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What Language Is

Author : John McWhorter

Publisher : Penguin

Page : 242 pages

File Size : 31,22 MB

Release : 2013-02-12

Category : Language Arts & Disciplines

ISBN : 1101644451

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Book Description

New York Times bestselling author and renowned linguist, John McWhorter, explores the complicated and fascinating world of languages. From Standard English to Black English; obscure tongues only spoken by a few thousand people in the world to the big ones like Mandarin - What Language Is celebrates the history and curiosities of languages around the world and smashes our assumptions about "correct" grammar. An eye-opening tour for all language lovers, What Language Is offers a fascinating new perspective on the way humans communicate. From vanishing languages spoken by a few hundred people to major tongues like Chinese, with copious revelations about the hodgepodge nature of English, John McWhorter shows readers how to see and hear languages as a linguist does. Packed with Big Ideas about language alongside wonderful trivia, What Language Is explains how languages across the globe (the Queen's English and Surinam creoles alike) originate, evolve, multiply, and divide. Raising provocative questions about what qualifies as a language (so-called slang does have structured grammar), McWhorter also takes readers on a marvelous journey through time and place-from Persian to the languages of Sri Lanka- to deliver a feast of facts about the wonders of human linguistic expression.



The Loom of Language

Author : Frederick Bodmer

Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company

Page : 724 pages

File Size : 10,26 MB

Release : 1985

Category : Language Arts & Disciplines

ISBN : 9780393300345

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Book Description

Here is an informative introduction to language: its origins in the past, its growth through history, and its present use for communication between peoples. It is at the same time a history of language, a guide to foreign tongues, and a method for learning them. It shows, through basic vocabularies, family resemblances of languages -- Teutonic, Romance, Greek -- helpful tricks of translation, key combinations of roots and phonetic patterns. It presents by common-sense methods the most helpful approach to the mastery of many languages; it condenses vocabulary to a minimum of essential words; it simplifies grammar in an entirely new way; and it teaches a language as it is actually used in everyday life.



Why Language?

Author : Jacques Moeschler

Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Page : 261 pages

File Size : 46,94 MB

Release : 2021-08-23

Category : Language Arts & Disciplines

ISBN : 3110723387

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Book Description

There is, at present, no book introducing the general issue of why language is specific to human beings, how it works, why language is not communication and communication is not language, why languages vary and how they evolved. Based on the most recent works in linguistics and pragmatics, Why Language? addresses many questions that everyone has about language. Starting from false claims about language and languages, showing that language is not communication and communication is not language, the first part (Language and Communication) ends by proposing a difference between linguistic rules and communicative principles. The second part (Language, Society, Discourse) includes domains of language and language uses which are generally taken as extrinsic to language, such as language variety, discourse and non-ordinary (literary) usages. Special attention is given to figures of discourse (metaphor, metonymy, irony) and literary usages such as narration and free indirect style. The reader, either specialist or amateur in language science, will find a first and unique synthesis about what we know today about language and what we have yet to learn, sketching what could be the future of linguistics in the next decades.



The Truth about Language

Author : Michael C. Corballis

Publisher : University of Chicago Press

Page : 273 pages

File Size : 35,82 MB

Release : 2017-03-29

Category : Language Arts & Disciplines

ISBN : 022628719X

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Book Description

Background to the problem -- The Rubicon -- Language as miracle -- Language and natural selection -- The mental prerequisites -- Thinking without language -- Mind reading -- Stories -- Constructing language -- Hands on to language -- Finding voice -- How language is structured -- Over the Rubicon



Encyclopaedia Britannica

Author : Hugh Chisholm

Publisher :

Page : 1090 pages

File Size : 23,39 MB

Release : 1910

Category : Encyclopedias and dictionaries

ISBN :

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Book Description

This eleventh edition was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time and it is considered to be a landmark encyclopaedia for scholarship and literary style.



What Is Your Language?

Author : Debra Leventhal

Publisher : Putnam Juvenile

Page : 0 pages

File Size : 41,20 MB

Release : 1998-04

Category : Language and languages

ISBN : 9780140563153

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Book Description

Emphasizes that many different languages are spoken in different parts of the world, giving examples from French and German to Arabic and Spanish.



What Language Is

Author : John McWhorter

Publisher : Penguin

Page : 241 pages

File Size : 35,12 MB

Release : 2012-08-07

Category : Language Arts & Disciplines

ISBN : 159240720X

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Book Description

A love letter to languages, celebrating their curiosities and smashing assumptions about correct grammar An eye-opening tour for all language lovers, What Language Is offers a fascinating new perspective on the way humans communicate. from vanishing languages spoken by a few hundred people to major tongues like Chinese, and with copious revelations about the hodgepodge nature of English, John McWhorter shows readers how to see and hear languages as a linguist does. Packed with big ideas about language alongside wonderful trivia, What Language Is explains how languages across the globe (the Queen's English and Suriname creoles alike) originate, evolve, multiply, and divide. Raising provocative questions about what qualifies as a language (so-called slang does have structured grammar), McWhorter takes readers on a marvelous journey through time and place—from Persia to the languages of Sri Lanka—to deliver a feast of facts about the wonders of human linguistic expression.



Concise Compendium of the World's Languages

Author : George L. Campbell

Publisher : Routledge

Page : 681 pages

File Size : 44,31 MB

Release : 2003-09-02

Category : Foreign Language Study

ISBN : 1134720270

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Book Description

From Afrikaans to Zulu, almost 100 languages from the comprehensive Compendium of the World's Languages are featured in this new concise version. Many articles have been revised. The Concise Compendium presents a detailed comparative study of the major and many of the lesser known languages of the world. Included are representatives of all language families, with samples of Amerindian, such as Navajo and of African languages, such as Fulani and Nama; languages of politically independent groups in the former USSR, like Uzbek and Belorussian; those of political pressure groups, such as Breton and Catalan and significant community/ethnic languages, including Amharic and Vietnamese. Throughout, the treatment is factual and jargon-free. Articles are ordered alphabetically and each has a standard structure for ease of reference: * general historical and sociolinguistic introduction * writing system * sound system * grammatical system A passage from the Gospel of St. John illustrates each language with a written tradition. These scripts are explained in an appendix at the end of the book. Presents 100 of the world's major languages and representatives of different language groups, politically significant languages and particularly interesting ones.



What Is This Thing Called Language?

Author : David Nunan

Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing

Page : 272 pages

File Size : 17,84 MB

Release : 2012-11-01

Category : Language Arts & Disciplines

ISBN : 1137284994

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Book Description

Written by eminent linguist David Nunan, this concise text immerses readers in the complex, curious and continually evolving phenomenon that is at the centre of everything we do: language. It can be fascinating, puzzling and entertaining – and sometimes all of these at the same time. Featuring entertaining anecdotes and interesting examples throughout, this book introduces readers to the foundations of language, namely its sounds, words and grammar, before illustrating how language is used in different ways in a variety of contexts. Fully updated and revised for the second edition, it covers a wide range of topics, including language variation and culture, second language acquisition and bilingualism. Students, teachers and non-specialists alike will enjoy this engaging and 'un-put-down-able' introduction to language and linguistics. Assuming no prior knowledge of applied or theoretical linguistics, it will appeal to anyone with an interest in language. New to this Edition: - Illustrated with examples taken from a range of different languages - New content on language and culture, language variation, second language acquisition, bilingualism and the impact of globalization on language use



Language for Everybody

Author : Mario Pei

Publisher : New York : Devin-Adair

Page : 362 pages

File Size : 41,94 MB

Release : 1956

Category : Language and languages

ISBN :

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Book Description

"An introduction to the history, structure and usage of mankind's most important tool - communication. In this basic book on a basic subject, Dr. Mario Pei, one of the world's leading linguistic authorities, tells you what language is, how it began, what makes it grow and how you can make better use of it." --Google Books.