Historical and comparative linguistics Books

Book SynopsisThis new five-volume anthology of major works has been produced in consultation with an editorial advisory board of distinguished scholars. It brings together the key texts of language variation and change to provide a comprehensive collection that represents the field's development and showcases the diverse communities that have been the subjects of investigation.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“The stocking filler of the season...how else to describe a book that explains the connection between Dom Perignon and Mein Kampf.”--The Observer“Crikey...this is addictive!”--The Times“Mark Forsyth is clearly a man who knows his onions.”--Daily Telegraph

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Book SynopsisIn this volume, 26 newly commissioned essays provide distinct, original and sometimes playful or unusual definitions of theoretical keywords - both unexpected terms as well as words well established in the critical canon.Trade ReviewThis challenging and entertaining volume!is a celebration of critical theory at its most exciting! a most compelling compilation. I find myself really curious about Wolfreys's Glossalalia - An Alphabet of Critical Keywords . The topics are so diverse and so tantalizing (Flirting! Yarn! X!). The attraction of essays approaching the large topic of theory from such slightly offbeat perspectives is immense. Wolfreys has assembled an impressive collection of collaborators from both Britain and the United States. -- J Hillis Miller, Distinguished Professor, Department of English and Comparative Literature, University of California, Irvine This challenging and entertaining volume!is a celebration of critical theory at its most exciting! a most compelling compilation. I find myself really curious about Wolfreys's Glossalalia - An Alphabet of Critical Keywords . The topics are so diverse and so tantalizing (Flirting! Yarn! X!). The attraction of essays approaching the large topic of theory from such slightly offbeat perspectives is immense. Wolfreys has assembled an impressive collection of collaborators from both Britain and the United States.Table of ContentsForeword: the alpahbetic body; Brian Rotman, Ohio State University; Animality; Frederick Young, University of Florida; Biotechnologies; Christopher Johnson, Keele University; Chora; Gregory Ulmer, University of Florida; Difference; Arkady Plotnitsky, Director, Theory and Cultural Studies Program, Purdue University; Event; Julian Wolfreys, University of Southern California; Flirting; Ruth Robbins, Nene College; Genetics; Stephanie Smith, University of Florida; Hypertext; Terry Harpold, Department of English, University of Florida; I; Thomas Pepper, University of Minnesota; Jouissance; Juliet Flower MacCannell, University of California, Irvine; Knowledge; Margaret Russett, University of Southern California; Love; Daniel Cottom, University of Idaho; Music; Simon Critchley, Essex University; Nation; John Brannigan, Queen's, Belfast; Origins; Julian Wolfreys; Poetics; Geoff Ward, University of Dundee; Quilting; John P. Leavey, Jr., University of Florida; Reification; Silvia Lopez, Carleton College, Minnesota; Schizoanalysis; Tamsin Lorraine, Swarthmore College; Tele-techno-theology; Martin McQuillan, Staffordshire University; Universals; Mark Currie, University of Westminster; Visuality; Steven Ungar, University of Iowa; Wit; Drew Milne, Cambridge University; X; Tom Conley, Harvard University; Yarn; Valentine Cunningham, Oxford University; Zero; J Hillis Miller, University of California, Irvine; Notes on Contributors.

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Book SynopsisA study of the English language during the period 1500-1700.Table of Contents1. The Early Modern English Period; 2. Sources for the Study of Early Modern English; 3. Towards a Standard Language; 4. Old Words and Loan Words; 5. Word-Formation and Semantic Change; 6. Nouns and Pronouns; 7. Verbs, Adjectives and Adverbs; 8. Syntactic Structures; 9. Changing Pronunciation; 10. Language in the Community.

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Book SynopsisThis book is a descriptive account of English as it is used in India. Indian English is a second language to most of its speakers. In its 400-year history it has acquired its own character, yet still looks to native varieties of English for norms. The complex nature of Indian English, which is not really a monolithic entity, is discussed in this book. The book also makes a distinction between what are considered to be standard and non-standard varieties, and provides an overview of the salient features. Indian English includes: * A discussion of the sociolinguistic and cultural factors* The history of the establishment of English in India, bringing it up to modern times* A description of the linguistic aspects: phonetics and phonology, lexical, discourse and morphosyntactic features* Samples of written English from a range of contexts* Samples of speech* An annotated bibliography divided according to topic.Trade ReviewSomdev Kar, Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, India INTRODUCTION This book treats linguistic and socio-cultural aspects of English as it is used in India. It is an important contribution to the Edinburgh University Press series 'Dialects of English', which documents varieties of English worldwide. In India's multilingual setting, English plays a significant role in communication, literature, business and elsewhere. Though English first came to India with the British, in the last four hundred years it has become an indispensable part of Indian society. This volume contextualizes research on Indian English by using a good selection of sample texts, from conversational to literary. The book is organized into seven interesting, well-illustrated chapters, discussing phonetics, phonology, morphosyntax, lexis, discourse and other issues related to English used in India. It also contains a survey of previous research and an annotated bibliography on Indian English. SUMMARY The first chapter introduces the topic, outlines the status of English in this pluralistic nation, and provides a comparison to British and American varieties. The chapter starts with the description of Indian geography and demographics, and India's cultural setting with its many languages and strong regional differences. English, as an official language of the Union of India, bridges the diverse nation and also plays vital roles in government, business and education beyond communication in general. But scholars are always divided on whether it is 'Indian English' or 'English in India'. The debate goes on, but 'Indian English' is taken in this work. Chapter 2, "Phonetics and Phonology", describes the accent, intonation, rhythm, suprasegmental features of Indian English. Some specific vowels and consonants are discussed in this chapter, along with rhotic usage. Particularly those common features of Indian English are contrasted phonetically with Received Pronunciation. The influence of native languages on the English is also illustrated. Chapter 3 discusses morphosyntax, including verbs, articles, prepositions, idioms and inflectional forms. One of the most striking features of Indian English is the tag question "isn't it". This is treated here along with other question formation processes such as wh-questions and yes-no questions. Some typical morphosyntactic operations in different varieties of Indian English include reduplication ('little-little', 'small-small'), reduced phrases ('three-four books' instead of 'three or four books') are richly illustrated. A small section on code switching is presented, setting up a larger discussion in a later chapter. This chapter also raises the question of the basis of English used in India, where one can find both American and British English inflectional forms in use. In chapter 4, the author contrasts the lexis of Indian, American and British English and of their tendency to borrow words from each other -- mainly to Indian English from the latter two. An interesting section is given on compounding ("black money", "outstation cheque"), affixation ("Naxalite", "filmi"), abbreviation ("NRI" for Non-Resident Indian, "BSNL" for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited), hybrid constructions ("lathi charge", "iftaar party"), redundancy ("tissue paper", "return back") and so on. Discourse features such as linkers, address forms and politeness strategies by Indians using English are discussed with examples from literature and other sources. Some typical styles used in Indian English in both written and spoken form are also listed here (e.g. "Respected sir", "Yours most obediently"). They are not generally used by native speakers of either British or American English. The chapter includes a more detailed discussion on code switching with Indian languages like Hindi, Urdu, Telugu and Bengali with good examples. Chapter 5 offers a diachronic survey of English language in the Indian subcontinent, beginning with the dominance of the Portuguese before the British period (1498-1600) and the shift of importance to English in the pre-Macaulay period (1600-1835). The major penetration of the English language in Indian society, begun during the pre-Macaulay period, reached its peak during the period from 1835 to 1947, when India achieved independence from Britain. But, even in the post-independence period (1947-), English has continued to gain strength as a language in India. The chapter also covers some English-based pidgins, such as Babu English and Butler English. Chapter 6 reviews some important works on 'English in India and Indian English' as the author puts it. It gives a compact yet informative set of publications in this domain, grouped into six sections: phonetics, phonology, morphosyntax, discourse, history, corpus. This list of works reviewed is not exhaustive, but gives the reader an idea of research in the area. It also indicates the relative proportion of attention to different subareas of Indian English, e.g. more works on phonology and a lesser number on syntax. Chapter 7 provides sample texts in Indian English, spoken and written, with brief comments. The samples are divided into seven main categories, namely, literature, official documents and other letters, newspaper articles and reports, letters to the editor, advertisements, lectures and miscellaneous, as well as a couple of transcriptions from audio recordings by two Indian women. These documents constitute an excellent overview of English as used in India. EVALUATION This book presents a well-written description of English used in India. 'Indian English' is undoubtedly a must-have textbook for newcomers to this area of study. It is also accessible to people outside of linguistics due to its clear and basic approach to the topic and limited use of technical vocabulary. On the other hand, a limited use of IPA symbols makes it less useful to some advanced researchers in this area. As noted above, the author favours the term 'Indian English', though it is a controversial name which many scholars are not ready to accept (see Dasgupta, 1993; Krishnaswamy & Burde, 1998). It is evident that the English used in India is different from British or American English in terms of phonetics, phonology, lexicon, etc. The author also advocates a 'standard Indian English' based on British English. But one should keep in mind that English is a second language for almost all Indians and so any standard variety is particularly unnatural. In my own view, it would be better to take British or American English as standard. In the phonetics and phonology sections, the author correctly illustrates the influence of first languages on the English of L2 speakers, a widespread tendency across India. The more 'accurate' pronunciation of English depends on various factors in the home environment, medium of education in the Indian context. Here, 'accurate' means standard British English (RP). And people with higher education tend to speak English with less influence of their first language. In the non-standard, rhotic pronunciation of /r/ is mainly influenced by first language. The author gives an example of rhotic accent in 'dearth' /dart/ with an unaspirated dental /t/. (It is not clear from this example whether Indian English allows word-final deaspiration as seen in this case.) If we widen the scope of sounds in Indian English beyond 'native' English words, we find many 'Indian' words in the lexicon of Indian English with limited phonetic and phonological integration. In this connection, the author makes an interesting observation on age-specific preference for British and American English among Indians. Traditionally British English is taught in India (not 'standard Indian English'), but the preference for American English is growing considerably. The tendency of redundancy is illustrated with perfect examples. This could also be compared to the feature called 'double negation' in African American and many other varieties of English. In address forms, the use of 'didi' (elder sister) in English is not exactly taken from Hindi. The same word is also used in Oriya and Bengali. Hence, the source of this term could chosen more carefully. Additionally, 'dada' (elder brother) is used, often as the short form '-da', by Bengali speakers in English conversations. In Telugu, '-garu' is commonly used for both men and women to give respect, as '-ji' in the Hindi-Urdu speaking areas. One might expect a discussion of "non-initial existential there" with comparison to the "adverbial there" and "post-verbal adverbial there" (see Rogers, 2003; Trudgill & Hannah, 2002). This feature of Indian English is not present in other varieties of English, and Lange (2009) regards it as a pan-Indian. The historical development of the linguistic scenario of India is a well-structured and informative chapter. The last chapter consists of a very useful collection of texts in Indian English. Though the book is not meant for advanced research in the field, IPA transcriptions of the audio recordings would have been helpful even for early researchers in linguistics. This monograph is suitable for students, researchers and general readers with an interest in English as used in India. It will also be helpful to identify the the differences between major varieties of English spoken in the USA, UK and in India. It is an extremely useful book. REFERENCES Dasgupta, P. (1993). The otherness of English: India's auntie tongue syndrome. New Delhi: Sage Publications. Krishnaswamy, N. & Burde, A. S. (1998). The politics of Indians' English: Linguistic colonialism and the expanding English empire. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Lange, C. (2009). Non-initial existential there in Indian English. Paper presented at the 9th All-India Conference of Linguists (AICL-9), University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad. Rogers, C. (2003). Register variation in Indian English. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Northern Arizona University. Trudgill, P. & Hannah, J. (2002). International English: A guide to varieties of standard English. London: Arnold. ABOUT THE REVIEWER Somdev Kar is an assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (India) and earned a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Tubingen, Germany. His teaching responsibilities are English Syntax, Clinical Linguistics and English Morphology. His research interests include Optimality Theoretic analysis of syllable structure and Distributed Morphology. He is author of the forthcoming 'Syllable Structure of Bangla: An Optimality-Theoretic Approach' (Cambridge Scholars Publishing). -- Somdev Kar LINGUIST list In sum this is a highly recommendable book for anybody looking for an easy-to-read introduction to Indian English or who is interested in post-colonial varieties of English in general... Apart from being recommended for individual students or interested laypersons, this book is also eminently useful for classroom use at the undergraduate level. -- Marco Schilk, Justus Liebig Universitat Giessen English Language and Linguistics This book presents a well-written description of English used in India. 'Indian English' is undoubtedly a must-have textbook for newcomers to this area of study. It is also accessible to people outside of linguistics due to its clear and basic approach to the topic and limited use of technical vocabulary. -- Somdev Kar LINGUIST list This slim volume represents a valuable overview of the features, history and status of Indian English. -- David Deterding, University of Brunei Darusallam Journal of Sociolinguistics Somdev Kar, Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, India INTRODUCTION This book treats linguistic and socio-cultural aspects of English as it is used in India. It is an important contribution to the Edinburgh University Press series 'Dialects of English', which documents varieties of English worldwide. In India's multilingual setting, English plays a significant role in communication, literature, business and elsewhere. Though English first came to India with the British, in the last four hundred years it has become an indispensable part of Indian society. This volume contextualizes research on Indian English by using a good selection of sample texts, from conversational to literary. The book is organized into seven interesting, well-illustrated chapters, discussing phonetics, phonology, morphosyntax, lexis, discourse and other issues related to English used in India. It also contains a survey of previous research and an annotated bibliography on Indian English. SUMMARY The first chapter introduces the topic, outlines the status of English in this pluralistic nation, and provides a comparison to British and American varieties. The chapter starts with the description of Indian geography and demographics, and India's cultural setting with its many languages and strong regional differences. English, as an official language of the Union of India, bridges the diverse nation and also plays vital roles in government, business and education beyond communication in general. But scholars are always divided on whether it is 'Indian English' or 'English in India'. The debate goes on, but 'Indian English' is taken in this work. Chapter 2, "Phonetics and Phonology", describes the accent, intonation, rhythm, suprasegmental features of Indian English. Some specific vowels and consonants are discussed in this chapter, along with rhotic usage. Particularly those common features of Indian English are contrasted phonetically with Received Pronunciation. The influence of native languages on the English is also illustrated. Chapter 3 discusses morphosyntax, including verbs, articles, prepositions, idioms and inflectional forms. One of the most striking features of Indian English is the tag question "isn't it". This is treated here along with other question formation processes such as wh-questions and yes-no questions. Some typical morphosyntactic operations in different varieties of Indian English include reduplication ('little-little', 'small-small'), reduced phrases ('three-four books' instead of 'three or four books') are richly illustrated. A small section on code switching is presented, setting up a larger discussion in a later chapter. This chapter also raises the question of the basis of English used in India, where one can find both American and British English inflectional forms in use. In chapter 4, the author contrasts the lexis of Indian, American and British English and of their tendency to borrow words from each other -- mainly to Indian English from the latter two. An interesting section is given on compounding ("black money", "outstation cheque"), affixation ("Naxalite", "filmi"), abbreviation ("NRI" for Non-Resident Indian, "BSNL" for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited), hybrid constructions ("lathi charge", "iftaar party"), redundancy ("tissue paper", "return back") and so on. Discourse features such as linkers, address forms and politeness strategies by Indians using English are discussed with examples from literature and other sources. Some typical styles used in Indian English in both written and spoken form are also listed here (e.g. "Respected sir", "Yours most obediently"). They are not generally used by native speakers of either British or American English. The chapter includes a more detailed discussion on code switching with Indian languages like Hindi, Urdu, Telugu and Bengali with good examples. Chapter 5 offers a diachronic survey of English language in the Indian subcontinent, beginning with the dominance of the Portuguese before the British period (1498-1600) and the shift of importance to English in the pre-Macaulay period (1600-1835). The major penetration of the English language in Indian society, begun during the pre-Macaulay period, reached its peak during the period from 1835 to 1947, when India achieved independence from Britain. But, even in the post-independence period (1947-), English has continued to gain strength as a language in India. The chapter also covers some English-based pidgins, such as Babu English and Butler English. Chapter 6 reviews some important works on 'English in India and Indian English' as the author puts it. It gives a compact yet informative set of publications in this domain, grouped into six sections: phonetics, phonology, morphosyntax, discourse, history, corpus. This list of works reviewed is not exhaustive, but gives the reader an idea of research in the area. It also indicates the relative proportion of attention to different subareas of Indian English, e.g. more works on phonology and a lesser number on syntax. Chapter 7 provides sample texts in Indian English, spoken and written, with brief comments. The samples are divided into seven main categories, namely, literature, official documents and other letters, newspaper articles and reports, letters to the editor, advertisements, lectures and miscellaneous, as well as a couple of transcriptions from audio recordings by two Indian women. These documents constitute an excellent overview of English as used in India. EVALUATION This book presents a well-written description of English used in India. 'Indian English' is undoubtedly a must-have textbook for newcomers to this area of study. It is also accessible to people outside of linguistics due to its clear and basic approach to the topic and limited use of technical vocabulary. On the other hand, a limited use of IPA symbols makes it less useful to some advanced researchers in this area. As noted above, the author favours the term 'Indian English', though it is a controversial name which many scholars are not ready to accept (see Dasgupta, 1993; Krishnaswamy & Burde, 1998). It is evident that the English used in India is different from British or American English in terms of phonetics, phonology, lexicon, etc. The author also advocates a 'standard Indian English' based on British English. But one should keep in mind that English is a second language for almost all Indians and so any standard variety is particularly unnatural. In my own view, it would be better to take British or American English as standard. In the phonetics and phonology sections, the author correctly illustrates the influence of first languages on the English of L2 speakers, a widespread tendency across India. The more 'accurate' pronunciation of English depends on various factors in the home environment, medium of education in the Indian context. Here, 'accurate' means standard British English (RP). And people with higher education tend to speak English with less influence of their first language. In the non-standard, rhotic pronunciation of /r/ is mainly influenced by first language. The author gives an example of rhotic accent in 'dearth' /dart/ with an unaspirated dental /t/. (It is not clear from this example whether Indian English allows word-final deaspiration as seen in this case.) If we widen the scope of sounds in Indian English beyond 'native' English words, we find many 'Indian' words in the lexicon of Indian English with limited phonetic and phonological integration. In this connection, the author makes an interesting observation on age-specific preference for British and American English among Indians. Traditionally British English is taught in India (not 'standard Indian English'), but the preference for American English is growing considerably. The tendency of redundancy is illustrated with perfect examples. This could also be compared to the feature called 'double negation' in African American and many other varieties of English. In address forms, the use of 'didi' (elder sister) in English is not exactly taken from Hindi. The same word is also used in Oriya and Bengali. Hence, the source of this term could chosen more carefully. Additionally, 'dada' (elder brother) is used, often as the short form '-da', by Bengali speakers in English conversations. In Telugu, '-garu' is commonly used for both men and women to give respect, as '-ji' in the Hindi-Urdu speaking areas. One might expect a discussion of "non-initial existential there" with comparison to the "adverbial there" and "post-verbal adverbial there" (see Rogers, 2003; Trudgill & Hannah, 2002). This feature of Indian English is not present in other varieties of English, and Lange (2009) regards it as a pan-Indian. The historical development of the linguistic scenario of India is a well-structured and informative chapter. The last chapter consists of a very useful collection of texts in Indian English. Though the book is not meant for advanced research in the field, IPA transcriptions of the audio recordings would have been helpful even for early researchers in linguistics. This monograph is suitable for students, researchers and general readers with an interest in English as used in India. It will also be helpful to identify the the differences between major varieties of English spoken in the USA, UK and in India. It is an extremely useful book. REFERENCES Dasgupta, P. (1993). The otherness of English: India's auntie tongue syndrome. New Delhi: Sage Publications. Krishnaswamy, N. & Burde, A. S. (1998). The politics of Indians' English: Linguistic colonialism and the expanding English empire. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Lange, C. (2009). Non-initial existential there in Indian English. Paper presented at the 9th All-India Conference of Linguists (AICL-9), University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad. Rogers, C. (2003). Register variation in Indian English. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Northern Arizona University. Trudgill, P. & Hannah, J. (2002). International English: A guide to varieties of standard English. London: Arnold. ABOUT THE REVIEWER Somdev Kar is an assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (India) and earned a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Tubingen, Germany. His teaching responsibilities are English Syntax, Clinical Linguistics and English Morphology. His research interests include Optimality Theoretic analysis of syllable structure and Distributed Morphology. He is author of the forthcoming 'Syllable Structure of Bangla: An Optimality-Theoretic Approach' (Cambridge Scholars Publishing). In sum this is a highly recommendable book for anybody looking for an easy-to-read introduction to Indian English or who is interested in post-colonial varieties of English in general... Apart from being recommended for individual students or interested laypersons, this book is also eminently useful for classroom use at the undergraduate level. This book presents a well-written description of English used in India. 'Indian English' is undoubtedly a must-have textbook for newcomers to this area of study. It is also accessible to people outside of linguistics due to its clear and basic approach to the topic and limited use of technical vocabulary. This slim volume represents a valuable overview of the features, history and status of Indian English.Table of Contents1. Introduction; 2. Phonetics and Phonology; 3. Morphosyntax; 4. Lexis and Discourse; 5. History, and Changes in Progress; 6. Survey of Previous Work and Annotated Bibliography; 7. Sample Texts.

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Book SynopsisDrawing on the Corpus of Modern Scottish Writing, this volume provides a comprehensive survey of the spelling system of Older and Modern Scots, illustrating how this orthographic system has developed partly in response to historical shifts in pronunciation, and partly as a result of social and political change.

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Book SynopsisThis guide gives students a solid grounding in the basic methodology of how to analyse corpus data to study new words entering the language or language change. .

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Book SynopsisThis project is the culmination of 7 years of research into Russian-speaking identities in Latvia. Covering a period up to and including the Ukrainian crises of 2014, the research examines the complex relationships between diverse groups of Russian speakers, the Latvian state, the Russian Federation, and Latvia's political and cultural spaces.

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Book SynopsisThis textbook invites the student to explore early English syntax by looking at the linguistic characteristics of well- known texts throughout the early history of English. It shows how that piece of the language fits in to the broader picture of how English is developing and introduces the student to the real writing of the period.

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Book SynopsisBy using Russian-speakers in Latvia as a specific case study, this volume also offers a fresh methodological approach to the study of discourses and discursive strategies. It outlines a coherent methodology to study the evolution of discourses over time, rather than a single de-contextualised and static time period.

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Book SynopsisThe Concept of Conversation traces the way the rise of conversation spread out from the history of rhetoric to include the histories of friendship, the court and the salon, the Republic of Letters, periodical press and women.

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Book SynopsisDrawing on the resources created by the Institute of Historical Dialectology at the University of Edinburgh this volume illustrates how traditional methods of historical dialectology can benefit from new methods of data-collection to test out theoretical and empirical claims.

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Book SynopsisLocating the subjunctive at the interface of mood and modality, this book presents a systematic description of the use of the English subjunctive in main clauses, noun clauses, relative clauses, and adverbial clauses. It explores the factors which governed its competition with other verbal expressions in texts ranging from the 9th to the beginning of the 18th century. Employing close reading alongside analysis of corpus data and the use of descriptive statistics, it offers new insights into the research landscape of English subjunctive use and into the fields of historical English linguistics and corpus linguistics.

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Book SynopsisInvestigates how dialect variation in the North of England is represented in writing.

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Book SynopsisDrawing on detailed case studies across a range of languages, including English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Russian, Lithuanian and Greek, this book examines the different factors that determine the outcome of the interaction between borrowing and word formation.

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Book SynopsisThe first systematic survey of the language planning and language policy discourse of major Arabic language academies

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Book SynopsisWarren Maguire examines Mid-Ulster English as a key case of new dialect formation, considering the roles of language shift and dialect contact in its phonological development.

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Book SynopsisA textbook survey of how English morphology has evolved from Old English to the present

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Book SynopsisLyle Campbell presents an accessible, hands-on introduction to historical linguistics. The fourth edition has a lucid and engaging style, expert guidance and comprehensive coverage, making it ideal for students coming to historical linguistics for the first time.

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Book SynopsisThis innovative study compares nineteenth-century Arabic translations of the Bible to determine how it emerged as a foundational text of Arab modernity. Bible translation gained global traction through the work of Anglophone Christian missionaries, who made an attempt at synchronising translated Bibles in world languages by laying down strict guidelines and supervising the processes of translation and dissemination. By engaging with the intellectual beginnings of two local translators, Butrus al-Bustani (1819 1883) and Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq (1804 1887), as well as their subsequent contributions to Arabic language and literature, this book questions to what extent they complied with the missionaries' strategy in practice. Based on documents from the archives of Bible societies that tell the story of two key nahda versions of the text, we come to understand how colonial pressure was secondary to the process of incorporating the Bible into the nahda project of rethinking Arabic.

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Book SynopsisBringing together an international range of contributors, this book explores face-to-face uses of English in a range of grassroots multilingual contexts.

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Book SynopsisBringing together an international range of contributors, this book explores face-to-face uses of English in a range of grassroots multilingual contexts.

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Book SynopsisThis book seeks the roots of four keywords. By exploring these keywords in English and 'equivalent keywords' in Chinese, German, French and Czech, this book helps us to understand how other languages are adapting to English words, and how their worldviews resist 'anglo-concepts' through their own traditions, stories and worldviews.

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Book Synopsis"Starting from the history of concepts, Victor Neumann shows how the variety of connotations associated with the ideas of 'nation' and 'people' have been circumscribed in south-eastern Europe, holding back the region over many decades. More important, with erudition and seriousness of purpose, he mounts a defence of a notion of identity that is neither fixed nor monocultural, and proposes a legal definition of 'nation' that can resist exclusivist or racist versions. In an age when counter-rational fantasies about identity seem to be prevailing, when many seem unaware of or have forgotten where such thinking leads, Neumann's is a much-needed voice of reason." — Dan Stone, Professor of Modern History, Royal Holloway, University of London With a focus on the origins and evolution of political identity, this book explores the way different linguistic communities have defined kin, ethnicity, citizenship and the nation. As Neumann traces the transition over the last two centuries of European history, from the medieval to the modern age, he pays particular attention to the idealistic philosophies that have influenced the intellectual landscape and political discourse of European regions today, and which have intensified the division between East and West in terms of cultural norms, legislation and administration.Trade Review“In a study concerning trans-culturalism, Harvey Siegel reveals the reasons that drove the partisans of multi-cultural theory to adopt a sole manner of legitimacy, according to which the philosophical ideals and education would be necessarily specific.” - Levant Institute for Advanced Studies"This book should prove very useful to a wide readership – to all those concerned with the relationship between individual and group identity, and the crises and conflicts it can trigger… The book could also serve as a guide for politicians (who still largely cling to rhetorical stereotypes and childish speculations), helping them towards a better understanding of the substance and terminology of identity politics, and constructive solutions to communication between different cultural and identity groups." - Professor Florin Lobont, Banatul azi (Original text in Romanian)"Through his stunning photography, beautifully reproduced in this book, Konigshofer captures the breathtaking surroundings he encounters, from snowy mountain vistas and dramatic coastlines to icy fjords and remote villages." - Outdoor PhotographyTable of ContentsIllustrations Foreword Preface Chapter I – JULES MICHELET’S CONCEPT OF PEUPLE 1. Commentary on its origins and meanings 2. Michelet’s interrogations 3. Challenging Thierry’s arguments 4. When le peuple becomes la nation 5. The social myth 6. Le peuple and geographical determinism 7. The distinguishing features of Michelet’s concept of peuple Chapter II – VOLK (PEOPLE) AND SPRACHE (LANGUAGE): HERDER’S THEORIES OF ETHNICITY AND THE NATION 1. For a new comprehension of Herderian ideology 2. The ‘genius’ of Sturm und Drang 3. ‘Songs are the people’s archive’ – Prussia’s German aspirations, embodied by Kulturnation 4. The spirit of the people, viewed from a scientific perspective 5. The purity of Volk and the organic nation Chapter III – THE NATION: THE MEANINGS OF A HISTORICAL-POLITICAL CONCEPT 1. What is a Nation? 2. The concept of nation in contemporary Europe 3. Why does the concept of nation need to be redefined in relation to Central and South eastern Europe? Chapter IV – KIN AND PEOPLE: THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ROMANIAN ETHNOCENTRISM 1. Geographical variations of European culture and politics 2. Symbolic figures and Romanian conceptual confusions 3. The racial connotations of kin Chapter V – THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ROMANIAN CONCEPT OF NATION 1. Hostility towards diversity or the fantasy of the organic nation 2. Refusal of discontinuity, or the confusion between the old patriarchal society and the modern nation: a neo-Romantic perspective on the beginnings of the Romanian nation 3. The return to Herder 4. The uniqueness of ethnic culture or a further discussion of the idea of nation Chapter VI – MULTICULTURAL PHILOSOPHY: A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE 1. The education and philosophy of multicultural differentialism: observations on Charles Taylor’s perspective 2. Ideological meanings of multiculturalism: observations on Habermas’s objection to Taylor 3. Harvey Siegel’s contribution: transculturality 4. Conditions leading to false premises of multiculturalism 5. The concept of multiple identity Conclusions Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWhat is your problem if you are ringled to a flazzard? When is Chewidden Day? How might you get out of the langle? Why is going for a dacker a quite innocent activity in one place, but something rather more lewd elsewhere? Words, Words, Words probes lexicography, dialect, sexual practices, sport and social history to create a humorous and informative guide to some of the more bizarre byways of the English language. If you’ve ever had trouble telling your etymology from your entomology, this is the book for you.Trade Review‘His brilliant column in The Oldie is the first thing I turn to. He once called me a tome feek and I’m still blushing.’ – Joanna Lumley ‘Diarmaid O Muirithe knows his words. He knows them in their variations and in their sources, and knows what they mean when they don’t appear to mean anything. His knowledge is encyclopaedic and he conveys it with such wit, style and enthusiasm that he is never less than a delight to read.’ – William Trevor ‘Words, Words, Words sets you thinking about the sheer vivacity of linguistic expression – the width and wit of his erudition is impressive and lightly carried …. persaudes us of the joys of etymology.’ – Irish Times ‘Wit, blinding erudition, and the sheer joy of words: O Muirithe’s book is a treasure, a constant source of delight.’ – Terry Wogan

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Book SynopsisBased on poetry written when he was Poet in Residence at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage in 2016, Gregory Leadbetter's Caliban is a dramatic and intriguing new story based on an imagined life of Shakespeare's enigmatic 'thing of darkness' after the events of The Tempest. What makes the poems particularly interesting is that Greg wrote the poems first in the dialect of Shakespearean times (‘Original Pronunciation’) and then ‘translates’ them into modern English.

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Book SynopsisTRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks, as well as studies that provide new insights by approaching language from an interdisciplinary perspective. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards 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. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing. To discuss your book idea or submit a proposal, please contact Birgit Sievert.Table of ContentsToward a history of linguistic typology, E.F. Konrad Koerner; Language typology and linguistic reconstruction, Thomas V. Gamkrelidze; Typological and areal issues in reconstruction, Lyle Campbell; Diminutive plural infixation and the 'West Franconian' problem, Carl Chapman; Long syllabic consonants in Indo-European, Piotr Gasiorowski; Typology evaluation of linguistic reconstruction, Jadtanka Gvozdanovic; The typological shift to configurational syntax in European languages; Sound and typological shift - initial mutation in Celtic, Raymond Hickey. (Part contents).

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Book SynopsisThe history of German literature is to a large extent also a history of the translation and editing of Biblical texts. The study presents the translation technique of a medieval evangelist and provides insight into the methodical diversity of Bible translation in the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age.

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