Do you know German already and want to go a stage further? If you're planning a visit to Germany, need to brush up your German for work, or are simply doing a course, Colloquial German 2 is the ideal way to refresh your knowledge of the language and to extend your skills. Colloquial German 2 is designed to help those involved in self-study; structured to give you the opportunity to listen to and read lots of modern, everyday German. It has also been developed to work systematically on reinforcing and extending your grasp of German grammar and vocabulary. Key features of Colloquial German 2 include: revision material to help consolidate and build up your basics a wide range of contemporary authentic documents, both written and audio lots of spoken and written exercises in each unit highlighted key structures and phrases a grammar reference and detailed answer keys Audio material to accompany the course is available to download free in MP3 format from www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials. Recorded by native speakers, the audio material features the dialogues and texts from the book and will help develop your listening and pronunciation skills.

The Dictionary of Hiberno-English is the leading reference book on Hiberno-English - the form of English commonly spoken in Ireland. It connects the spoken and the written language, and is a unique national dictionary that bears witness to Irish history, struggles and the creative identities found in Ireland. Reflecting the social, political, religious and financial changes of people's ever-evolving lives, it contains words and expressions not usually seen in a dictionary, such as 'kibosh', 'smithereens', 'Peggy's Leg', 'hames', 'yoke', 'blaa', 'banjax' and 'luban'. It is a celebration of an irrepressible gift for the creative, expressive and reckless manipulation of the English language! 'Fascinating' Ray D'Arcy

Drawing on an extensive corpus of original data, this comprehensive linguistic study of Jersey Norman French offers historical and dialectological sketches, an assessment of language planning on Jersey, and an account of language change in progress. Mari Catrin Jones evaluates four different types of linguistic influence found on contemporary Jersey, including the substrate influence of Jersey Norman French on Jersey English. Jones further establishes the relevance of Jersey Norman French to the field of language obsolescence.

This book will be of interest to postgraduates and researchers studying varieties of French, and language obsolescence and change.

African-American English: Structure, History and Use provides a comprehensive survey of linguistic research into African-American English. The main linguistic features are covered, in particular the grammar, phonology and lexicon. Further chapters explore the sociological, political and educational issues connected with African-American English.
The editors are the leading experts in the field and along with other key figures, notably William Labov, Geneva Smitherman and Walt Wolfram, they provide an authoritative, diverse guide to this topical subject area. Drawing on many contemporary references: the Oakland School controversy, the rap of Ice-T, the contributors reflect the state of current scholarship on African-American English, and actively dispel many misconceptions, address new questions and explore new approaches.
The book is designed to serve as a text for the increasing number of courses on African-American English and as a convenient reference for students of linguistics, black studies and anthropology at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Once upon a time, the worst words you could utter were short, simple and tended to be four letters in length. Now things are more complicated. To be insulted as a 'snowflake' or an 'expert' is arguably worse than being called a **** or a **** or even a ****. So what are today's 'bad words' and how are they different from yesterday's taboo expressions? This entertaining guide to the shifting sands of bad language is indispensable in an increasingly divided world in which abuse becomes ever more widespread and vituperative. Philip Gooden shows how and why taboo words and contentious expressions, including those four-letter ones, were first used in English. He discusses the ways such words have changed over the years and explores how a single syllable or two may possess an almost magical power to offend, distress or infuriate. Bad Words investigates the most controversial and provocative words in the English language in a way that is both anecdotal and analytical. Combining intrigue and scandal, the book delves into expressions connected to religion, ethnicity, nationality, politics, swearing and oaths, and includes contemporary issues like political correctness and elitism.

Winner, A Choice Outstanding Academic Book When the Oakland, California, school board called African American English "Ebonics" and claimed that it "is not a black dialect or any dialect of English," they reignited a debate over language, race, and culture that reaches back to the era of slavery in the United States. In this book, John Baugh, an authority on African American English, sets new parameters for the debate by dissecting and challenging many of the prevailing myths about African American language and its place in American society. Baugh's inquiry ranges from the origins of African American English among slaves and their descendants to its recent adoption by standard English speakers of various races. Some of the topics he considers include practices and malpractices for educating language minority students, linguistic discrimination in the administration of justice, cross-cultural communication between Blacks and whites, and specific linguistic aspects of African American English. This detailed overview of the main points of debate about African American language will be important reading for both scholars and the concerned public.

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An Introduction to American English" explains American English in the context of American life, history, and institutions, while also making comparisons with British English.

This book includes chapters on spelling, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary which discuss how the language reflects American lifestyles and how new words are created. Coverage also includes language use and politeness; regional, social, and ethnic dialects, such as African-American English; and language politics. Much of the material presented is viewed within the framework of American history, government and education. Every chapter is followed by a set of recommended readings and references, some of which include Internet resources. "

An Introduction to American English" is the ideal resource for non-native speakers and undergraduates studying of American English, as well as teachers of English as a second or foreign language.

Since World War I, the self-contained communities of Gaelic-speaking Scotland, characterised by collaborative effort and a robust sense of communal identity, have been transformed. Improved transport and communications have brought today's Gaelic speakers into the culture of mainstream Western society. Once an integral part of daily life, Gaelic singing has become an art form heard less at home than on concert platforms, at the Mod, and on commercial recordings, where a "good voice" and emotive style - neither part of the traditional aesthetic - help singers differentiate themselves in the traditional music marketplace. Written in an accessible style and providing guidance for those wishing to access audible examples, this book will help both scholars and general readers grasp the magnitude of change as it has transformed an important aspect of Scottish Gaelic culture.

Pidgins and Creoles have always attracted a great deal of interest - academic and otherwise - but in recent decades they have become increasingly important as a field of linguistic inquiry. Placing pidgins and creoles in the wider setting of linguistic theory, this book bridges the gap between introductory material and primary material, revising students' knowledge of the field as well as acquainting them with key areas of debate in pidgin and creole studies. The author provides a carefully balanced introduction to theoretical aspects of creolistics as well as an even-handed discussion of influences on pidgins and creoles which is well illustrated with rare examples of longer texts.

Like its predecessor, Dialects in Schools and Communities, this book illuminates major language-related issues that educational practitioners confront, such as responding to dialect related features in students' speech and writing, teaching Standard English, teaching students about dialects, and distinguishing dialect difference from language disorders. It approaches these issues from a practical perspective rooted in sociolinguistic research, with a focus on the research base for accommodating dialect differences in schools. Expanded coverage includes research on teaching and learning and attention to English language learners. All chapters include essential information about language variation, language attitudes, and principles of handling dialect differences in schools; classroom-based samples illustrating the application of these principles; and an annotated resources list for further reading. The text is supported by a Companion Website (www.routledge.com/cw/Reaser) providing additional resources including activities, discussion questions, and audio/visual enhancements that illustrate important information and/or pedagogical approaches. Comprehensive and authoritative, Dialects at School reflects both the relevant research bases in linguistics and education and educational practices concerning language variation. The problems and examples included are authentic, coming from the authors' own research, observations and interactions in public school classrooms, and feedback in workshops. Highlights include chapters on oral language and reading and writing in dialectally diverse classrooms, as well as a chapter on language awareness for students, offering a clear and compelling overview of how teachers can inspire students to learn more about language variation, including their own community language patterns. An inventory of dialect features in the Appendix organizes and expands on the structural descriptions presented in the chapters.

Pull up a bollard and get to know the colourful language of the Royal Canadian Navy. Do you ever get channel fever so bad only a great homeward bounders will cure you? Have you ever met Tug Wilson the brass-pounder, Dusty Miller the blanket stacker, or Nobby Clark the stoker? From aback to zizEX, the second edition of Jackspeak of the Royal Canadian Navy gives readers a chance to fill their boots with the colourful language of Canada's senior service. Learn the difference between duff and no duff, box kickers and gut robbers, and Nelson's blood and Neptune's dandruff. Newly revised and expanded, with over 2,500 terms included!

With this fifth volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English, readers now have the full panoply of American regional vocabulary, from Adam's housecat to Zydeco. Like the first four volumes, the fifth is filled with words that reflect our origins, migrations, ethnicities, and neighborhoods. Contradicting the popular notion that American English has become homogenized, DARE demonstrates that our language still has distinct and delightful local character. If a person lives in a remote place, would you say he's from the boondocks? Or from the puckerbrush, the tules, or the willywags? Where are you likely to live if you eat Brunswick stew rather than jambalaya, stack cake, smearcase, or kringle? What's your likely background if your favorite card game is hasenpfeffer? bid whist? sheepshead? Whether we are talking about foods, games, clothing, family members, animals, or almost any other aspect of life, our vocabulary reveals much about who we are. Each entry in DARE has been carefully researched to provide as complete a history of its life in America as possible. Illustrative citations extend from the seventeenth century through the twenty-first. More than 600 maps show where words were collected by the DARE fieldworkers. And quotations highlight the wit and wisdom of American speakers and writers. Recognized as the authoritative record of American English, DARE serves scholars and professionals of all stripes. It also holds treasures for readers who simply love our language.

Filling a gap in the literature currently available on the topic, this edited collection is the first examination of the interplay between urbanization, language variation and language change in fifteen major Arab cities.

The Arab world presents very different types and degrees of urbanization, from well established old capital-cities such as Cairo to new emerging capital-cities such as Amman or Nouakchott, these in turn embedded in different types of national construction. It is these urban settings which raise questions concerning the dynamics of homogenization/differentiation and the processes of standardization due to the coexistence of competing linguistic models. Topics investigated include:

• History of settlement
• The linguistic impact of migration
• The emergence of new urban vernaculars
• Dialect convergence and divergence
• Code-switching, youth language and new urban culture
• Arabic in the Diaspora
• Arabic among non-Arab groups.

Containing a broad selection of case studies from across the Arab world and featuring contributions from leading urban sociolinguistics and dialectologists, this book presents a fresh approach to our understanding of the interaction between language, society and space. As such, the book will appeal to the linguist as well as to the social scientist in general.

First published in 1933, this book explores both contemporary and historical slang, focusing on the characteristics and quirks of the English and American languages. As well as looking at commonly used slang, there are sections that give the reader insight into more unusual areas such as Cockney slang, slang in journalism and slang in commerce, as well as slang used by sailors, the law and the church. The book will be of interest to scholars and the general readers who take an interest in language.

An engaging look at the aphorism, the shortest literary form, across time, languages, and cultures Aphorisms-or short philosophical sayings-appear everywhere, from Confucius to Twitter, the Buddha to the Bible, Heraclitus to Nietzsche. Yet despite this ubiquity, the aphorism is the least studied literary form. What are its origins? How did it develop? Were the enigmatic sayings of charismatic sages the original "social media"? And why do some of our most celebrated modern philosophers use aphoristic fragments to convey their deepest ideas? In A Theory of the Aphorism, Andrew Hui crisscrosses histories and cultures to answer these questions and more. Encompassing literature, philology, and philosophy, A Theory of the Aphorism invites us to reflect anew on the meaning of this pithiest of literary forms.

This book brings into view the most enduring and distinctive philosophical current in South African history-one often obscured or patronized as Afrikaner liberalism. It traces this current of thought from nineteenth-century disputes over Dutch liberal theology through Stellenbosch existentialism to the prison writings of Breyten Breytenbach, and examines related themes in the work of Olive Schreiner, M. K. Gandhi, and Richard Turner. At the core of this tradition is a defence of free speech in its classical sense, as a virtue necessary for a good society, rather than in its modern liberal sense as an individual right. Out of this defence of free speech, conducted in the face of charges of heresy, treason, and immorality, a range of philosophical conceptions developed-of the self constituted in dialogue with others, of freedom as transcendence of the given, and of a dialectical movement of consciousness as it is educated through debate and action. This study shows the Socratic commitment to "following the argument where it leads," sustained and developed in the storm and stress of a peculiar modernity.

Languages and Dialects in the U.S. is a concise introduction to linguistic diversity in the U.S. for students with little to no background in linguistics. The goal of the editors of this collection of fourteen chapters, written by leading experts on the language varieties discussed, is to offer students detailed insight into the languages they speak or hear around them, grounded in comprehensive coverage of the linguistic systems underpinning them. The book begins with "setting the stage" chapters, introducing the sociocultural context of the languages and dialects featured in the book. The remaining chapters are each devoted to particular U.S. dialects and varieties of American English, each with problem sets and suggested further readings to reinforce basic concepts and new linguistic terminology and to encourage further study of the languages and dialects covered. By presenting students with both the linguistic and social, cultural, and political foundations of these particular dialects and variations of English, Languages and Dialects in the U.S. is the ideal text for students interested in linguistic diversity in the U.S., in introductory courses in sociolinguistics, language and culture, and language variation and change.

An engaging look at the aphorism, the shortest literary form, across time, languages, and cultures Aphorisms-or philosophical short sayings-appear everywhere, from Confucius to Twitter, the Buddha to the Bible, Heraclitus to Nietzsche. Yet despite this ubiquity, the aphorism is the least studied literary form. What are its origins? How did it develop? How do religious or philosophical movements arise from the enigmatic sayings of charismatic leaders? And why do some of our most celebrated modern philosophers use aphoristic fragments to convey their deepest ideas? In A Theory of the Aphorism, Andrew Hui crisscrosses histories and cultures to answer these questions and more. With clarity and precision, Hui demonstrates how aphorisms-ranging from China, Greece, and biblical antiquity to the European Renaissance and nineteenth century-encompass sweeping and urgent programs of thought. Constructed as literary fragments, aphorisms open new lines of inquiry and horizons of interpretation. In this way, aphorisms have functioned as ancestors, allies, or antagonists to grand systems of philosophy. Encompassing literature, philology, and philosophy, the history of the book and the history of reading, A Theory of the Aphorism invites us to reflect anew on what it means to think deeply about this pithiest of literary forms.

This is the first volume in a complete history of the documentation of English cant and slang from 1567 to the present. It gives unparalleled insights into the early history of slang, the people who used it, and how and why it was recorded.
Well over a hundred glossaries of cant and slang were published between 1567 and 1784. The cant lists reveal the secret language allegedly used by thieves and beggars to conceal their illicit conspiracies: Dr Coleman investigates where and how they were produced and the relationship between such lists and canting literature. She considers why this period was so fascinated by crime and by criminals, and apparently so obsessed with the need to record their language. How far, she asks, are the lists genuine records of contemporary cant, and how far the products of literary invention? Who produced them, and how were they researched? Who bought them, and what did they hope to gain from them? This absorbing and astute book will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in English slang and its history. It also provides unusual and unexpected insights into the underworlds of early modern England.

Studies of the very earliest form of language which can be called English, and its later influence. East Anglia - the easternmost area of England - was probably home to the first-ever form of language which can be called English. East Anglian English has had a very considerable input into the formation of Standard English, and contributed importantly to the development of American English and (to a lesser extent) Southern Hemisphere Englishes; it has also experienced multilingualism on a remarkable scale. However, it has received little attention from linguistic scholars over the years, and this volume provides an overdue assessment. The articles, by leading scholars in the field, cover all aspects of the English of East Anglia from its beginnings to the present day; topics include place names, non-standard grammar, dialect phonology, dialect contact, language contact, and a host of other issues of descriptive, theoretical, historical and sociolinguistic interest and importance. Professor JACEK FISIAKteaches in the Department of English at the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland; Professor PETER TRUDGILL is Chair of English Linguistics at the University of Fribourg. Contributors: PETER TRUDGILL, JACEK FISIAK, KARL INGE SANDRED, GILLIS KRISTENSSON, LAURA WRIGHT, CLAIRE JONES, TERTU NEVALAINEN, HELENA RAUMOLIN-BRUNBERG, KEN LODGE, DAVID BRITAIN, PATRICIA POUSSA

This book describes dialect differences in American English and their impact on education and everyday life. It explores some of the major issues that confront educational practitioners and suggests what practitioners can do to recognize students' language abilities, support their language development, and expand their knowledge about dialects. Topics addressed include: *popular concerns about the nature of language variation; *characteristic structures of different dialects; *various interactive patterns characteristic of social groups; *the school impacts of dialect differences in speaking, writing, and reading, including questions about teaching Standard English; and *the value of dialect education in schools to enable students to understand dialects as natural and normal language phenomena. Changesin the Second Edition: In this edition the authors reconsider and expand their discussion of many of the issues addressed in the first edition and in other of their earlier works, taking into account especially the research on dialects and publications for audiences beyond linguistics that have appeared since the first edition. This edition is offered as an updated report on the state of language variation and education in the United States. Dialects in Schools and Communities is rooted in questions that have arisen in workshops, surveys, classes, discussion groups, and conversations with practitioners and teacher educators. It is thus intended to address important needs in a range of educational and related service fields. As an overview of current empirical research, it synthesizes current understandings and provides key references-in this sense it is a kind of translation and interpretation in which the authors' goal is to bring together the practical concerns of educators and the vantage point of sociolinguistics. No background in linguistics or sociolinguistics is assumed on the part of the reader. This volume is intended for teacher interns and practicing teachers in elementary and secondary schools; early childhood specialists; specialists in reading and writing; speech/language pathologists; special education teachers; and students in various language specialties.

This book is the first full-scale scientific study of East Anglian English. The author is a native East Anglian sociolinguist and dialectologist who has devoted decades to the study of the speechways of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. He examines their relationships to other varieties of English in Britain, as well as their contributions to the formation of American English and Southern Hemisphere Englishes.