Top-notch biblical scholars from around the world and from various Christian traditions offer a fulsome yet readable introduction to the Bible and its interpretation. The book concisely introduces the Old and New Testaments and related topics and examines a wide variety of historical and contemporary interpretive approaches, including African, African-American, Asian, and Latino streams. Contributors include N. T. Wright, M. Daniel Carroll R., Stephen Fowl, Joel Green, Michael Holmes, Edith Humphrey, Christopher Rowland, and K. K. Yeo, among others. Questions for reflection and discussion, an annotated bibliography, and a glossary are included.

Michael Moran is fascinated by the thinkers he discusses. But unlike most of them, he has no illusion that philosophy can do the work of science and be even a minor source of factual knowledge. Moreover, being highly speculative, it is unlikely that most philosophy will reveal more to us about the `nature of reality' than, say, imaginative literature. Among other things, the author considers both where the usefulness, and indeed the dangers, of philosophy may lie and how, as an academic subject, it might be practised. `I have written this volume not primarily for fellow academics but for anyone who is really interested in modern philosophy and who would like to know what another thoughtful reader has made of it. In other words, I still cling to the hope that there must somewhere exist an intelligent readership outside the routines of academia itself, consisting of individuals who are deeply concerned with ideas, are already reasonably informed, but feel the need for more stimulus. This book is primarily meant for them.' (Introduction, p. 9) Sir Isaiah Berlin, commenting on the author's article on Coleridge: `It seems to me to be one of the most perceptive pieces on Coleridge that I have ever read in English.'

The History of the English Language has been a standard university course offering for over 150 years. Yet relatively little has been written about teaching a course whose very title suggests its prodigious chronological, geographic, and disciplinary scope. In the nineteenth century, History of the English Language courses focused on canonical British literary works. Since these early curricula were formed, the English language has changed, and so have the courses. In the twenty-first century, instructors account for the growing prominence of World Englishes as well as the English language's transformative relationship with the internet and social media. Approaches to Teaching the History of the English Language addresses the challenges and circumstances that the course's instructors and students commonly face. The volume reads as a series of "master classes" taught by experienced instructors who explain the pedagogical problems that inspired resourceful teaching practices. Although its chapters are authored by seasoned teachers, many of whom are preeminent scholars in their individual fields, the book is designed for instructors at any career stage-beginners and veterans alike. The topics addressed in Approaches to Teaching the History of the English Language include: the unique pedagogical dynamic that transpires in language study; the course's origins and relevance to current university curricula; scholarly approaches that can offer an abiding focus in a semester-long course; advice about navigating the course's formidable chronological ambit; ways to account for the language's many varieties; and the course's substantial and pedagogical relationship to contemporary multimedia platforms. Each chapter balances theory and practice, explaining in detail activities, assignments, or discussion questions ready for immediate use by instructors.

Classical Traditions in Modern Fantasy is the first collection of essays in English focusing on how fantasy draws deeply on ancient Greek and Roman mythology, philosophy, literature, history, art, and cult practice. Presenting fifteen all-new essays intended for both scholars and other readers of fantasy, this volume explores many of the most significant examples of the modern genre-including the works of H. P. Lovecraft, J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones series, and more-in relation to important ancient texts such as Aeschylus' Oresteia, Aristotle's Poetics, Virgil's Aeneid, and Apuleius' The Golden Ass. These varied studies raise fascinating questions about genre, literary and artistic histories, and the suspension of disbelief required not only of readers of fantasy but also of students of antiquity. Ranging from harpies to hobbits, from Cyclopes to Cthulhu, and all manner of monster and myth in-between, this comparative study of Classics and fantasy reveals deep similarities between ancient and modern ways of imagining the world. Although antiquity and the present day differ in many ways, at its base, ancient literature resonates deeply with modern fantasy's image of worlds in flux and bodies in motion.

Yiddish, the language of Eastern-European Jews, has so far been mostly described as Germanic within the framework of the traditional, divergence-based Language Tree Model. Meanwhile, advances in contact linguistics allow for a new approach, placing the idiom within the mixed language spectrum, with the Slavic component playing a significant role. So far, the Slavic elements were studied as isolated, adstratal borrowings. This book argues that they represent a coherent system within the grammar. This suggests that the Slavic languages had at least as much of a constitutive role in the inception and development of Yiddish as German and Hebrew. The volume is copiously illustrated with examples from the vernacular language. With a contribution of Anna Pilarski, University of Szczecin.

This introductory guide to grammar explains one hundred basic grammatical terms. A knowledge of such terms, and how they interconnect, is crucial for an understanding of the structure and function of language. The explanations are listed alphabetically for easy reference, like a dictionary, but offer much more than a simple definition. Each entry is divided into sections, providing a clear explanation, examples, exercises, and highlighting the main contrasts and interrelationships between the terms. Many entries contain a ?for interest? section which sets out further fascinating points, often drawing on some of the more exotic languages of the world, or discussing important contemporary issues, such as dialects, standard language, and sexism in language. Clearly written and easy to use, this book will be an invaluable source of information for students of language and linguistics.

Elly van Gelderen provides examples of linguistic cycles from a number of languages and language families, along with an account of the linguistic cycle in terms of minimalist economy principles. A cycle involves grammaticalization from lexical to functional category followed by renewal. Some well-known cycles involve negatives, where full negative phrases are reanalyzed as words and affixes and are then renewed by full phrases again. Verbal agreement is another example: full pronouns are reanalyzed as agreement markers and are renewed again. Each chapter provides data on a separate cycle from a myriad of languages. Van Gelderen argues that the cross-linguistic similarities can be seen as Economy Principles present in the initial cognitive system or Universal Grammar. She further claims that some of the cycles can be used to classify a language as analytic or synthetic, and she provides insight into the shape of the earliest human language and how it evolved.

We live in a multilingual, transforming society in which language plays a dynamic and central role. We use it every day for communication and it is not possible to imagine life without it - it is generally recognised as a mark of what makes us human. But how often do we think about exactly what language is and how we actually use it? Language, society and communication introduces established and new linguistic concepts and theories, and links these to contemporary issues in society and the media, including new social media, with a particular focus on southern Africa. Language, society and communication explores how language is intricately bound up with issues of power, status and identity. It explores the tension between the diverse nature of everyday language practices, on the one hand, and the societal pressures towards managing and containing this diversity, on the other. It also demonstrates the relevance of linguistic study (e.g. phonology and syntax) to real world problems (e.g. analysis of a child's acquisition of language), within a southern African context. Study questions and case studies, which relate the theoretical ideas discussed to current research, are provided at the end of each chapter. Language, society and communication is aimed at undergraduate students studying linguistics, language and communication and related fields such as language education.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

This timely and engaging book examines the rise of populism across the globe. Combining insights from linguistics, argumentation theory, rhetoric, legal theory and political theory it offers a fully integrated characterization of the form and content of populist discourse. Throughout the book, eminent scholars address questions central to the topic, such as: how does populism manifest itself rhetorically; how does it relate to liberal democracy; and how can the populist challenge be confronted? Carefully selected case studies are used to examine how populist behaviour deviates from that which we would expect to be the norm in a liberal democracy, for example through the use of obnoxious language and refusal to substantiate vulgar claims. The book also provides key insights into more fundamental issues, such as the opposition between the 'real' people versus the elite and the longing for a 'Heimat'. Offering an in-depth analysis and evaluation at the intersection of language, law and politics, Vox Populi will be of great benefit to students and scholars from a range of disciplines.