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.

The volume offers an up-to-date overview of the influence of English on Italian, bringing together the linguistic and the cultural dimensions. The history of language contact between Italy and Anglo-American societies is the basis for understanding lexical borrowing and for identifying the domains of vocabulary more intensely affected in time. Drawing on previous research and on existing lexicographic evidence, this book presents a typology of borrowings based on a new, usage-based word list of Italian Anglicisms which is part of a larger multilingual project (GLAD - Global Anglicism Database). The topics covered are the number of Anglicisms in Italian, their frequency in specialist fields and registers, the blurred area between borrowing and the circulation of international vocabulary, luxury loans and casuals. The book rounds up with the cultural debate on English-only education, which has recently stirred purist concerns, marking an attitudinal shift of Italian from an 'open' to a 'protectionist' language towards exogenous influences. This book is addressed primarily to scholars and university students, but also to a lay audience of non-experts, interested in the linguistic and cultural contacts between English and Italian.