Europe Philipp W. Stockhammer; 21. Hiding in plain sight? The enigma of the linguistic remains of prehistoric slavery Benedicte Nielsen Whitehead; Part VI. Concluding Reflections: 22. New directions in archaeogenetics and archaeolinguistics: recapitulation and outlook Guss Kroonen and Kristian Kristiansen.
£95.00
Zondervan The Morphology of Biblical Greek
Book SynopsisShows second-year students that Greek is very regular in the way it forms words -- if you know the rules.
£23.40
St Martin's Press Through the Language Glass Why the World Looks
Book SynopsisA New York Times Editor''s ChoiceAn Economist Best Book of 2010A Financial Times Best Book of 2010A Library Journal Best Book of 2010The debate is ages old: Where does language come from? Is it an artifact of our culture or written in our very DNA? In recent years, the leading linguists have seemingly settled the issue: all languages are fundamentally the same and the particular language we speak does not shape our thinking in any significant way. Guy Deutscher says they''re wrong. From Homer to Darwin, from Yale to the Amazon, and through a strange and dazzling history of the color blue, Deutscher argues that our mother tongues do indeed shape our experiences of the world. Audacious, delightful, and provocative, Through the Language Glass is destined to become a classic of intellectual discovery.
£16.80
Oxford University Press The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology
Book SynopsisThe Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology is the most comprehensive dictionary of the English language ever published. It is based on the original edition of the Oxford English Dictionary but much augmented by further research on the etymology of English and other languages. Providing a fascinating insight into the development of English, it describes 38,000 words in 24,000 articles which include: current meanings of each word; date of first recorded appearance in English; chronology of the development of each word''s senses; earliest written form in English; related words in other languages; pronunciation.Trade ReviewODEE is going to be, as it deserves to be, the standard etymological dictionary of the English language. * Times Literary Supplement *This is a very fine etymological dictionary, as aromatic a piece of lexicography as the great Onions (who, sadly died while the work was going through the press) ever achieved Anyone who wants to take journeys back through the mazes of the fickle human mind cannot very well do without this volume. * Anthony Burgess, Observer *
£56.10
Columbia University Press Not Like a Native Speaker
Book SynopsisA riveting series of stories that portray the biopolitics of speaking and writing in a postcolonial world.Trade ReviewA critically important and intellectually exciting contribution to debates concerning voice and language in postcolonial studies. -- Zahid R. Chaudhary, Princeton University May become one of the classic texts of Anglophone postcolonial studies. -- Panivong Norindr, University of Southern California Not Like a Native Speaker reads like a great novel. Through a dazzling array of historical and contemporary scenes, Rey Chow makes yet another invaluable contribution to postcolonial and diaspora studies, this time by taking on the vexing, yet hugely important, issue of "languaging," the racialization of bodies via the loss of native languages or accented speech. She examines the losses and affects that befall subjects who find themselves in the interstices of unequal languages and political economies with the same unflinching honesty and intellectual rigor that her scholarship has accustomed us to. -- Smaro Kamboureli, Avie Bennett Chair in Canadian Literature, University of Toronto Rey Chow's book Not Like a Native Speaker is not only a brilliant and original reflection on the fate of language in the afterlife of colonialism, but also an authoritative statement on postcolonial theory; moving beyond the confinement of the politics of identity, it provides a unique map for the postcolonial criticism of the future, one informed by rigor and unafraid of judgment. -- Simon Gikandi, Princeton University How does colonial power deploy language?-a central question in postcolonial studies-is infused with new life by Rey Chow in this dazzling book. Chow poses other searching questions concerning identity and estrangement, memory and oblivion, bilingualism and aphasia, and offers acute discussions of language in Fanon, Benjamin, Derrida, Achebe, and Ngugi. Not Like a Native Speaker is provocative and indispensable. -- Roland Greene, Stanford University [Not Life a Native Speaker] offers new, thought-provoking insights into the social effects engendered by imperialism and the rapid development of new communication technologies. -- Andrea Riemenschnitter Modern Chinese Literature and CultureTable of ContentsNote on Non-English Sources Acknowledgments Introduction: Skin Tones-About Language, Postcoloniality, and Racialization 1. Derrida's Legacy of the Monolingual 2. Not Like a Native Speaker: The Postcolonial Scene of Languaging and the Proximity of the Xenophone 3. Translator, Traitor; Translator, Mourner (or, Dreaming of Intercultural Equivalence) 4. Thinking with Food, Writing off Center: The Postcolonial Work of Leung Ping-kwan and Ma Kwok-ming 5. The Sounds and Scripts of a Hong Kong Childhood Notes Index
£19.80
Pan Macmillan A Place For Everything: The Curious History of
Book Synopsis'A delightfully quirky sturdy . . . [Flanders] is a meticulour historian with a taste for the offbeat; the story of the alphabet suits her well . . . Fascinating.' Sunday TimesOnce we've learned it as children, few of us think much of the alphabet and its familiar sing-song order. And yet the order of the alphabet continues to play a major role in our adult lives. From school registers to electoral rolls, from dictionaries and encyclopaedias to library shelves, our lives have been ordered from A to Z. Long before Google searches, this magical system of organization gave us the ability to sort through centuries of thought, knowledge and literature, allowing us to sift, file, and find the information we have, and to locate the information we need.In A Place for Everything, acclaimed historian Judith Flanders fascinatingly lays out the gradual triumph of alphabetical order, from its use as a sorting tool in the Great Library of Alexandria to its current decline in prominence in the digital age. Along the way, the reader encounters a wonderful cast of characters,from the great collector Robert Cotton, who catalogued his manuscripts by the names of the busts of the Roman emperors surmounting his book cases, to the unassuming sixteenth-century London bookseller who ushered in a revolution by listing his authors by 'sirname' first.'One of the many fascinations of Judith Flanders' book is that it reveals what a weird, unlikely creation the alphabet is.' GuardianTrade ReviewMarvellous . . . I read it with astonished delight . . . It is equally scholarly and entertaining. -- Jan MorrisQuirky and compelling . . . She is a meticulous historian with a taste for the offbeat; the story of the alphabet suits her well . . . Fascinating. -- Dan Jones * Sunday Times *A library and academic essential. -- Libby Purves * The Times *One of the many fascinations of Judith Flanders’s book is that it reveals what a weird, unlikely creation the alphabet is. -- Joe Moran * Guardian *Judith Flanders’s A Place for Everything presents itself as a history of alphabetical order, but in fact it is more than that. Rather, as the title suggests, it offers something like a general history of the various ways humans have sorted and filed the world around them – a Collison –level view of the matter, in which alphabetical order is just one system among many.’ -- Dennis Duncan * The Spectator *Judith Flanders has a knack for making odd subjects accessible . . . In A Place for Everything, the popular historian paints alphabetisation as one of our most radical acts. . . Flanders retains a sense of fun . . . finds contemporary resonance in humanity's search for order. * i *Praise for Judith Flanders' previous book, Christmas: A Biography: 'A catalogue of colourful information, and as surprising an assortment of items as any you might find heaped up under a tree.' -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Observer *A well-researched account. There are more footnotes here than there are presents under a Rockefeller Christmas tree. Indeed, the book is stuffed with facts – enough to satiate even the most ravenous postprandial taste for quizzing. * Sunday Times *[An] entertaining biography . . . Following the fine tradition of light entertainment Christmas books, Judith Flanders provides lots of trivia . . . However, there is much more to it than that. Flanders is a respected social historian, best known for studies on Victorian life, and the strength of this warm book lies in its quiet erudition. * The Times *Judith Flanders . . . likes Christmas (I think), but she loves reality and its awkward, amusing facts. (A previous book of hers, Inside the Victorian Home, is deep, bright and encompassing.) * New York Times *The non-fiction I most enjoyed . . . an excellent subject, carried out with exemplary care and authority. -- Philip Hensher * Spectator *
£9.99
Jedburgh Justice and Kentish Fire The Origins of
Book SynopsisAn intriguing etymological tour through British history, cataloguing the varied roots of the English language.
£9.74
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Linguistics: Why It Matters
Book SynopsisLanguage is the medium in which we humans compose our thoughts, explain our thinking, construct our arguments, and create works of literature. Without language, societies as complex as ours could not exist. Geoffrey Pullum offers a stimulating introduction to the many ways in which linguistics, as the scientific study of language, matters. With its close relationships to psychology, education, philosophy, and computer science, the subject has a compelling human story to tell about the ways in which different societies see and describe the world, and its far-reaching applications range from law to medicine and from developmental psychology to artificial intelligence. Introducing Polity’s Why It Matters series: In these short and lively books, world-leading thinkers make the case for the importance of their subjects and aim to inspire a new generation of students.Trade Review"An approachable, fascinating resource for those interested in the mechanics of words." —The Guardian "[A] fascinating, beautifully written and highly accessible exposition of why the science of language matters. Strongly recommend it."—Oliver Kamm, columnist for The Times of London "Geoff Pullum, tart and cosmopolitan as always, has at last given the world the handiest possible remedy for idea that what's interesting about language is snippy rules about where prepositions shouldn't be, that different languages make you think in different ways, or that Siri actually understands us. Linguistics is fascinating far beyond these myths and this book will show you why in a quick coffee-cup read.'—John McWhorter, Columbia University "Geoff Pullum among our greatest living linguists, with a deep appreciation of the richness of language and the elegance of linguistic theory. He is also one of the finest stylists writing today, and presents ideas with dazzling clarity and wit. No one is better equipped to explain linguistics and why it matters."—Steve Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and the author of The Language Instinct and How the Mind Works "Hard to put down and infinitely informative ... Pullum's book has the feel of a casual conversation with a personable and knowledgeable companion."—CHOICETable of ContentsPreface Chapter 1: What Makes Us Human Chapter 2: How Sentences Work Chapter 3: Words, Meaning and Thought Chapter 4: Language and Social Life Chapter 5: Machines That Understand Us Conclusion Notes on Further Reading
£9.99
Harvard University Press TAUROQORO
Book SynopsisTA-U-RO-QO-RO takes up problems of script and language representation and textual interpretation, ranging from the use of punctuation marks and numbers in the Linear B to personal names and place names reflecting the ethnic composition of Mycenaean society and the dialects spoken during the proto-Homeric period of the late Bronze Age.
£22.46
Cambridge University Press Latin Alive The Survival of Latin in English and the Romance Languages
Book SynopsisIn Latin Alive, Joseph Solodow tells the story of how Latin developed into modern French, Spanish, and Italian, and deeply affected English as well. Offering a gripping narrative of language change, Solodow charts Latin's course from classical times to the modern era, with focus on the first millennium of the Common Era. Though the Romance languages evolved directly from Latin, Solodow shows how every important feature of Latin's evolution is also reflected in English. His story includes scores of intriguing etymologies, along with many concrete examples of texts, studies, scholars, anecdotes, and historical events; observations on language; and more. Written with crystalline clarity, this book tells the story of the Romance languages for the general reader and to illustrate so amply Latin's many-sided survival in English as well.Trade Review"Joseph Solodow, lecturer in Classics at Yale, joins the expanding ranks of scholars writing accessible histories of Latin, with his Latin Alive...the readers will be attracted by the mixture of perspectives, and the majority of readers will learn details they had not realized before....We can all read it with pleasure. " --BMCRTable of Contents1. Introduction: is English a cousin to the Romance languages?; Part I. Latin: 2. The career of Latin, I: from earliest times to the height of empire; 3. The career of Latin, II: the empire succeeded by barbarian kingdoms; 4. Latin at work, I: nature of the language; names and qualities; pronunciation; 5. Latin at work, II: actions and states; 6. Vulgar Latin; Part II. The Romance Vocabulary: 7. The lexicon in general; shifts in the meaning of words; 8. Changes in the form of words; 9. When words collide: conflict and resolution in the lexicon; 10. Immigrants: non-Latin words in the Romance languages; Part III. Proto-Romance, or What the Languages Share: 11. The sound of proto-Romance; 12. The noun in proto-Romance; 13. The verb in proto-Romance; Part IV. Earliest Texts and Future Directions, or Where the Languages Diverge: 14. French; 15. Italian; 16. Spanish.
£26.99
Yale University Press The Language of Light
Book SynopsisA comprehensive history of deafness, signed languages, and the unresolved struggles of the Deaf to be taught in their unspoken tongueTrade ReviewRunner- up in the 2018 New England Book Festival, nonfiction category“A gracefully written, tightly reasoned indictment of those who would deprive the Deaf of their language.”—Harlan Lane, author of When the Mind Hears: A History of the Deaf“Shea’s scholarship is excellent, and his sourcing of the book and the new material he found in his research is outstanding. It has much to offer, both in its exploration of known history and in its development of new material. It reads well and easily, not a small achievement.”—Tom Humphries, author of Deaf in America and Inside Deaf Culture“An invaluable social, intellectual and scientific history of the Deaf, and the emerging recognition of the linguistic nature of signed languages. Essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the troubled past of these issues and the history of the family of signed languages that includes ASL.”—Stephen R. Anderson, Yale University
£15.19
Penguin Books Ltd Crystal D Stories of English
Book SynopsisWhen and why did ''thou'' disappear from Standard English? Would a Victorian Cockney have said ''observation'' or ''hobservation''? Was Jane Austen making a mistake when she wrote ''Jenny and James are walked to Charmonth this afternoon''?This superbly well-informed - and also wonderfully entertaining - history of the English language answers all these questions, showing how the many strands of English (Standard English, dialect and slang among them) developed to create the richly-varied language of today.
£13.49
Oxford University Press Greek Writing from Knossos to Homer A Linguistic Interpretation of the Origin of the Greek Alphabet and the Continuity of Ancient Greek Literacy
Book SynopsisWoodard examines the origin of the Greek alphabet and treats the advent of the alphabet script as a point which lies along an unbroken continuum of Greek literacy. Woodard argues that those persons responsible for adapting the Phoenician consonantal script for Greek use were scribes accustomed to writing Greek with the syllabic script of Cyprus.Trade Review...a very learned, thorough and informed work, and Woodard's conclusions are well worth considering. * New England Classical Journal *
£157.50
Beech Stave Press Inc Zikh Rasna
Book Synopsis
£45.00
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Languages in the World
Book SynopsisThis innovative introduction outlines the structure and distribution of the world s languages, charting their evolution over the past 200,000 years.Table of ContentsMap 0.1 World map with language families xi Figure 0.1 IPA consonants xii Figure 0.2 IPA vowels xii About the Website xiii List of Maps and Figures xv Preface xvii Part I Linguistic Preliminaries: Approach and Theory Introductory Note: On Language 1 1 All Languages Were Once Spanglish 3 The Mexican State of Coahuila y Tejas 3 What Is Language? 4 How Many Languages Are There? 6 How and When Did Language Get Started? 9 The Structure of Spanglish 13 Final Note: The Encounter of Spanish and English on Television in the United States 17 Exercises 18 Discussion Questions 20 Notes 20 References 21 Further Reading 21 2 The Language Loop 22 The Australian Walkabout 22 Introducing the Language Loop 23 Language and Cognition 26 Language, the World, and Culture 28 Language and Linguistic Structure 31 Language, Discourse, and Ideology 32 On Major and Minor Languages 33 Final Note: The Contingencies of Time, Place, and Biology 35 Exercises 37 Discussion Questions 37 Notes 38 References 38 Further Reading 39 3 Linguistics and Classification 40 The Role of Sanskrit in Philology 40 Of Linguistics, Philology, Linguists, and Grammarians 42 Genetic Classification 46 Areal Classification 48 Typological Classification 51 Functional Classification 55 Final Note: The Role of Sanskrit in India Today 57 Exercises 58 Discussion Questions 59 Notes 60 References 60 Further Reading 61 Part II Effects of Power Introductory Note: On Power 63 4 Effects of the Nation-State and the Possibility of Kurdistan 65 Lines Are Drawn in the Sand 65 The Status of Language on the Eve of the Nation-State 66 The Epistemology of the Nation-State 69 The French Revolution, German Romanticism, and Print Capitalism 71 Standardization and the Instilling of Vergonha 75 Language and Individual Identity 76 What’s Race Got to Do with It? 78 The Problematic Race–Nation–Language Triad 79 Final Note: The Kurds Today – Different Places, Different Outcomes 84 Language Profile: Kurdî / [Kurdish (Indo-European)] 85 Exercises 90 Discussion Questions 91 Notes 91 References 92 Further Reading 93 5 The Development of Writing in the Litmus of Religion and Politics 94 The Story of the Qur’¨¡n 94 Magico-Religious Interpretations of the Origins of Writing 95 Steps Toward the Representation of Speech 97 Types of Writing Systems 100 Religion and the Spread of Writing Systems 105 The Always Already Intervention of Politics 108 Orality and Literacy 111 Final Note: Azerbaijan Achieves Alphabetic Autonomy 114 Language Profile: [Arabic (Afro-Asiatic)] 114 Exercises 119 Discussion Questions 122 Notes 123 References 124 Further Reading 124 6 Language Planning and Language Law: Shaping the Right to Speak 125 Melting Snow and Protests at the Top of the World 125 Language Academies: The First Enforcers 127 Another Look at Prescriptivism 129 Making Language Official: A Tale of Three Patterns 131 Language Policy and Education: A Similar Tale of Three Patterns 139 Language Planners and Language Police 144 Final Note: Choosing Death or Life 146 Language Profile: [Tibetan (Sino-Tibetan)] 147 Exercises 152 Discussion Questions 153 Notes 154 References 155 Further Reading 156 Part III Effects of Movement Introductory Note: On Movement 159 7 A Mobile History: Mapping Language Stocks and Families 161 Austronesian Origin Stories 161 Population Genetics and Links to Language 162 A Possible Polynesian Reconstruction 166 Linguistic Reconstructions Revisited 168 Proto-Indo-European and Its Homeland 173 Other Language Stocks and Their Homelands 176 Models of Spread 183 Lost Tracks 186 Final Note: On Density and Diversity 187 Language Profile: 'Olelo Hawai'i [Hawaiian (Austronesian)] 187 Exercises 194 Discussion Questions 195 Notes 195 References 196 Further Reading 197 8 Colonial Consequences: Language Stocks and Families Remapped 198 Eiffel Towers in Vietnam 198 Time-Depths and Terminology 199 The Middle Kingdom: Government-Encouraged Migrations 201 Linguistic Geography: Residual Zones and Spread Zones 203 Spreading Eurasian Empires: The Persians, Mongols, Slavs, and Romans 206 Religions as First Nations and Missionaries as Colonizers 213 English as an Emergent Language Family 215 Final Note: Creoles and the Case of Kreyòl Ayisyen 218 Language Profile: Tiéng Việt [Vietnamese (Austro-Asiatic)] 219 Exercises 223 Discussion Questions 226 Notes 226 References 228 Further Reading 229 9 Postcolonial Complications: Violent Outcomes 230 Tamil Tigers Create New Terrorist Techniques 230 What’s in a Name? Burma/Myanmar 232 Modern Sudan: The Clash of Two Colonialisms 235 The Caucasian Quasi-States: Two Types of Conflict 238 Poland’s Shifting Borders 242 Terrorism on the Iberian Peninsula: Basque and the ETA 244 Québécois Consciousness and the Turbulent 1960s 245 The Zapatista Uprising and Indigenous Languages in Chiapas 247 Final Note: The Parsley Massacre in the Dominican Republic 249 Language Profile: Tamil (Dravidian) 250 Exercises 254 Discussion Questions 255 Notes 256 References 257 Further Reading 257 Part IV Effects of Time Introductory Note: On Time 259 10 The Remote Past: Language Becomes Embodied 261 Look There! 261 Seeking Linguistic Bedrock 262 The Primate Body and Human Adaptations to Language 263 Evolution in Four Dimensions 269 The Genetic Story 270 Grammatical Categories and Deep-Time Linguistics 275 Complexity and the Arrow of Time 279 Final Note: The Last Stone Age Man in North America 282 Language Profile: !Xóõ [Taa (Khoisan)] 283 Exercises 288 Discussion Questions 288 Notes 289 References 290 Further Reading 291 11 The Recorded Past: 'Catching Up to Conditions' Made Visible 292 Mongolian Horses 292 Chapter 3: The Invariable Word in English 294 Chapter 4: The Shift to Head-Marking in French 295 Chapter 5: Writing and e-Arabic 299 Chapter 6: Mongolian Cases 301 Chapter 7: Reformulating Hawaiian Identity 304 Chapter 8: Varieties of Chinese – Yesterday and Today 306 Chapter 9: Juba Arabic Pidgin, Nubi, and Other African Creoles 310 Final Note: Language Change in Progress 313 Language Profile: [Mongolian (Mongolic)] 315 Exercises 320 Discussion Questions 321 Notes 322 References 323 Further Reading 323 12 The Imagined Future: Globalization and the Fate of Endangered Languages 324 Gold in the Mayan Highlands 324 Beyond the Nation-State: The Globalized New Economy 325 Money Talks: What Language Does It Speak? 327 When the Language Loop Unravels 329 Language Hotspots 332 Rethinking Endangerment 334 Technology to the Rescue 336 Anishinaabemowin Revitalization in Wisconsin 339 What Is Choice? 341 Final Note: Our Advocacies 342 Language Profile: K'iche' [Quiché (Mayan)] 342 Exercises 347 Discussion Questions 349 Notes 350 References 350 Glossary 353 Subject Index 359 Language Index 373
£37.00
Johns Hopkins University Press Leibniz Discovers Asia
Book SynopsisHow did early modern scholarsas exemplified by Leibnizsearch for their origins in the study of language?Who are the nations of Europe, and where did they come from? Early modern people were as curious about their origins as we are today. Lacking twenty-first-century DNA research, seventeenth-century scholars turned to languageetymology, vocabulary, and even grammatical structurefor evidence. The hope was that, in puzzling out the relationships between languages, the relationships between nations themselves would emerge, and on that basis one could determine the ancestral homeland of the nations that presently occupied Europe. In Leibniz Discovers Asia, Michael C. Carhart explores this early modern practice by focusing on philosopher, scientist, and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who developed a vast network of scholars and missionaries throughout Europe to acquire the linguistic data he needed. The success of his project was tied to the Jesuit search for an overland route tTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsConventions1. Grimaldi at the Gates of Muscovy (Fall 1689)2. Making the Worst of a Bad Assignment: Origines Guelficae and the Linguistic Project (Autumn 1690-Summer 1692)3. Building the Network (Winter 1691-Summer 1692)4. The Jesuit Search for an Overland Route to China (1685-1689)5. Seeking the Languages of Grand Tartary (August 1693-December 1694)6. Assembling Novissima Sinica (February-September 1695)7. Johan Gabriel Sparwenfeld and Gothic Origins (November 1695-December 1697)8. The Grand Embassy of Peter the Great (Summer-Fall 1697)9. The Jesuits of Paris and China (1689, November 1697-March 1698)10. The Foundations of Modern Historical Linguistics (1697-1716)AcknowledgmentsAppendix I. "Desiderata circa linguas quorundam populorum"Appendix II. Plan for a Moscow Academy of Sciences and ArtsNotesBibliographyIndex of LettersGeneral Index
£49.95
Pathfinder Partners Ltd Well I Never Knew That Did Noah Invent Tennis An
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Georgetown University Press General Linguistics
Book SynopsisFocuses on determining what the enduring issues in linguistics are, what concepts have changed, and why. This title traces the history of linguistics from ancient Greek works on grammar and rhetoric through the medieval roots of traditional grammar and its assumption that there is a norm for correct speech.
£43.20
Rowman & Littlefield A Thesaurus of English Word Roots
Book SynopsisHorace G. Danner's A Thesaurus of English Word Roots is a compendium of the most-used word roots of the English language. As Timothy B. Noone notes in his foreword: Dr. Danner's book allows you not only to build up your passive English vocabulary, resulting in word recognition knowledge, but also gives you the rudiments for developing your active English vocabulary, making it possible to infer the meaning of words with which you are not yet acquainted. Your knowledge can now expand and will do so exponentially as your awareness of the roots in English words and your corresponding ability to decode unfamiliar words grows apace. This is the beginning of a fine mental linguistic library: so enjoy!In A Thesaurus of English Word Roots, all word roots are listed alphabetically, along with the Greek or Latin words from which they derive, together with the roots' original meanings. If the current meaning of an individual root differs from the original meaning, that is listed in a separate coluTrade ReviewThis unusual but potentially very useful work by independent scholar Danner presents the 'most-used word roots' in English. Essentially it is a series of tables that alphabetically list various word 'elements' (such as 'ace') and the original words from which they were derived (in this case, the Latin acerbus). These tables also include lists of the various forms that this element may take in English words, along with examples of those words. Some, such as 'cute,' which comes from 'acute,' which in turn derives from 'ace,' may be surprising. . . .This one includes some 1,200 roots from a variety of disciplines and languages, such as Latin, Greek, and Old French. The Thesaurus probably works best if one starts with a specific root/element rather than a word. . . .Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general readers. * CHOICE *More than 1,200 word roots across a range of disciplines are included in this large thesaurus. Here one can expand one’s knowledge of English word meanings by learning their roots, or combining forms. The sheer volume of information provided here is unmatched by other word root thesauri, as most are limited to a single discipline or offer few examples of terms containing these roots. . . .[This is] a comprehensive and fascinating reference work. * American Reference Books Annual *
£172.80
Oxford University Press A History of the Irish Language
Book SynopsisIn this book, Aidan Doyle traces the history of the Irish language from the time of the Norman invasion at the end of the 12th century to independence in 1922, combining political, cultural, and linguistic history. The book is divided into seven main chapters that focus on a specific period in the history of the language; they each begin with a discussion of the external history and position of the Irish language in the period, before moving on to investigate the important internal changes that took place at that time. A History of the Irish Language makes available for the first time material that has previously been inaccessible to students and scholars who cannot read Irish, and will be a valuable resource not only for undergraduate students of the language, but for all those interested in Irish history and culture.Trade Reviewthe historiography of the Irish language is vibrant at the moment, and Aidan Doyle has made a very constructive contribution to it. * Niall Ó Ciosáin, Historical Sociolinguistics *Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2. The Anglo-Normans and their heritage (1200-1500) ; 3. The Tudors (1500-1600) ; 4. The Stuarts (1600-1700) ; 5. Two Irelands, two languages (1700-1800) ; 6. A new language for a new nation (1800-1870) ; 7. Revival (1870-1922) ; 8. The modernization of Irish (1870-1922) ; 9. Conclusion ; Glossary ; References ; Index
£25.99
OUP Oxford The Oxford Handbook of Historical Phonology
Book SynopsisThis critical overview examines every aspect of the field including its history, key current research questions and methods, theoretical perspectives, and sociolinguistic factors. The authors represent leading proponents of every theoretical perspective. The book is a valuable resource for phonologists and a stimulating guide for their students.Trade ReviewHoneybone and Salmons have succeeded in compiling a useable, up-to-date, and comprehensive handbook that will prove an essential resource to generations of students and scholars interested in and working on any and all aspects of historical phonology. * Robin Meyer, Journal of Linguistics *Table of ContentsPART I INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT; PART II: EVIDENCE AND METHODS IN HISTORICAL PHONOLOGY; PART III: TYPES OF PHONOLOGICAL CHANGE; PART IV: FUNDAMENTAL CONTROVERSIES IN PHONOLOGICAL CHANGE; PART V: THEORETICAL HISTORICAL PHONOLOGY; PART VI: SOCIOLINGUISTIC AND EXOGENOUS FACTORS IN HISTORICAL PHONOLOGY
£90.00
Scottish Text Society Older Scots: A Linguistic Reader
Book SynopsisA full introduction to Older Scots language and literature, with a wide selection of copiously annotated texts from the period. This book enables both students and more advanced scholars to develop a comprehensive understanding of Older Scots, the form of Scots which survives in records up to around 1700. It provides the means of understanding the language's essential characteristics, and enables readers to engage with the fascinating textual and linguistic problems which it presents. The volume contains an extensive set of annotated texts from the period, inviting closer engagement with the detail of the language, which are preceded by a comprehensive introduction to and discussion of the subject; it also looks at the linguistic detail (in the broadest sense) of the reception and afterlife of medieval andearly modern Scottish texts. Those interested in literary form in Older Scottish literature will find it a "kit" for stylistic analysis; book historians will appreciate the detailed studies of processes of production and reception, and be reminded of the importance of integrating disciplines such as textual criticism, codicology, paleography and philology; and for linguists, there is access to an unrivalled body of up-to-date textual information, previously hard to find in a single place. Jeremy J. Smith is Professor of English Philology, University of Glasgow.Trade ReviewMakes a vital contribution to Older Scots studies. [It] will be much appreciated by scholars and students alike.... The combination of high calibre scholarship, carefully selected texts, and a lucid, engaging written style, ensures that Smith's Linguistic Reader makes the Older Scots language come alive for students and researchers alike. * INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SCOTTISH STUDIES *An important tool and reference work for students and teachers who wish to study and teach this corpus. it is lucid, intelligent, and authoritative. * MEDIEVAL REVIEW *A great step forward in the sheer availability of representative texts from the Older Scots period. [...] It will become the standard textbook for these matters in the foreseeable future, not only for students but also academics. * JOURNAL OF IRISH & SCOTTISH STUDIES *[W]elcomed for presenting a linguistically and stylistically wide range of Older Scots texts in accessible form [...] this book will be welcomed by all teachers and researchers in the field. * SCOTTISH LANGUAGE *Table of ContentsPreface About Older Scots Transmission Grammar and Lexicon Style in Older Scottish Texts List of Texts Editorial Principles Texts 1: Documents Texts 2: Letters Texts 3: On language and literature Texts 4: Poetry Texts 5: Prose Texts 6: Bible translation Appendix: Older Scots: the first hundred words Bibliography and references
£22.09
HarperCollins Publishers A Secret Vice Tolkien on Invented Languages
Book SynopsisFirst ever critical study of Tolkien's little-known essay, which reveals how language invention shaped the creation of Middle-earth and beyond, to George R R Martin's Game of Thrones.J.R.R. Tolkien's linguistic invention was a fundamental part of his artistic output, to the extent that later on in life he attributed the existence of his mythology to the desire to give his languages a home and peoples to speak them. As Tolkien puts it in A Secret Vice', the making of language and mythology are related functions'.In the 1930s, Tolkien composed and delivered two lectures, in which he explored these two key elements of his sub-creative methodology. The second of these, the seminal Andrew Lang Lecture for 19389, On Fairy-Stories', which he delivered at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, is well known. But many years before, in 1931, Tolkien gave a talk to a literary society entitled A Hobby for the Home', where he unveiled for the first time to a listening public the art that he had Trade Review‘Anyone who has interest in language, linguistics, storytelling, or simply just fantasy in general should add this to their top shelf’5* Amazon Reviewer ‘An absolute MUST HAVE for any Tolkien fan!’5* Amazon Reviewer
£9.49
Taylor & Francis Ltd The Cultural Politics of English as an
Book SynopsisA much-cited and highly influential text by Alastair Pennycook, one of the world authorities in sociolinguistics, The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language explores the globalization of English by examining its colonial origins, its connections to linguistics and applied linguistics, and its relationships to the global spread of teaching practices. Nine chapters cover a wide range of key topics including: international politics colonial history critical pedagogy postcolonial literature. The book provides a critical understanding of the concept of the worldliness of English', or the idea that English can never be removed from the social, cultural, economic or political contexts in which it is used. Reissued with a substantial preface, this Routledge Linguistics Classic remains a landmark text, which led a much-needed critical and ideologically-informed investigatiTable of ContentsPreface Author's acknowledgementsPublishers' acknowledgements1. The world in English2. Discourse and dependency in a shifting world3. English and colonialism: origins of a discourse4. Spreading the word/disciplining the language5. ELT from development aid to global commodity6. The worldliness of English in Malaysia7. The worldliness of English in Singapore8. Writing back: the appropriation of English9. Towards a critical pedagogy for teaching English as a worldly languageReferencesIndex
£45.59
De Gruyter Introduction to English Linguistics
Book SynopsisThe new and updated third edition of this highly successful textbook contains an additional chapter that presents modern empirical research methods in the form of exemplary small-scale studies. In these projects the authors invite the reader to develop and address research questions from phonetics/phonology, morphology and syntax. The pertinent experimental and corpus-linguistic techniques are introduced and students are familiarized with some basic statistical tools necessary for the analysis of the data.The major difference between this book and its potential competitors lies in its hands-on didactic orientation, with a strong focus on linguistic analysis and argumentation. Language and linguistic theory are approached from a strictly empirical perspective: given a certain set of data to be accounted for, theoretical and methodological problems must be solved in order to analyze and understand the data properly. The book is not written from the perspective of a particular theoretical framework and draws on insights from various research traditions. Introduction to English Linguistics concentrates on gaining expertise and analytical skills in the traditional core areas of linguistics, i.e. phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. The chapter on "Extensions and applications" widens the perspective to other areas of linguistic research, such as historical, socio- and psycholinguistics. Each chapter is accompanied by exercises and suggestions for further reading. A glossary and an index facilitate access to terms and topics.
£22.32
University of British Columbia Press Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar
Book SynopsisA comprehensive introduction to the syntactical analysis of classical Chinese.Trade ReviewBy any measure the most important book-length work on Classical Chinese grammar to have appeared in a Western language since Gabelentz's comprehensive grammar of more than a century ago ... a very sophisticated and scholarly treatment of Classical Chinese grammar, it is all the same entirely appropriate for even a beginning-level class. -- William G. Boltz * Journal of Asian Studies *Finally there is a comprehensive grammar of Wenyan in English. Here in one volume one has handy the major grammar references needed to approach Classical Chinese texts. This useful book is the first comprehensive treatment of the grammar of the ancient form of Chinese used by the great philosophers like Confucius and Mencius.... useful to all students of Classical Chinese language and philosophy. * Wordtrade *Table of ContentsPrefaceAbbreviationsI. IntroductionII. Some Basic Principles of Classical Chinese SyntaxIII. Noun Predication IV. Verbal PredicatesV. Compound Verbal PredicatesVI. Numerical ExpressionsVII. Noun Phrases and NominalizationVIII. Topicalization and ExposureIX. Pronouns and Related WordsX. AdverbsXI. NegationXII. Aspect, Time, and MoodXIII. Adnominal and Adverbial Words of Inclusion and RestrictionXIV. Imperative, Interrogative and Exclamatory SentencesXV. Complex SentencesNotesSources of ExamplesBibliographyIndex of Chinese VocabularyItemsGeneral Index
£41.80
The History Press Ltd Reading Roman Inscriptions
Book SynopsisThe abundant Roman inscriptions to be found in British museums tell us much about the everyday life of the inhabitants of Roman Britain - about their hopes and fears, their work and their beliefs. Nor is a fluent command of Latin essential for understanding their meaning. As John Rogan shows, by learning a few basic rules and formulae anyone can become proficient at reading inscriptions, guide the reader through the steps necessary for deciphering them.
£13.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Naming of the Shrew
Book SynopsisLatin names frequently unpronounceable, all too often wrong and always a tiny puzzle to unravel have been annoying the layman since they first became formalised as scientific terms in the eighteenth century. Why on earth has the entirely land-loving Eastern Mole been named Scalopus aquaticus, or the Oxford Ragwort been called Senecio squalidus dirty old man'? What were naturalists thinking when they called a beetle Agra katewinsletae, a genus of fish Batman, and a Trilobite Han solo? Why is zoology replete with names such as Chloris chloris chloris (the greenfinch), and Gorilla gorilla gorilla (a species of, well gorilla)?The Naming of the Shrew will unveil these mysteries, exploring the history, celebrating their poetic nature and revealing how naturalists sometimes get things so terribly wrong. With wonderfully witty style and captivating narrative, this book will make you see Latin names in a whole new light.Trade ReviewWho would have thought that a book about Latin names could be quite so compelling!! * Alan Titchmarsh *Brims with verbal curiosities * Nature *Nature writing at its best: insightful, entertaining and often very funny * British Wildlife *I have not fully recovered from the discovery that the proper Latin name of the western lowland gorilla is Gorilla gorilla gorilla * Independent on Sunday *Weird and wonderful * Sunday Telegraph *Charming * The Lady *The pleasure of Wright’s book is the contrast between the rigour required for giving names and the careless minds and mischievous humour of those who devise them * The Times *Fascinating and funny * BBC Countrylife *Erudite but whimsical ... a book as charming as it is wise * Irish Examiner *A great read * Grow Your Own *
£10.44
Broadview Press Ltd This Language, A River: A History of English
Book SynopsisThis Language, A River is an introduction to the history of English that recognizes multiple varieties of the language in both current and historical contexts. Developed over years of undergraduate teaching, the book helps students to both grasp traditional histories of English, and also to extend and complicate those histories. Exercises throughout provide opportunities for puzzling out concepts, committing terms and data to memory, and applying ideas. A comprehensive glossary and up-to-date bibliographies help to guide further study.Trade Review“This Language, A River is an excellent resource for the evolving History of the English Language class, which must cover grammar fundamentals and linguistics in addition to the history of English. By combining lucid explanation with concrete examples and exercises, K. Aaron Smith and Susan M. Kim have written a text that helps students navigate language change through orthography, phonology, morphology, and syntax. This approach empowers students to play with language, encouraging them to make connections between grammar and semantics, prescriptive media and imaginative literature, and cultural invention and orthography. And by dedicating a majority of their text to pre-modern Englishes, Smith and Kim help students explore these connections in the ‘strange’ and ‘unfamiliar’ roots of our language.” — Sarah Breckenridge Wright, Duquesne University“This textbook confronts head-on the problems implicit in teaching the history of English to students, many of whom have not yet met linguistics or a millennium of history of either the language or its speakers. Straightforward prose, exercises interspersed strategically (with answers at the end), definitions of new terms when they first occur (as well as in an alphabetical listing at the end), a sampling of ‘minor Englishes’—altogether a well-balanced introduction to English and its history. The authors’ ‘pleasure ... in the ways in which [their subject] brings together so many different kinds of intellectual work’ is apparent from beginning to end.” — Robert Stevick, Professor Emeritus, University of Washington“K. Aaron Smith and Susan Kim have given us an HEL textbook for the 21st century in This Language, A River. Uncompromising in their dedication to linguistic rigor, the authors never lose sight of the needs of contemporary students as they fully explain and define key terms and concepts for the study of language. At the same time, they deftly interweave the internal and external histories of English to create a coherent diachronic narrative that details political, literary, cultural, and social aspects of language change. Students of literature will appreciate the authors’ use of canonical texts to illustrate points of linguistic and cultural interest along the way, while exercises throughout each chapter offer opportunities for in-class activities or homework. In all, This Language, A River should serve today’s HEL students and teachers well for years to come.” — Michael Matto, Adelphi University“This Language, a River is an introductory textbook for the history of the English language that is sure to become a popular choice for many classrooms. … [T]he authors have produced a textbook that is both affordable and eminently practical. It is written in an approachable style and is not overly dense even when explaining complicated topics. Perhaps its biggest strengths are the many well-thought-out exercises appropriately situated throughout the book, with an answer key located at the back. … Smith and Kim should be commended for producing a much-needed new textbook on this topic that is at the same time detailed, approachable, affordable, and appropriate for the realities of undergraduate education today, a difficult balance to achieve.” — Mark Sundaram, Journal of English and Germanic Philosophy“If Smith and Kim had not written this book and Broadview not published it, the stones would cry out. What we need today at the undergraduate college level is a book that can span a classroom of both sophomore and upper level students (including non-majors and dual-listed graduate students), whose preparedness runs the gamut … such is the achievement of This Language, A River.” — Peter Fields, Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature“This book is indeed fresh, concise, and obviously written by instructors with ample experience in guiding students through the subject: it would make an excellent choice for the undergraduate classroom.” — Edward J. Christie, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance TeachingTable of Contents Preface Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Grammar Fundamentals Section 1: Parts of Speech Section 2: Basic Syntactic Relations for Nouns Section 3: Sentences Chapter 3: Before English Section 1: Before English Section 2: The Genetic Model Section 3: The Proto-IE Nominal Group Section 4: The Proto-IE Verbal Group Chapter 4: Introduction to Phonetics and the International Phonetics Alphabet Section 1: Introduction to Phonetics and the International Phonetics Alphabet Section 2: The International Phonetic Alphabet Section 3: Describing the Sounds of English Section 4: Practice with IPA Chapter 5: Germanic Section 1: Migration of the Indo-Europeans Section 2: Development of Germanic Section 3: Distinctive Features of Germanic Chapter 6: A Review of Four Important Terms and Concepts Chapter 7: Old English Section 1: The Early External History Section 2: OE Orthography and Phonology Section 3: The OE Verbal Group Section 4: The OE Nominal Group Section 5: OE Syntax Section 6: OE and Old Norse Section 7: OE Literature Chapter 8: Middle English Section 1: The Norman Conquest Section 2: The Reemergence of English Section 3: Orthography and Phonology Section 4: The ME Nominal Group Section 5: The ME Verbal Group Section 6: Literature in the ME Period Chapter 9: Early Modern English Section 1: The Early Modern Period and the Age of Print Section 2: Phonology Section 3: Morphology and Syntax Section 4: The Early Modern English Verbal Group Section 5: Standardization and Prescription Chapter 10: The Modern Period and Global Englishes Section 2: American English Section 3: Global Englishes Glossary of Terms
£46.80
Gotham Books Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold
Book Synopsis
£14.45
Penguin Putnam Inc How to Speak Brit: The Quintessential Guide to
Book SynopsisThe quintessential A to Z guide to British English—perfect for every egghead and bluestocking looking to conquer the language barrier Oscar Wilde once said the Brits have everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language. Any visitor to Old Blighty can sympathize with Mr. Wilde. After all, even fluent English speakers can be at sixes and sevens when told to pick up the dog and bone or head to the loo, so they can spend a penny. Wherever did these peculiar expressions come from? British author Christopher J. Moore made a name for himself on this side of the pond with the sleeper success of his previous book, In Other Words. Now, Moore draws on history, literature, pop culture, and his own heritage to explore the phrases that most embody the British character. He traces the linguistic influence of writers from Chaucer to Shakespeare and Dickens to Wodehouse, and unravels the complexity Brits manage to imbue in seemingly innocuous phrases like All right. Along the way, Moore reveals the uniquely British origins of some of the English language’s more curious sayings. For example: Who is Bob and how did he become your uncle? Why do we refer to powerless politicians as “lame ducks”? How did “posh” become such a stylish word?Part language guide, part cultural study, How to Speak Brit is the perfect addition to every Anglophile’s library and an entertaining primer that will charm the linguistic-minded legions.
£16.88
SteinerBooks, Inc One Language: Source of All Tongues
Book SynopsisFollowing the Tower of Babel story, language historians have long searched for a possible original language from which all others developed. Dr Wadler, inspired by his study of Rudolf Steiner's ideas, spent thirty years researching different languages and the connections between them; this book was the remarkable result. Wadler argues that pre-Columbia America holds the key to understanding the origin of human language and culture.This book is a classic of spiritual scientific literature.Trade Review'The book is one which cannot fail to be of the greatest use and interest to all whose concern is with the word as a means of approach to the spiritual world and to the history of the human being.'-- Owen Barfield
£21.25
Broadview Press Ltd This Language, A River: A History of English,
Book SynopsisThis Language, A River is an introduction to the history of English that recognizes multiple varieties of the language in both current and historical contexts. The book aims to enable students to both grasp traditional histories of English, and to extend and complicate those histories. Exercises throughout provide opportunities for puzzling out concepts, committing terms and data to memory, and applying ideas. A comprehensive glossary and up-to-date bibliographies help to guide further study.This accompanying workbook includes exercises keyed to each chapter of the textbook. Exercises are graded into beginning, intermediate and advanced groupings, which will aid in making the textbook appropriate for different levels of students.Trade Review“This Language, A River: Workbook complements the eponymous textbook perfectly and is therefore a fantastic resource for students and instructors alike. With the comprehensive coverage of historical and linguistic phenomena in the textbook, the exercises provided in this workbook allow students to experience the English used in specific periods in a hands-on way, which deepens and broadens the understanding of the history of English. This workbook is extremely accessible. Each chapter features activities for students at different stages in their academic career—beginner, intermediate, and advanced—which allows instructors great flexibility to adjust material for lower and upper division and even graduate-level courses. The way in which the exercises build on each other and become more complex also ensures that no activity is redundant. Even at a higher-level course, the beginner-level exercises will serve as great introductory activities to a specific topic. This workbook is a marvelous resource.” — Dominik Heinrici, The University of Tennessee ChattanoogaTable of Contents 1: Introduction 2: Grammar Fundamentals 3: Before English 4: Introduction to Phonetics 5: Germanic 6: Orthography, Phonology, Morphology, and Syntax 7: Old English 8: Middle English 9: Early Modern English 10: The Modern Period and Global Englishes Glossary of Terms
£26.96
Pearson Education (US) AzarHagen Grammar AE 5th Edition Workbook
Book Synopsis
£36.42
Oxford University Press Inc Highly Irregular
Book SynopsisFor anyone who has ever wondered why English is so weird, an entertaining and expert tour of the most puzzling parts of our language.Maybe you''ve been speaking English all your life, or maybe you learned it later on. But whether you use it just well enough to get your daily business done, or you''re an expert with a red pen who never omits a comma or misplaces a modifier, you must have noticed that there are some things about this language that are just weird.Perhaps you''re reading a book and stop to puzzle over absurd spelling rules (Why are there so many ways to say ''-gh''?), or you hear someone talking and get stuck on an expression (Why do we say How dare you but not How try you?), or your kid quizzes you on homework (Why is it eleven and twelve instead of oneteen and twoteen?). Suddenly you ask yourself, Wait, why do we do it this way? You think about it, try to explain it, and keep running into walls. It doesn''t conform to logic. It doesn''t work the way you''d expect it to. There doesn''t seem to be any rule at all. There might not be a logical explanation, but there will be an explanation, and this book is here to help.In Highly Irregular, Arika Okrent answers these questions and many more. Along the way she tells the story of the many influences--from invading French armies to stubborn Flemish printers--that made our language the way it is today. Both an entertaining send-up of linguistic oddities and a deeply researched history of English, Highly Irregular is essential reading for anyone who has paused to wonder about our marvelous mess of a language.
£11.39
The Choir Press Old English Dictionary: The English language as
Book SynopsisThis dictionary is an invaluable reference for anyone with an interest in the earliest form of the English language (i.e. the form of English spoken from around 700 AD until 1100 AD). Includes listings from Old English to Modern English (over 5,500 entries) and from Modern English to Old English (over 3,900 entries), along with a grammar section, a list of place names in Old English, numbers and the calendar, and the likely pronunciation of Old English words.Table of ContentsPreface to 2nd edition Abbreviations used in this dictionary The Alphabet Pronunciation Relation to other languages Grammar Nouns Adjectives Adverbs Pronouns Interrogative pronouns: hwa ('who')/hwaet ('what') Hwaether ('which of two') Hwilc ('which') 'The'/'that' 'This' Strong verbs Weak verbs Preterite-present verbs i-mutation Bibliography Place names Britain Countries and Continents Cardinal numbers and the calendar AEnglisc - English English - AEnglisc
£18.39
Rowman & Littlefield The Evolution of Human Consciousness and
Book SynopsisDrawing from the disciplines of cognitive science, Paleolithic anthropology, art history, and semiotics, Karen A. Haworth and Terry J. Prewitt offer a novel discussion of the origins of language, based primarily in the distinction of holistic versus analytical cognitive processing. Also, by employing a refined view of human symboling capacities grounded in the writings of C. S. Peirce, they provide a short but comprehensive explanation of what the artifacts and art of the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods suggest about language origins. Their interpretation supports a semiotic argument that “iconic and indexical logical modeling” precedes human elaboration of experience by symbolic reference in words or propositions, and ultimately in what Peirce called “the argument.” Further, they suggest that the use of symbols to model the world developed rapidly between about 20,000 and 10,000 years ago, and has the effect of giving emphasis to analytic thought as the dominant mode of human consciousness. Rather than seeing symbols as the impetus for human logic, they argue for presymbolic elements of logic in Peirce’s sign categories shared widely by humans and other animals.Intended readers are scholars in philosophy, anthropology, psychology, linguistics, and semiotics, as well as interested nonspecialists. The presentation is also complemented with brief personal narratives, intended to offer background that helps make a dense academic argument more accessible to the widest audience possible. The authors’ insights into the basis for language have ramifications for any number of other fields: education, psychology, philosophy, prehistory, and art, to name a few.Trade ReviewThis is a volume that cannot be readily classified, one which promises a "synthetic approach" that bridges multiple disciplines to address perennial questions regarding the co-origins of human language and consciousness. In treating these issues across disciplines, Haworth and Prewitt endeavor to strike a balance between general language and specialized terminology. . . is the personal narrative that introduces each chapter, which describes their own evolution as academics, thinkers, and practitioners. While the purported aims may be lofty—for the analytical conclusions "to relate back ... to the human condition as it unfolds"—the effect of "such 'messy' texts" is to situate the narrator/author/ethnographer as one participant among many, coming to an understanding in a linear sequence that they are sharing with their readers. This may have the effect of making the text more legible to the non-specialist. . . Overall, this is a compact treatment of a complex subject, rendered in accessible, non-technical language, suitable for advanced students and scholars. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals. * Choice *This is a terrific work of integrative science. Pulling together threads from cognitive science, art history, evolutionary history and semiotics, Haworth and Prewitt construct an intriguing case for certain developments in analytical thinking within hominid brains which make possible the intricacies of symbolic argument that characterizes human linguistic thought. Following shifting patterns of holistic and analytical mental processes, they show how cave art and other clues suggest the iconic and indexic functions of language long preceded the acquisition of complex language, argue for more attention to be given to the holistic mind, and point to narrative as the stepping stone that led homo to a new world of the symbolic, analytical mind. Itself an argument for the importance of generalists, this provocative work transcends any single discipline, and points to new fertile investigations for future scholars. -- Steven Skaggs, professor of Design, Hite Institute, University of LouisvilleWith insights from prehistoric cave art to present-day autism, anthropologists Haworth and Prewitt bring considerable interdisciplinary insight to their account of how language evolved from holistic to analytical modes of cognition. Their interspersed reflections on serendipitous and shared processes of discovery will engage readers with a parallel narrative of emergence. -- Robert S. Hatten, Marlene and Morton Meyerson Professor in Music, The University of Texas; former President of the Semiotic Society of America; author of A Theory of Virtual Agency in Western Art Music (2018)The question of consciousness has become a critical one in an age where machines might develop a form of consciousness, whatever that might be. The Evolution of Human Consciousness and Linguistic Behavior is crucial to the debate, since it looks at the origins of human systems of meaning-making and interpretation, focusing on language. Language requires a body, a mind, and a context to emerge, based on evolutionary patterns that allow for both adaptation and creativity. This book is brilliant; it is required reading for everyone involved in the consciousness debate. It will also be of great interest to anyone interested in what being human today implies. -- Marcel Danesi, professor emeritus, University of TorontoTable of ContentsCHAPTER 1: BeginningsCHAPTER 2: What Language Is, and Is NotCHAPTER 3: Overview of the Upper PaleolithicCHAPTER 4: Encountering AutismCHAPTER 5: Cognitive StylesCHAPTER 6: The Art of the Upper PaleolithicCHAPTER 7: Empirical CorroborationCHAPTER 8: The Art of the MesolithicCHAPTER 9: Signs and Lithic TechnologyCHAPTER 10: The Bubble AnalogyCHAPTER 11: Semiotic of Human EvolutionCHAPTER 12: Finding Time
£27.00
Zondervan Handbook of Reading Theological German
Book SynopsisHandbook of Reading Theological German is the premier resource for equipping those interested in reading and translating original German source materials and preparing academics for German comprehension examination. The book is ideal for students in biblical studies, church history, Jewish studies, and theology.Coauthored by Katharina Hirt, a native German speaker and professional linguist, and Christopher Ryan Jones, a native English speaker and doctoral candidate in biblical studies, this collaboration draws on the latest developments in linguistics to present a cutting-edge teaching methodology for graduate students learning to read German for research.Attuned to the specific needs of English speakers learning German, this handbook is well suited for independent study or for use in the classroom. Providing abundant exercises and readings, Jones and Hirt''s work provides an excellent entry point for students required to learn theological German.<
£31.50
HarperCollins Publishers A Secret Vice
Book Synopsis First ever critical study of Tolkien’s little-known essay, which reveals how language invention shaped the creation of Middle-earth and beyond, to George R R Martin’s Game of Thrones. Trade Review‘Anyone who has interest in language, linguistics, storytelling, or simply just fantasy in general should add this to their top shelf’5* Amazon Reviewer ‘An absolute MUST HAVE for any Tolkien fan!’5* Amazon Reviewer
£13.39
£18.74
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Genie
Book Synopsis
£14.39
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology
Book Synopsis
£44.00
Pearson Education (US) From Reading to Writing 1
Book Synopsis&> Research shows that fully integrating reading and writing results in better student performance. From Reading to Writing makes explicit connections between these skills and helps students develop them simultaneously. Students explore topics, such as using YouTube, the success of Starbucks, and the newest generation at work, in high-interest reading and writing assignments. In addition, corpus-based vocabulary helps students understand what they read and gives them the words they need for their own writing. Highlights Contextualized writing models and carefully crafted exercises direct students through the writing process. Step-by-step process-writing assignments with peer feedback, editing, and revising help students master common academic genres and rhetorical forms. Bridge activities help students make the connection between reading, writing, and vocabulary. MyEnglishLab: Writing (available separately), an online writing component for students to develop their grammTable of ContentsUnit One Around the World Chapter 1 Cultural Roles Chapter 2 The Land of Smiles Unit Two A Special Animal Chapter 3 Four Animals or One? Chapter 4 The Beautiful Stranger Unit Three The Art and Science of Food Chapter 5 Science in the Kitchen Chapter 6 The Art of Food Unit Four Memory Chapter 7 Memory Methods Chapter 8 Smell, Memory, and Sales Unit Five Housing Chapter 9 Cohousing Chapter 10 The Micro-Compact Home Unit Six The Art of Medicine Chapter 11 One Doctor, One Patient, Two Different Worlds Chapter 12 An Artist and a Doctor Unit Seven The Working World Chapter 13 Doing Business in the United Kingdom Chapter 14 E-Mail: Terrific Tool or Time-Waster? Unit Eight What's Next? Chapter 15 Is 50 the New 30, and 70 the New 50? Chapter 16 Millennials in the Workforce Grammar Reference Punctuation and Capitalization Editing Symbols Target Vocabulary
£39.99
Pearson Education (US) WHAT A WORLD 2 LISTENING 1E STUDENT BOOK 247795
Book SynopsisTable of ContentsUnit 1 What Are Some Different Types of Inventions? Unit 2 What Is Beauty Around the World? Unit 3 What Countries Have Roylaty Today? Unit 4 What Are Some Rites of Passage? Unit 5 Who Are Some Famous Explorers? Unit 6 What Are Some Jobs that Are Unique to Australia? Unit 7 What Have the Chinese Given to the World? Unit 8 Who Are Some Famous Scientists in Medicine? Unit 9 Who Are Some Famous Detective Story Characters? Self-Test: Units 1-9 Unit 10 What Are Some Endangered Species? Unit 11 What Are Some Ways People Get Married? Unit 12 What Are Some Extreme Sports? Unit 13 Who Are Some Famous Science Fiction Authors? Unit 14 What Do You Know about Sleep? Unit 15 What Is the Future of Transportation? Unit 16 What Are Some Fascinating Structures in Africa? Unit 17 What Are the Smallest Countries in the World? Unit 18 Where Do People Live the Longest? Self-Test: units 10-18 Appendices Internet Activities Map of the World
£33.95
