Local history and folklore often inform the naming of people and places. Does eThekwini mean "place of the lagoon" or "place of the single testicle"? How are the names of dogs used to accuse a neighbor of witchcraft? What is the origin of Jamludi? Is the Zulu isibongo the same as a surname? Zulu Names explores the meanings of and metaphors behind more than a thousand Zulu names grouped into different categories: from personal names and nicknames to clan names and praises; from place, homestead and regimental names to school and shop names; and from domestic animal and bird names to the names of the Zulu lunar months. For the more serious scholar, Zulu Names also contains ground-breaking research and onomastic material. This is an indispensable guide for anyone interested in Zulu language or culture, or in naming practices generally.

How can we explain metrical irregularities in Homeric phrases like ? What do such phrases tell us about the antiquity of the epic tradition? And how did doublet forms such as beside originate? In this book, you will find the first systematic and complete account of the syllabic liquids in Ancient Greek. It provides an up-to-date, comprehensive and innovative etymological treatment of material from all dialects, including Mycenaean. A new model of linguistic change in the epic tradition is used to tackle two hotly-debated problems: metrical irregularities in Homer (including muta cum liquida) and the double reflex. The proposed solution has important consequences for Greek dialect classification and the prehistory of Epic language and meter.

This is the first comprehensive description of Tutrugbu(Nyangbo-nyb), a Ghana Togo Mountain(gtm) language of the Kwa family. It is based on a documentary corpus of different genre of linguistic and cultural practices gathered during periods of immersion fieldwork. Tutrugbu speakers are almost all bilingual in Ewe, another Kwa language. The book presents innovative analyses of phenomena like Advanced Tongue Root and labial vowel harmony, noun classes, topological relational verbs, the two classes of adpositions, obligatory complement verbs, multi-verbs in a single clause, and information structure. This grammar is unparalleled in including a characterization of culturally defined activity types and their associated speech formulae and routine strategies. It should appeal to linguists interested in African languages, language documentation and typology.

"The echo of the stone/ where I carved the [Buddha's] honorable footprints/ reaches the Heaven, [...]". This book presents the transcription, translation, and analysis of Chinese (753 AD) and Japanese inscriptions (end of the 8th century AD) found on two stones now in the possession of the Yakushiji temple in Nara. All these inscriptions praise the footprints of Buddha, and more exactly their carvings in the stone. The language of the Japanese inscription, which consists of twenty-one poems, reflects the contemporary dialect of Nara. Its writing system shows a quite unique trait, being practically monophonic. The book is richly illustrated by photos of the temple and of the inscriptions.

Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of globalization and cultural openness. Owing to the ease of access to information facilitated by the internet, individuals' exposure to multiple languages is becoming increasingly frequent, thereby promoting a need to acquire successful methods in understanding language. Applied Psycholinguistics and Multilingual Cognition in Human Creativity is an essential reference source that discusses the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, use, comprehend, and produce language, as well as its applications in human development, the social sciences, communication theories, and infant development. Featuring research on topics such as international business, language processing, and organizational research, this book is ideally designed for linguists, psychologists, humanities and social sciences researchers, managers, and graduate-level students seeking coverage on language acquisition and communication.

The concept of meaning, since Frege initiated the linguistic turn in 1884, has been the subject of numerous theories, hypotheses, methodologies and distinctions. One distinction of considerable strategic value relates to the location of meaning: some aspects of meaning can be found in language and are modelled with semantic values of various kinds; some aspects of meaning can be found in communicative processes and are modelled with pragmatic inferences of one sort or another. One hypothesis of great heuristic utility concerns the relationship that is assumed between the semantic and the pragmatic. This collection of especially commissioned papers examines current thinking on the plausible nature of the semantic, the possible character of the pragmatic and the mechanics of their intersection.

The volume brings together contributions by scholars working in different theoretical frameworks interested in systematic explanation of language change and the interrelation between current linguistic theories and modern analytical tools and methodology. he integrative basis of all work is the special focus on phenomena at the interface of semantics and syntax and the implications of corpus-based, quantitative analyses for researching diachrony.

This work does not aim to be an etymological dictionary of Qur'anic Arabic, nor does it attempt to suggest some new genetic classification of the Semitic languages. Rather, it offers insights into the internal lexical relationships attested in a number of Semitic varieties. The work is based on a quantitative analysis of a substantial corpus of the Arabic lexicon with a view to investigating lexical relationships within a number of Semitic languages. Qur'anic Arabic is the source of a lexical mass comparison exercise involving Akkadian, Ugaritic, Aramaic, Syriac, Hebrew, Phoenician, Epigraphic South Arabian and Ge'ez. Moreover, the lexical links identified in this study are in themselves linguistic indicators of the various degrees of cultural proximity characterising the various Semitic languages.

For centuries, the literary heritage preserved in Icelandic medieval manuscripts has played a vital role in the self-image of the Icelandic nation. From the late eighteenth century, Icelandic scholars had better opportunities than previously to study and publish this material on their own terms. Throughout the long nineteenth century they were intensely engaged in philological work on it. This coincided with an increasing awareness among Icelanders of a separate nationality and their growing demand for autonomy. What was the connection between the two developments? This literature was also important for the shaping of identities among other Northern European nations. The twelve chapters of this collection explore the interplay between various national discourses that characterized the scholarly reception of this heritage during the period. Contributors are: Alderik H. Blom, Clarence E. Glad, Matthew James Driscoll, Gylfi Gunnlaugsson, Simon Halink, Hjalti Snaer AEgisson, Jon Gunnar Jorgensen, Annette Lassen, and Ragnheidur Mosesdottir.

What role does language play in the formation and perpetuation of our ideas about nationality and other social categories? And what role does it play in the formation and perpetuation of nations themselves, and of other human groups? Language and Nationality considers these questions and examines the consequences of the notion that a language and a nationality are intrinsically connected. Pietro Bortone illustrates how our use of language reveals more about us than we think, is constantly judged, and marks group insiders and group outsiders. Casting doubt on several assumptions common among academics and non-academics alike, he highlights how languages significantly differ among themselves in structure, vocabulary, and social use, in ways that are often untranslatable and can imply a particular culture. Nevertheless, he argues, this does not warrant the way language has been used for promoting a national outlook and for teaching us to identify with a nation. Above all, the common belief that languages indicate nationalities reflects our intellectual and political history, and has had a tremendous social cost. Bortone elucidates how the development of standardized national languages - while having merits - has fostered an unrealistic image of nations and has created new social inequalities. He also shows how it has obscured the history of many languages, artificially altered their fundamental features, and distorted the public understanding of what a language is.

Spelling and Writing Words: Theoretical and Methodological Advances provides a set of contributions about how individuals write words. Understanding word production is of major importance as it allows understanding how words -the basic elements of written language- are stored in the writers' brain and how do writers select the spelling of a word. < The theoretical chapters address hot topics in the field such as the role of phonology in writing, bilingualism, language disorders, orthographic acquisition, and the influence of handwriting on reading. The methodological chapters address individual differences, how to measure handwriting performance in different handwriting styles, and neuroscientific approaches. The concluding chapters explore the future of written word production research.

Professor Gyoergy Kara, an outstanding member of academia, celebrated his 80th birthday recently. His students and colleagues commemorate this occasion with papers on a wide range of topics in Altaic Studies, with a focus on the literacy, culture and languages of the steppe civilizations.