Language: history and general works Books

Book SynopsisRare Tongues is an enthralling tour around the rarest languages in the world.

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Book SynopsisTHINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT FRANCE: You burnt Joan of Arc! ? Smuggling live chickens into rugby matches is patriotic ? How many times to kiss on the cheek ? Where not to cross the road ? French guns don't go 'bang' ? What do you call a party? ? bon appetit is vulgar ? A six-pack is a bar of chocolate ? The dangers of being called Peter or Penny ? Your smallest finger is your 'ear' finger ? The importance of Wednesdays ? How to tip ? and when to celebrate Christmas? Forget the French you learnt at school. Based on twenty years of hard-won knowledge, Pardon My French takes you through all the words you need to survive, shows how and why they work, and steers you past all the pitfalls and potential embarrassments of speaking French in France. From sugar-cube etiquette to why the Marseillaise is all about slaughtering Austrians and Prussians as bloodily as possible, Charles Timoney lays bare the Gallic mindset alongside their bizarre language. Covering all areas of everyday life from eating and drinking to travel, work and, crucially, swearing and sounding like a teenager, this is not just the most entertaining, but also the most useful book on France and the French you'll ever read.

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Book SynopsisA revelatory and exhilarating tour de force, Nicholas Ostler's The Last Lingua Franca: The Rise and Fall of World Languages explores the rise of a linguistic diversity we could never before have imagined. In the twenty-first century, can we really take the dominance of English for granted? In their time, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Sanskrit and Persian have each been world languages, sweeping the globe for centuries at a time. And yet they have all been displaced, just as Nicholas Ostler predicts English will be. What forces drive these linguistic currents? What characteristics do lingua francas share? And most importantly, how do they lose their power? 'Frequently jaw-dropping and never less than convincing' Henry Hitchings, Financial Times 'Sweepingly learned and engagingly garrulous' Sunday Times 'A much-needed challenge to conventional wisdom' Guardian A linguist of astonishing voracity ... the predictions are striking' Economist Nicholas Ostler is the author of Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World and Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin. He studied Greek, Latin and Philosophy at the University of Oxford and holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from MIT. With a working knowledge of twenty-six languages, Nicholas now runs an institute for the protection of endangered languages.Trade ReviewFrequently jaw-dropping and never less than convincing -- Henry Hitchings * Financial Times *A linguist of astonishing voracity ... the predictions are striking * Economist *Extensive and engaging...A sweepingly learned and garrulous guide to historical curiosities -- James McConnachie * Sunday Times *A wide-ranging linguistic perspective. -- Robert McCrum * The Observer *As Nicholas Ostler exhaustively documents...history shows that no language will dominate the world conversation forever...More provocatively, Ostler argues that, once the dominance of English has waned, no lingua franca will replace it. -- Jonathon Keats * New Scientist *A thorough analysis of the rise and fall of different lingua francas, Ostler provides us with a series of rich examples showing how these 'common languages' achieve prominence and how they subsequently, and inevitably, lose this, left to shrivel for use only as mother tongues. -- Colin Fraser * Scotsman *

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Book SynopsisThere has been a revival of interest in Manx Gaelic of late, with the number of Manx speakers rising tenfold over the last twenty years. Jennifer Kewley Draskau has now produced the first definitive guide to the language, drawing on a wide range of written and recorded sources from the earliest times to the present. The book covers the grammar, spelling and pronunciation of Manx Gaelic in such a way as to render the language accessible to readers of all levels of competence. An accompanying website with voice recordings provides a unique opportunity to observe intonation patterns and other features (www.practicalmanx.com).Trade ReviewOn behalf of the North American Manx Association may I congratulate Jennifer on this highly informative Manx book. I am sure it will prove to be an excellent reference guide and must-have for all interested Manx language parties. Laurence D. Skelly, North American Manx Association * North American Manx Association *This beautifully written new grammar of the Manx language is of considerable benefit to all interested in our national history. Noel CringleThis important book is certain to be appreciated and used by teachers and students. Those of us who may be fluent and literate in related Celtic languages, such as Scottish Gaelic and Irish, but who may find Manx orthography a somewhat daunting and “inconsistent” mask, will soon regard this book as an indispensable vade mecum. Donald Meek, University of Edinburgh * University of Edinburgh *Table of Contents Preface and acknowledgements Abbreviations 1. Initial sound change 2. Nouns 3. Pronouns 4. Prepositions 5. The articles 6. Adjectives and adverbs 7. Conjunctions 8. Numerals 9. Verbs 10. Phrasal verbs 11. The verb in use 12. Word order and sentence structure; word building 13. Dates and seasons 14. Emphasis 15. Spelling and pronunciation Gist English translations of recorded Manx conversations Glossary Select bibliography

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Book SynopsisFrom minding your Ps and Qs to wondering why X should mark the spot, Alphabetical is a book for everyone who loves words and language. Whether it's how letters are arranged on keyboards or Viking runes, textspeak or zip codes, this book will change the way you think about letters for ever. How on Earth did we fix upon our twenty-six letters, what do they really mean, and how did we come to write them down in the first place? Michael Rosen takes you on an unforgettable adventure through the history of the alphabet in twenty-six vivid chapters, fizzing with personal anecdotes and fascinating facts. Starting with the mysterious Phoenicians and how sounds first came to be written down, he races on to show how nonsense poems work, pins down the strange story of OK, traces our seven lost letters and tackles the tyranny of spelling, among many, many other things. His heroes of the alphabet range from Edward Lear to Phyllis Pearsall (the inventor of the A-Z), and from the two scribes of Beowulf to rappers. Each chapter takes on a different subject - codes, umlauts or the writing of dictionaries. Rosen's enthusiasm for letters positively leaps off the page, whether it's the story of his life told through the typewriters he's owned or a chapter on jokes written in a string of gags and word games. So if you ever wondered why Hawaiian only has a thirteen-letter alphabet or how exactly to write down the sound of a wild raspberry, read on . . .Trade Review[Michael Rosen's] beguiling journey through the alphabet will entrance anyone interested in the quirks of language and its history . . . Rosen has written a charming and thought-provoking book about what written language represents, how we use it, and the joys and mysteries therein. His humor and obvious love for his subject are winning elements * Publishers Weekly *Enjoyable history of the alphabet * The Times *Substantial and engaging * Guardian *Forget party crackers - when you settle down to the turkey and trimmings this year simply make sure you have this book to hand. There's even a chapter devoted to family friendly alphabet games: perfect for playing after the Queen's been on. That letters can and should be fun, not just functional, is one of the main messages of this book * Sunday Telegraph *The perfect book for anyone who relishes the intricacies of language and letters . . . [Rosen] reveals a gift for seamlessly meshing hard information, personal anecdote, jokes and puzzles with educational, cultural and linguistic questions and wry, pointed, observations . . . There are delights in this book for all ages * Australian *[Michael Rosen] gives each letter a neat CV . . . enjoyable * The Times *

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Book SynopsisFrom the comfort of an armchair and with the aid of this new book, the reader can travel to the Breadalbane and Argyll of Duncan Ban Macintyre; the Skye and Raasay of Sorley Maclean; and the Caithness and Sutherland of Neil M. Gunn. Photographs, maps and place-names linked to key passages in the texts will immerse readers in the landscapes which songs, poems and tales have described and enlivened over the ages.For those who wish to brave the weather, the insects, the sheer drops, the morasses and the vast spaces, the book can be used as a field guide taking the same walks followed by the author. The touch, smell and landmarks of song, poem and tale can be experienced.The author has immersed himself further in the Gaelic literature of place so that readers, with book in hand, can make the past come alive and appreciate the extracts about a place and what has happened there. As an adult, Neil M. Gunn saw himself as a boy, sitting on a slab in the middle of the river cracking hazelnuts with a stone. Through the eyes of Duncan Ban Macintyre see Ben Dobhrain and the journey of the deer to the holy spring, from the vantage point of Patrick's stone. On Dun Cana sit at the centre of the swirl of place-names in Sorley Maclean's Hallaig. Journey around the north and east coasts of Caithness and Sutherland in the wake of the White Heather and the Seafoam, in the Silver Darlings.Trade Review`…a distinct and original contribution. Murray’s work is a stimulating contribution that raises fundamental questions about land, places, names, language and memory and will repay close reading and further thought’. Scottish Literary Review ------------------- `...for Gaels the importance of place is particularly strong. Murray explains how place names in the Highlands are linked to experiences and legend, and how this is expressed in Gaelic poetry. If, as you walk the bens and glens of the Scottish Highlands, you would like to visit to improve your understanding of the cultural heritage of the places that you visit, Gaelic Landscape is the book to read'. Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal -------------------- `...makes startling use of place-names to illuminate some of the profoundest questions to literature. ...he shows how place-names can relate to memory, community, culture and the self. ...this masterly book... ...the book's greatest satisfaction in giving concrete evidence for much that we have hitherto on inferred'. Scottish Place Names Society Newsletter -------------------- `...is equally informative and recommended... ...for anyone learning the Gaelic... ...we learn how those Highland folk - now mostly gone - understood, celebrated and remembered the Gaelic Landscape in word and song'. Mountain Bothies Association Newsletter -------------------- `...once begun I couldn't put it down. It is an absorbing read. The book, explores and expands on the close links and ties of the Gaelic language with the landscape, is well-considered and researched. ...a gem of a read. ...John Murray's insightful book will certainly grace any book shelf'. The Munro Society Newsletter -------------------- `...shows very clearly why Gaelic is so important to Scotland as a nation as a whole... His latest book is equally remarkable, and equally enlightening. The end result is a book or truly lasting value, and an important book that shows why the Gaelic language matters to all of us'. Undiscovered Scotland -------------------- `...John Murray explores how the Gaelic language, rooted in a sense of place makes poetry of the Highlands. ... Drawing and abstracting the pattern of place-name narratives or song-lines makes possible a new and different understanding of Gaelic literature'. The ScotsmanTable of ContentsAcknowledgements. Prologue. Introduction. Place, Place-naming and Stories. Places, Mapping and Wayfinding. Toponymy, Mnemonics and Topo-mnemonics. Landscapes of Finn MacCoul - Fionn mac - Chumhail and the Fianna, Laoidh Fhraoch and Laoidh Dhiarmaid - The Lay of Fraoch and the Lay of Diarmaid. Donald Mackinlay of the Songs - Domhnuill mac Fhionnlaidh nan Dan, Song of the Owl - Oran na Comhachaig. Duncan Ban Macintyre - Donncha Ban Mac an t-Saoir, Oran do Ghunna Ainm Nic Coiseim, Oran do Chaora, Coire Cheathaich, Moladh Beinn Dobhrain and Cead Deirreanach nam Beann Song to Gun named NicCoshem, Song to a Sheep, Misty Corrie, Praise of Ben Dorain and Final Farewell to the Bens. Sorley MacLean - Somhairle Mac 'ille Eathain, The Cuillin - An Cuilithionn and Hallaig. Praise of Beinn Dobhrain / Moladh Beinn Dobhrain and Hallaig compared. Neil Gunn - Butcher's Broom, The Silver Darlings, Highland River and Young Art and Old Hector. Conclusion: Staging the Gaelic Landscape. References. Index of Place-names

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Book SynopsisFollowing the success of the first edition, this new edition has been expanded and improved with additional images and enhanced drawings. The subject matter has been expanded with the chapter on grammar and pronunciation extended. There are examples of how Gaelic personal names and the human body are used in place-names and many etymological sources have been added to place-name tables. In addition to the generic index, there is now an index of specific place-names. Finally, there's more to say about hares, bears and boars! Reading the Gaelic Landscape is essential for anyone who is interested in the Scottish Highlands and its native language. It enables people to read and understand place-names in Gaelic, providing insights into landscape character and history. The book enriches the experience of walkers, climbers, sailors, bird watchers and fishers by sketching the named context, where they practise their pursuits. Outdoor enthusiasts need no longer struggle with unfamiliar spellings and words, as they can develop a new perspective of place through an understanding of Gaelic toponymy. The ways Gaelic poets like Sorley MacLean and Duncan Ban MacIntyre used the named landscape in their work is explored. Names are used to speculate about species extinctions and the history of the Caledonian Forest. Readers learn how place has been defined in Gaelic and how this has been recorded, through a deeper understanding of how native speakers applied their language to the landscape. This new edition will build on the praise for the first: * ...essential for those interested in the Highlands and its ancient, living language. It helps readers and outdoor enthusiasts understand seemingly obscure words on maps, with insights into landscape history and ecology. The Scots Magazine * ...John Murray's book is unique ... The result is a triumph. ... Just occasionally you come across a book whose lasting value is so obvious that you know people will be referring to it in 50 years' time or more. Reading the Gaelic Landscape is one of those books. Undiscovered Scotland * ...the scope of the book is admirably broad, with primers on the history of the Gaelic language in Scotland, how the first maps of the country came to be made, and how the Gaelic speakers of old would have conceptualised things like colours and sounds, seasons and time. Roger Cox, The Scotsman * ...this book is a useful resource for those interested in Scotland's landscapes, environment and history. Wild Land NewsTrade Review'...essential for those interested in the Highlands and its ancient, living language. It helps readers and outdoor enthusiasts understand seemingly obscure words on maps, with insights into landscape history and ecology'.--The Scots Magazine '...the scope of the book is admirably broad, with primers on the history of the Gaelic language in Scotland, how the first maps of the country came to be made, and how the Gaelic speakers of old would have conceptualised things like colours and sounds, seasons and time'.--Roger Cox "The Scotsman " '...John Murray's book is unique ... The result is a triumph. ... Just occasionally you come across a book whose lasting value is so obvious that you know people will be referring to it in 50 years' time or more. Reading the Gaelic Landscape is one of those books'.--Undiscovered Scotland-------------------'...this book is a useful aid to guide you through their meanings, helping you to understand how Gaelic settlers applied their language to the landscapes around them. Useful reading for hikers, bird watchers and anglers, or anyone who wants to have a deeper connection with their surroundings'. Scotland

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Book SynopsisWe’re all familiar with ‘a flock of sheep’ but what are the collective nouns for racehorses, pigs, zebras or giraffes? Drawing on a range of sources, from fifteenth-century hunting terms to more recent inventions that have now entered the language, this book collects over 100 examples of the most interesting collective nouns for animals, each illustrated with charming woodcuts by the renowned naturalist engraver of the eighteenth century, Thomas Bewick. Some describe a key characteristic of the animal in question: ‘a shrewdness of apes’, ‘a busyness of ferrets’. Others are delightfully humorous: ‘a piddle of puppies’, ‘a crash of rhinoceroses’. Featuring pets, farmyard animals, big cats and wild beasts, this beautifully presented book is the perfect gift for animal lovers and all those with an interest in this quirky linguistic tradition.

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Book SynopsisWhat did a gongfarmer do? How is a chaperone connected to a bird of prey? What is the etymology behind cloud architect? And is there a link between secretaries and secrets? The story behind these (and many more) job titles is rarely predictable and often fascinating. In this highly original book, Alexander Tulloch examines the etymology behind a selection of trades and professions, unearthing intriguing nuggets of historical information along the way. Here you will find explanations of common surnames, such as Spencer, Hayward and Fletcher; obsolete jobs such as pardoner, cordwainer or telegraph boy; and roles for the modern era, such as wedding planner, pundit and sky marshal. Packed with additional etymological information and literary quotations, this book will appeal not only to linguists but also to anyone interested in the quirky twists and turns of meaning which have given us the job titles with which we are familiar today.

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Book SynopsisThe vocabulary of past times, no longer used in English, is always fascinating, especially when we see how it was pilloried by the satirists of the day. Here we have Victorian high and low society, with its fashionable and unfashionable slang, its class awareness and the jargon of steam engines, motor cars and other products of the Industrial Revolution. Then as now, people had strong feelings about the flood of new words entering English. Swearing, new street names and the many borrowings from French provoked continual irritation and mockery, as did the Americanisms increasingly encountered in the British press. In this intriguing collection, David Crystal has pored through the pages of the satirical magazine, Punch, between its first issue in 1841 and the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, and extracted the articles and cartoons that poked fun at the jargon of the day, adding a commentary on the context of the times and informative glossaries. In doing so he reveals how many present-day feelings about words have their origins over a century ago.

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Book SynopsisThe most celebrated English biography is a group portrait in which extraordinary man paints the picture of a dozen more. At the centre of a brilliant circle which included Burke, Reynolds, Garrick, Fanny Burney and even George III, Boswell captures the powerful, troubled and witty figure of Samuel Johnson, who towers above them all. Yet this is also an intimate picture of domestic life, which mingles the greatest talkers of a talkative age with the hero's humbler friends in a picture which is, before all things, humane. This is a new, corrected, rest and reprinted edition. At 14. 99 for the complete edition of the Life in 1344 pages, it compares with Penguin's abridged edition of just 300 pages of text at 6. 99 and OUP's World Classics unabridged edition printed on newsprint at 10. 99.

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Book SynopsisThis book brings together the contributions of twelve scholars engaged in language activism, in research and in promoting peace. The writers are keenly attuned to the potentially genocidal consequences of language differences. In the articles they have written, they make compelling cases for indigenous non-hegemonic languages to be used and promoted, not only as a means of communication but to preserve the multilingual communities inhabiting the world. The book is a product of a collegial effort resulting from a symposium on Language Policy and the Promotion of Peace or the Prevention of Conflict, which was held at the University of Osnabruck, Germany, in 2011. While many different 'angles of vision', positions, approaches and emphases are argued in the contributors' commentaries and in their case studies, the twelve scholars and activists are united in their call for a multilingual global habitus.Neville Edward Alexander, the principal editor of this compilation, spent about 30 years studying and making policy proposals about the language question in South Africa. In that country, eleven languages are officially recognised by the post-apartheid government, and yet only two, English and Afrikaans, enjoy high-status functions in official communications. Alexander persistently called for mother-tongue instruction for children in their formative years of schooling. Sadly, this radical scholar and acknowledged sociologist of language died of lung cancer while he was working on this volume in 2012.Arnulf von Scheliha, the co-editor of this compilation, is professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Osnabruck in Germany. His main research topics are political ethics, interreligious hermeneutics, history of theology, and transformation of religion in pluralistic societies. He was the main organiser of the symposium that brought international scholars together to reflect on language policy and the promotion of peace, and that provided the wide-ranging 'raw material' for this book.

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Book SynopsisThis volume consists of a selection of the papers given at a major conference, The Anatomy of Laughter/Traduire le Rire, held in September 2001. It focuses on the latter aspect of observations of the situations in which laughter is expressed, and stresses the acoustic features of laughter.Trade ReviewAn accessible and educative collection... provides much more than a visitation of standard methodologies, and it does much more than merely celebrate laughter as cognitive, linguistic, or aesthetic function. An indispensable collection for the serious humour scholar. -- Tarez Samra Graban Canadian Review of Comparative Literature December 2010, 428-31Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Anatomie et étymologie: Ordre et désordre du rire selon Laurent Joubert 2. The Sound of Laughter: Recent Concepts and Findings in Research into Laughter Vocalizations 3. Why Can't You Tickle Yourself? 4. Belly Laughs 5. Upping the Ante/i: Exaggeration in Céline and Vallès 6. Humour Styles and Class Cultures: Highbrow Humour and Lowbrow Humour in the Netherlands 7. Searching for Jokes: Language, Translation, and the Cross-Cultural Comparison of Humour 8. And What If They Don't Laugh? 9. Without the Rape the Talk-Show Would Not Be Laughable 10. Translating a Great Feast of Languages 11. Traduire le rire 12. Rire et désir dans les comédies américaines de Lubitsch: L’exemple de Ninotchka (1939) 13. What's So Funny? On Being Laughed At... 14. Laughing and Talking 15. Le Rire comme accident en peinture 16. La Couleur du rire: Peinture et traduction 17. Views on the Physics and Metaphysics of Laughter

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Book SynopsisAlex Horne loves words. He loves them so much, in fact, that he's decided to invent his own ... and get them into the dictionary. But, as Alex discovers, gaining entry into the official lexicon takes more than just a gentle word in the ear of the editor. Evidence is required - Alex needs proof that his words are being spoken by more people than just him and his mum. He needs what the dictionary authorities call a 'corpus' of examples, hard data showing that his new words are in widespread and long-term usage. So a corpus he resolves to create, no matter what obstacles he might meet on the way. This is the epic and ridiculous story of one man's struggle to break into the dictionary. From covert word-dropping on Countdown to wilfully misinforming schoolchildren, Alex tries it all in his quest for dictionary-based immortality. Does he succeed? Are you already using one of Alex's words without realising it? You won't regret spending your hard-earned honk on this hugely entertaining book.Trade ReviewA safe place to invest your comedy honk * Review for 'Wordwatching' Edinburgh show, Time Out *

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Book SynopsisThe expansion of the English state in the early modern era provoked resistance throughout Britain and Ireland, not least in Cornwall where this intrusion was challenged in a series of dramatic uprisings in the two centuries between 1490 and 1690.In this wide-ranging collection of chapters, several based on articles published previously in the series Cornish Studies, Philip Payton brings together an impressive team of international scholars, including Paul Cockerham, Bernard Deacon, D.H. Frost, Lynette Olson, Joanna Mattingly, Matthew Spriggs, and Mark Stoyle, to present a history of early modern Cornwall, focusing especially on the related issues of language, religion, identity and rebellion. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47788/LZGH4973Table of ContentsCornwall in the Age of Rebellion Philip Payton Where Cornish was Spoken and When? A Provisional Synthesis Matthew Spriggs ‘a . . . concealed envy against the English’: A Note on the aftermath of the 1497 Rebellions in Cornwall Philip Payton Tyranny in Beunans Meriasek Lynette Olson The Helston Shoemakers’ Gild and a Possible Connection with the 1549 Rebellion Joanna Mattingly Glasney’s Parish Clergy and the Tregear Manuscript D.H. Frost ‘On My Grave a Marble Stone’: Early Cornish Memorialization Paul Cockerham ‘Sir Richard Grenville’s Creatures’: The New Cornish Tertia. 1644–46 Mark Stoyle Afterlife of an Army: The Old Cornish Regiments, 1643–44 Mark Stoyle William Scawen (1600–1689) – A Neglected Cornish Patriot and Father of the Cornish Language Revival Matthew Spriggs Who was the Duchesse of Cornwall in Nicholas Boson’s (c.1660–70) ‘The Duchesse of Cornwall’s Progresse to see the Land’s End . . .? Matthew Spriggs The Recent Historiography of Early Modern Cornwall Mark Stoyle Propaganda and the Tudor State or Propaganda of the Tudor Historians Bernard Deacon Conclusion Philip Payton

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Book Synopsis"The Symbol Theory, volume 13 in "The Collected Works of Norbert Elias", situates the human capacity for forming symbols in the long-term biological evolution of Homo sapiens, showing how it is linked through communication and orientation to group survival. Elias proceeds to recast the question of the ontological status of knowledge, moving beyond the old philosophical dualisms of idealism/materialism and subject/object. He readjusts the boundary between the 'social' and the 'natural' by interweaving evolutionary biology and the social sciences. "The Symbol Theory" provides nothing less than a new image of the human condition as an accidental outcome of the blind flux of an indifferent cosmos. Elias' Introduction now includes previously unpublished passages written in the days before he died.Table of ContentsNorbert Elias (1897-1990); Note on the text; Introduction; Towards a comprehensive understanding of human beings: reconfiguring sociology, evolutionary biology and philosophy; Languages as learned sound patterns and symbols as the 'fifth dimension'; 'Symbol emancipation' as an evolutionary breakthrough; The high survival value of communication by learned sound-symbols; To speak, to think, to know: the sociogenesis and psychogenesis of reality-congruent symbols; Human society as a level of nature: beyond idealism and materialism; From 'truth' to reality congruence: beyond traditional philosophical theories of knowledge; Concept-formation in the 'five-dimensional' human world: beyond abstraction explanations; The distant past and the long future: reality-congruent knowledge and human survival; Appendix: Previously unpublished passages in Elias's Introduction; Textual variants; Bibliography; Index.

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Book SynopsisDundonians have a defining, distinctive way of expressing themselves and communicating feelings. The ancient city’s characteristic accent can be heard in any Lochee bar or Hilltoon playground, or on any bus – where Dundee grannies have extraordinary ‘Eh?’ ‘Eh!’ nodding conversations. And to the trained ear they make perfect sense!Trade Review.Table of ContentsIntroduction Insults Dundeh Vehlence Comings and Goings Wise Words Weather Familiar Questions Domestic bliss Dundee life Booze Food A peh’s a peh fur a’ that, ispaishully in Dundeh Medical emergencies Money Love Sport and Leisure Complaints Expressions

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Book SynopsisDr Gregory Kenicer brings us a concise but through exploration of plants and their names in the Scots language through the ages. Presented as a dictionary, and covering a vast variety of flower, funghi and mosses, this book seeks to present the rich history of these plants and how they rooted themselves firmly in the language of the people of Scotland.

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Book SynopsisCompiled from the Herald’s Scots Word of the Week, this anthology provides a glimpse into the depth of diversity and culture which is to be found in the Scots language. The book reveals the history and growth of the language, spanning from formal language, to obsolete Older Scots, to modern slang.

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Book SynopsisGeorge Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Politics and the English Language, the second in the Orwell’s Essays series, Orwell takes aim at the language used in politics, which, he says, ‘is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind’. In an age where the language used in politics is constantly under the microscope, Orwell’s Politics and the English Language is just as relevant today, and gives the reader a vital understanding of the tactics at play.Trade Review'Anybody who wants to write better will learn much from this essay… It is simultaneously hilarious and a dreadful warning.' (Allan Massie, The Scotsman) 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' (Irish Times)Table of ContentsPolitics and the English Language, Note on the Text, Notes, A Brief Biographical Sketch of George Orwell

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Book SynopsisA warm, witty, passionate cry for living, vital, indigenous languages and the people who speak them. Despite the more than 200 Indigenous languages spoken in Mexico, including 63 that are officially recognized and celebrated by the Mexican government, linguistic diversity is and has been under attack in a larger culture that says bilingual is good when it means Spanish and English, but bad when it means Nahuatl and Spanish. Yasnaya Aguilar, a linguist and native Mixe speaker, asks what is lost, for everyone, when the contradictions inherent in Mexico's relationship with its many Indigenous languages mean official protection and actual contempt at worst, and ignorance at best.What does it mean to have a prize for Indigenous literature when different Indigenous languages are as far from each other as they are from Japanese? What impact does considering Tzotzil cultural heritage have on our idea of it, when it is still being used, and refreshed, and changed (like every other language) t

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Book SynopsisA New York Times bestselling writer explores what our unique sonic signature reveals about our species, our culture, and each one of us. Finally, a vital topic that has never had its own book gets its due.There’s no shortage of books about public speaking or language or song. But until now, there has been no book about the miracle that underlies them all—the human voice itself. And there are few writers who could take on this surprisingly vast topic with more artistry and expertise than John Colapinto. Beginning with the novel—and compelling—argument that our ability to speak is what made us the planet’s dominant species, he guides us from the voice’s beginnings in lungfish millions of years ago to its culmination in the talent of Pavoratti, Martin Luther King Jr., and Beyoncé—and each of us, every day. Along the way, he shows us why the voice is the most efficient, effective means of communication ever devised: it works in all directions, in all weathers, even in the dark, and it can be calibrated to reach one other person or thousands. He reveals why speech is the single most complex and intricate activity humans can perform. He travels up the Amazon to meet the Piraha, a reclusive tribe whose singular language, more musical than any other, can help us hear how melodic principles underpin every word we utter. He heads up to Harvard to see how professional voices are helped and healed, and he ventures out on the campaign trail to see how demagogues wield their voices as weapons. As far-reaching as this book is, much of the delight of reading it lies in how intimate it feels. Everything Colapinto tells us can be tested by our own lungs and mouths and ears and brains. He shows us that, for those who pay attention, the voice is an eloquent means of communicating not only what the speaker means, but also their mood, sexual preference, age, income, even psychological and physical illness. It overstates the case only slightly to say that anyone who talks, or sings, or listens will find a rich trove of thrills in This Is the Voice.

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Book SynopsisThis book, by an eminent scientist and philosopher, provides strong evidence for the claim that language is a general principle of Nature, rooted exclusively in physical and chemical laws. The author’s radical idea inevitably leads us to view the essence, origin and evolution of life in a completely new light. It shifts the coordinates of our scientific world-view in favor of an overarching concept of language that is able to bridge the gap between matter and mind. At the same time, it removes a blind spot in the Darwinian concept of evolution. To justify this far-reaching idea, the book takes a long and deep look at our scientific and philosophical thinking, at language as such, at science’s claim to truth, and at its methods, unity, limits and perspectives. These are the cornerstones structuring the book into six thematically self-contained chapters, rounded off by an epilogue that introduces the new topic of Nature’s semantics. The range of issues covered is a testimony to how progress in the life sciences is transforming the whole edifice of science, from physics to biology and beyond. The book is aimed at a broad academic and general readership; it requires no mathematical expertise.Table of Contents1. Language: Gateway to the World2. Truth: The Regulative Principle of Cognition3. Methods: Ways of Gaining Knowledge4. Unity: The Deep Structure of Science5. Limits: Insights into the Reach of Science6. Perspectives: Designing Living Matter7. Epilogue: Nature’s SemanticsAuthor IndexSubject Index

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Book SynopsisThis book, by an eminent scientist and philosopher, provides strong evidence for the claim that language is a general principle of Nature, rooted exclusively in physical and chemical laws. The author’s radical idea inevitably leads us to view the essence, origin and evolution of life in a completely new light. It shifts the coordinates of our scientific world-view in favor of an overarching concept of language that is able to bridge the gap between matter and mind. At the same time, it removes a blind spot in the Darwinian concept of evolution. To justify this far-reaching idea, the book takes a long and deep look at our scientific and philosophical thinking, at language as such, at science’s claim to truth, and at its methods, unity, limits and perspectives. These are the cornerstones structuring the book into six thematically self-contained chapters, rounded off by an epilogue that introduces the new topic of Nature’s semantics. The range of issues covered is a testimony to how progress in the life sciences is transforming the whole edifice of science, from physics to biology and beyond. The book is aimed at a broad academic and general readership; it requires no mathematical expertise.Table of Contents1. Language: Gateway to the World2. Truth: The Regulative Principle of Cognition3. Methods: Ways of Gaining Knowledge4. Unity: The Deep Structure of Science5. Limits: Insights into the Reach of Science6. Perspectives: Designing Living Matter7. Epilogue: Nature’s SemanticsAuthor IndexSubject Index

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Book SynopsisThis book explores how the eponymous and original Lingua Franca was recognized as a potential linguistic template for future military and colonial pidgins. The author traces the career trajectory of General Louis Faidherbe, a member of the French colonizing force in Algiers in the early 1830s and a recognized linguist, who rose up through the ranks in various African colonies and was the founder of regiments in West Africa, including the Senegal-based tirailleurs. Their artificially constructed military pidgin, Français Tirailleur, was a language modelled on the reduced grammar and lexicon of Lingua Franca. This book demonstrates the direct link between the two languages, as well as connections with other colonial pidgins in Asia that also derived to some extent from Lingua Franca. It will be of interest to students and scholars of language contact and language history, pidgins and creoles, and military and colonial history. Table of ContentsChapter 1: The evolution of Lingua Franca to Sabir and beyond.- Chapter 2: Louis Faidherbe, colonialist and linguist.- Chapter 3: Parallels of Sabir and Français Tirailleur.- Chapter 4: The mixed fortunes of Sabir.

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Book SynopsisThis textbook approaches the history of English from a theoretical perspective. The book provides a brief chronological overview describing the way in which the English language has changed over time from Old English to Modern English, while subsequent parts adopt a theoretical focus that is thematically organised to deal with the question of how and why English changed in the way it did, including a part addressing some specific contact-induced changes and key topics such as English as a Lingua Franca. Supported throughout with information boxes with empirical studies, the examples given are all drawn from English, but boxes with examples from other languages tie the development of the English language into changes in other contexts and settings. This book is an ideal resource for undergraduate students of the English Language and historical linguistics. Table of ContentsPart I Introduction.- So what had happened was….- Explaining language change.- Part II Sound change.- Phonetic change.- Phonological change.- Track changes.- Part III Contact-induced change.- Language contact.- Dialect contact.- Part IV Structural change.- Analogy.- Grammaticalisation.- Syntactic change.- The loss of case.

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Book SynopsisDespite their opposite emotional effects, humor and horror are highly similar phenomena. They both can be traced back to (the detection, resolution, and emotional elaboration of) incongruities, understood as semantic violations through unexpected combinations of oppositional information. However, theoretical and experimental comparisons between humor and resolvable incongruities that elicit other emotions than exhilaration have been lacking so far. To gain more insights into the linguistic differences between humor and horror and the cognitive real-time processing of both, a main concern of this book is to discuss the transferability of linguistic humor theories to a systematic horror investigation and directly compare self-paced reading times (SPR), facial actions (FACS), and event-related brain potentials (ERP) of normed minimal quadruplets with frightening and humorous incongruities as well as (in)coherent stimuli. The results suggest that humor and horror share cognitive resources to detect and resolve incongruities. To better distinguish humor from neighboring phenomena, this book refines current humor theories by incorporating humor and horror in a cognitive incongruity processing model.

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Book SynopsisWie sind Nominalgruppen aufgebaut? Welche Funktion haben Präpositionalgruppen? Wie werden komplexe Sätze analysiert? Der Band führt in die Grundlagen der Syntax ein und liefert Hintergründe und Anleitungen zur syntaktischen Analyse. Ausgehend von den Wörtern und ihren Eigenschaften erläutert der Autor die Struktur und Funktion von Wortgruppen sowie von einfachen und komplexen Sätzen. Weitere Kapitel widmen sich ausgewählten Konstruktionen wie Passiv, freien Dativen, Ellipsen etc. Ideale Einführung für BA-Studenten, aber auch als Nachschlagewerk bestens geeignet.

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Book SynopsisSprechen, Schreiben, Lesen, kommunikative Kompetenzen - die Einführung vermittelt die wesentlichen Kenntnisse zu allen Bereichen der Sprachdidaktik. Besonderes Augenmerk liegt auf den zentralen Arbeits- und Lernfeldern des Faches: mündlicher und schriftlicher Sprachgebrauch, Reflexion über Sprache sowie Textrezeption. Weitere Schwerpunktthemen sind der Sprachwandel, Standardsprache und Sprachvarietäten, Kommunikation im Unterricht, Mehrsprachigkeit sowie der Umgang mit neuen Medien. Die optimale Begleitung für BA-Studium und Master of Education.

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Book Synopsis¿Habla usted español? Auf den Spuren einer Weltsprache. Die Einführung vermittelt die Grundlagen der spanischen Sprachwissenschaft von der Phonetik, Morphologie über Syntax und Semantik bis zur Text- und Korpuslinguistik. Mit der Vielfalt des Spanischen beschäftigt sich die Varietätenlinguistik: mit den Regionalsprachen auf der iberischen Halbinsel, dem Spanischen in Lateinamerika und in den USA. Der sprachgeschichtliche Teil kümmert sich um das Gestern und Heute; es geht unter anderem um die Herausbildung des Spanischen und um Sprachwandelphänomene.

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Book SynopsisZuverlässiges Fundament für das Französischstudium. Ob Phonetik, Syntax, Semantik oder Sprachgeschichte der bewährte Band deckt alle Bereiche der französischen Sprachwissenschaft ab und erläutert die zentralen Grundbegriffe. Weitere Kapitel widmen sich den regionalen und sozialen Varietäten des Französischen sowie Minderheitensprachen und dem Französischen außerhalb Frankreichs. Ein Analyse-Beispiel führt die Anwendung des Gelernten vor. Für die vierte Auflage wurde der Band umfassend überarbeitet und aktualisiert. Erweitert wurden insbesondere die Kapitel zu Sprachverarbeitung, Korpuslinguistik und Sprachwandel. Im zweifarbigen Layout, mit Definitionen, Abbildungen, Grafiken und einem zweisprachigen Sachregister.

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Book SynopsisDiese Einführung informiert über die linguistischen Kerngebiete Lexikon und Morphologie , Phonologie , Syntax , Semantik und Pragmatik . Sie erläutert Grundbegriffe, illustriert sie an Beispielen aus dem Deutschen und gibt einen Einblick in die linguistische Theoriebildung. Kindlicher Spracherwerb und Sprachwandel - zwei Gebiete, die von großer Bedeutung für ein tieferes Verständnis der menschlichen Sprache sind - werden in weiteren Kapiteln vorgestellt. Mit Übungen, einem Glossar der wichtigsten Fachtermini, einer weiterführenden Schlussbibliographie und einem Sachregister. Für die 3. Auflage wurde der Band umfassend überarbeitet und aktualisiert.Trade Review“… Hervorzuheben ist die Verständlichkeit der Sprache und die inhaltliche Nachvollziehbarkeit der Ausführungen. ... das Buch ist in erster Linie als Grundlagenbuch für Studierende der Germanistik gemacht ... Wenn man zu dieser Zielgruppe gehört und eine fundierte Einführung als Basis für eine Weiterbeschäftigung oder zu einer Prüfungsvorbereitung braucht, dann ist dieses Buch empfehlenswert ...” (Informationen Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Jg. 44, Heft 2-3, 2017)

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Book SynopsisDer Spracherwerb ist ein Phänomen, das die Philosophie sowie die Natur- und Geisteswissenschaften zu immer neuen Erklärungsansätzen gebracht hat. Dieser Band charakterisiert die Stadien des Erstspracherwerbs von der Lautentwicklung bis zum Erwerb von Syntax und von diskursiven Fähigkeiten. Weitere Kapitel präsentieren die zentralen Erklärungsmodelle des Spracherwerbs. - Für die dritte Auflage wurde der Band aktualisiert und um neuere Forschungsergebnisse sowie Literaturhinweise erweitert. Jetzt in zweifarbiger Gestaltung.Table of ContentsDie Geschichte der Spracherwerbsforschung.- Das zu erklärende Phänomen.- Nativistische Konzeptionen des Erstspracherwerbs.- Kognitivistische Erklärungsmodelle.- Interaktionistische Erklärungsmodelle.- Anhang: Literaturverzeichnis, Personenregister

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Book SynopsisAnhand der leitenden Fragestellung Welche kognitiven Voraussetzungen und Prozesse machen die menschliche Sprachfähigkeit aus? bietet der Band eine umfassende Einführung in die Psycholinguistik. Er präsentiert die folgenden Teilgebiete: Sprachliches Wissen, Spracherwerb, Sprechen, Sprachverstehen sowie Störung und Krankheit des Sprachsystems. Eine umfangreiche Bibliographie und ein Sachregister schließen den Band ab. - Die dritte Auflage wurde vollständig neu bearbeitet sowie aktualisiert und berücksichtigt insbesondere neuere neurowissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse. Im zweifarbigen Layout.Table of ContentsPsycholinguistische und angrenzende Fragen.– Sprachliches Wissen.– Spracherwerb.– Sprechen.– Sprachverstehen.– Sprachstörungen.– Anhang: Literaturverzeichnis, Register

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Book SynopsisWas hat Liebe mit Recht zu tun? Wozu diente ein Reilenagel? Was ist ein Schnappreitel ? Diese und andere Fragen beantwortet das Deutsche Rechtswörterbuch, das neben juristischen Fachbegriffen auch Wörter der Alltagssprache in rechtlichem Kontext erklärt. Über 1.200 Jahre Wortgeschichte anhand von Belegen aus der gesamten westgermanischen Sprachfamilie.Table of ContentsVorwort.- Artikel "Spieß" bis "Stadtkanzlei​".

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Book SynopsisRhetorik-Renaissance an Hochschulen und in der Weiterbildung. Der Band führt ein in die Theorie und das System der Rhetorik, präsentiert rhetorische Gattungen, Argumentations- und Stiltheorie und dokumentiert den historischen Wandel. Das bewährte Standardwerk ist in der Neuauflage erweitert um ein Kapitel zur angewandten Rhetorik und auf den aktuellen Stand gebracht.

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