This study presents an overview of the management of language in Singapore. It focuses on the use of language as a resource and as a means of furthering national cohesion. The relative positions of the two major languages, Chinese and English, are traced from colonial times to this century, with reference to education, literature, and the emergence of distinctive local speech varieties. Major government interventions in the form of the Speak Mandarin Campaign and the Speak Good English Movement are discussed against a background of ongoing changes to the education system. A major theme is the influence of Lee Kuan Yew on language policy. Another is the need to strike a balance between the concerns of the different speech communities, and the significance of this balance for the future.

This volume presents Middle English studies as a modern discipline which unites linguistics, literature, philology, the history of ideas, textual studies including recent developments in the study of text types and genres, as well as the sociohistorical perspective. This large variety of both traditional and new approaches is mirrored in the four main parts of the book, starting with texts and text types, and moving on to vocabulary, syntax and morphology, and finally phonology and orthography. Aspects of language contact as well as corpus linguistic studies are also addressed in a number of contributions. Author are leading experts in their fields, and come from the United States, South Africa, and all parts of Europe.

"Routledge Language Workbooks "provide absolute beginners with practical introductions to core areas of language study. Books in the series provide comprehensive coverage of the area as well as a basis for further investigation. Each "Language Workbook "guides the reader through the subject using 'hands-on' language analysis, equipping them with the basic analytical skills needed to handle a wide range of data. Written in a clear and simple style, with all technical concepts fully explained, "Language Workbooks "can be used for independent study or as part of a taught class.
"Dialects":
* introduces the many dialects of English spoken in the United Kingdom
* reveals the key issues that dialectology engages with
* uses both the international phonetic alphabet and simple representations of sounds to explain pronunciations
* involves readers in collecting data
* contains numerous illustrative maps
* is written in a lively and engaging style, with information on 'posh and less-posh' dialects and spotting your dialect area.

Topic of this volume is Pomattertitsch, a German dialect which is doomed to extinction. This Allemanic (Walser) dialect is spoken at Formazza, a tiny Alpine community in Italy, and after centuries of semi-secluded existence is now undergoing major transformations due to the rapidly declining number of its speakers and the limited range of its functions. Within the framework of language decay and death this analysis focuses on phenomena of linguistic variation at a morphosyntactic level. This comprehensive study includes a large body of spoken data collected from informants of different age groups and with different levels of language fluency and thus displays a unique picture of an endagered language.

The Intertext series has been specifically designed to meet the needs of contemporary English Language Studies. Working with Texts: A Core Introduction to Language Analysis (second edition 2001) is the foundation text, which is complemented by a range of 'satellite titles. These provide students with hands-on practical experience of textual analysis through special topics, and can be used individually or in conjunction with Working with Texts.
Language Change:

• examines the way external factors have influenced and are influencing language change, focusing on how changing social contexts are reflected in language use
• explores the attitudes, values and assumptions that shape the way we use language
• looks at how language change operates within different genres, such as problem pages, sports reports and recipes
• provides lively examples from everyday communication, including letters, emails, postcards and text messages
• includes a unit on how new words are formed and features a full glossary.

Keep your swearing as fresh as a f*cking daisy with The Little Book of Profanities. There's nothing better than that perfect swear word. In a battle of wits, it can make all the difference. And, like all things in life, variety is the spice of swear words. Why call someone a d*ck, when a choad is so much more - satisfying. Stuffed with 100 of the obscene, offensive and outrageous swear words known to construction workers all over the world, The Little Book of Profanities encourages you to flex and stretch your foul-mouthed muscles so when that awesome opportunity to use a big, hairy curse word arises you're not hoisted by your own petard. In these uncertain and challenging times of political and social chaos, when all you want to do is shout obscenities at the world for being crap, The Little Book of Profanities is here to help you survive the day in style. Swearing - it's big, it's clever and anyone who thinks otherwise can f*ck off. 'The sort of twee person who thinks swearing is in any way a sign of a lack of education or a lack of verbal interest is just a f*cking lunatic.' Stephen Fry on the joy of swearing, as seen on theguardian.com, 20 August 2007, by Sam Wollaston. Fact: The word's etymology can be traced back to around 450AD when scite (dung), scitte (diarrhoea) and scitan (to defecate) were all thrown about. Sh*t evolved millennia later into schitte (excrement) and shiten (to defecate). Example: 'Life is a crap carnival with sh*t prizes.' - Stephen King.

The Indo-Aryan languages, spoken by at least 700 million people in the Republic of India, in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldive Islands, and in countries where immigrants from South Asia have settled, constitute a major group within the Indo-European family. They have a claim to great antiquity, with the earliest Vedic Sanskrit texts dating to the end of the second millennium B.C. This language family supplies a historical documentation of language change over a longer period than any other subgroup of Indo-European. Further, the interaction between Indo-Aryan and Dravidan, Munda, and Tibeto-Burmese languages as well as Arabic and other Indo-European languages affords a rich field of study for borrowing and adaptation. Major features of Indo-Aryan languages have been described before, but there is a need for a synoptic treatment of these languages.

This volume presents the results of a research team of the University of Bergamo, whose aim was the analysis of verbal modality in the Helsinki corpus. This corpus includes a large selection of texts compiled in Middle English and Early Modern En

Polari is a secret form of language mainly used by homosexual men in London and other cities during the twentieth century. Derived in part from the slang lexicons of numerous stigmatised and itinerant groups, Polari was also a means of socialising, acting out camp performances and reconstructing a shared gay identity and worldview among its speakers. This book examines the ways in which Polari was used in order to construct 'gay identities', linking its evolution to the changing status of gay men and lesbians in the UK over the past fifty years.

eBook available with sample pages: 020316704X

Series Information:
RoutledgeCurzon Arabic Linguistics Series

Despite the advances of radio and television and increasing mobility and urbanization, spoken English is by no means becoming more like the written standard. English dialect grammar, however, is still a new and relatively undeveloped area of research, and most studies to date are either restricted regionally, or based on impressionistic statements. This book provides the first thorough empirical study of the field of non-standard negation across Great Britain.


eBook available with sample pages: 0203167503

Western Words has 5,000 words of cowboy language as vibrant now as it was in the old American frontier. "Within the cowman's figures of speech lie the rich field of his subtle humor and strength-unique, original, full-flavored. With his usually limited education he squeezes the juice from language, molds it to suit his needs, and is a genius at making a verb out of anything. He 'don't have to fish 'round for no decorated language to make his meanin' clear, ' and has little patience with the man who 'spouts words that run eight to the pound.' Perhaps the strength and originality in his speech are due to the solitude, the nearness of the stars, the bigness of the country, and the far horizons-all of which give him a chance to think clearly and go into the depths of his own mind. Wide spaces 'don't breed chatterboxes.' On his long and lonely rides, he is not forced to listen to the scandal and idle gossip that dwarf a man's mind. Quite frequently he has no one to talk to but a horse..." -from the author's Introduction

Creolization of Language and Culture is the first, fully revised, English edition of Robert Chaudenson's landmark text Des îles, des hommes, des langues.
Referring to the main varieties of creole French, Chaudenson argues against the traditional account of the origins of creoles for a more sophisticated view which takes account of the peculiar linguistic and social factors at play in colonial societies.
This is an accessible book which makes an important contribution to the study of pidgin and creole language varieties, as well as to the development of contemporary European languages outside Europe.
Key features include:
*Analysis of current debates on the development of creoles
*Discussion of many aspects of human culture including music, medicine, cooking, magic and folklore
*Translation into English of all French sources from which Chaudenson quotes extensively

Multi-Dimensional studies (MD) is a new statistical approach to language variation developed by Doug Biber. The methodology involved in this approach means that for the first time, using corpora of spoken and written language from different periods, we can demonstrate how language varies from one type of text to another, for example, how American style varies from British. Doug Biber begins Variation in English: Multi-Dimensional Studies with a discussion of the methodology required and emphasizes the new insights into language variation and use that can be gained from the MD approach.

The book series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur romanische Philologie, founded by Gustav Groeber in 1905, is among the most renowned publications in Romance Studies. It covers the entire field of Romance linguistics, including the national languages as well as the lesser studied Romance languages. The editors welcome submissions of high-quality monographs and collected volumes on all areas of linguistic research, on medieval literature and on textual criticism. The publication languages of the series are French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian as well as German and English. Each collected volume should be as uniform as possible in its contents and in the choice of languages.

We rarely speak or even write in the complete sentences that are often held to be the ideal form of linguistic communication. Language is, in fact, full of gaps, because speakers and writers operate in contexts which allow bits of language to be understood rather than expressed. This book systematically analyses this inherent gappiness of language, known as ellipsis, and provides an account of the different contexts, both linguistic and situational, which affect its use. Peter Wilson draws on a wide variety of examples of spoken and written English, and both literary and non-literary to present a comprehensive classification of elliptical language that ranges from the conversational fragment and the advertisement to the dialogue of Shakespeare and imagist poetry. Mind the Gap shows how ellipsis is a feature of major structural and stylistic importance to our understanding of spoken and written language, and will be of interest to undergraduate students of linguistics, literature, communication and the interrelations between them..

Irish English, also termed 'Anglo-Irish' or 'Hiberno-English', as in this book, is not usually perceived as having a grammatical system of its own. Markku Filppula here challenges this misconception and offers a descriptive and contact-linguistic account of the grammar of Hiberno-English.
Drawing on a wide range of authentic materials documenting Hiberno-English dialects past and present Filppula examines:
* the most distinctive grammatical features of these dialects
* relationships with earlier and other regional varieties of English
* the continuing influence of the Irish language on Hiberno-English
* similarities between Hiberno-English and other Celtic-influenced varieties of English spoken in Scotland and Wales
The Grammar of Irish English is a comprehensive empirical study which will be an essential reference for scholars of Hiberno-English and of value to all those working in the field of Germanic linguistics.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203029380

The Spanish Language Today describes the varied and changing Spanish language at the end of the twentieth century. Suitable for introductory level upward, this book examines:
* where Spanish is spoken on a global scale
* the status of Spanish within the realms of politics, education and media
* the standardisation of Spanish
* specific areas of linguistic variation and change
* how other languages and dialects spoken in the same areas affect the Spanish language
* whether new technologies are an opportunity or a threat to the Spanish language.
The Spanish Language Today contains numerous extracts from contemporary press and literary sources, a glossary of technical terms and selected translations.

The Spanish Language Today describes the varied and changing Spanish language at the end of the twentieth century. Suitable for introductory level upward, this book examines:
* where Spanish is spoken on a global scale
* the status of Spanish within the realms of politics, education and media
* the standardisation of Spanish
* specific areas of linguistic variation and change
* how other languages and dialects spoken in the same areas affect the Spanish language
* whether new technologies are an opportunity or a threat to the Spanish language.
The Spanish Language Today contains numerous extracts from contemporary press and literary sources, a glossary of technical terms and selected translations.

Series Information:
One World Archaeology

Archaeology and Language I represents groundbreaking work in synthesizing two disciplines that are now seen as interlinked: linguistics and archaeology. This volume is the first of a three-part survey of innovative results emerging from their combination.
Archaeology and historical linguistics have largely pursued separate tracks until recently, although their goals can be very similar. While there is a new awareness that these disciplines can be used to complement one another, both rigorous methodological awareness and detailed case-studies are still lacking in literature. Archaeology and Language I aims to fill this lacuna.
Exploring a wide range of techniques developed by specialists in each discipline, this first volume deals with broad theoretical and methodological issues and provides an indispensable background to the detail of the studies presented in volumes II and III. This collection deals with the controversial question of the origin of language, the validity of deep-level reconstruction, the sociolinguistic modelling of prehistory and the use and value of oral tradition.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203205839

Taming the Vernacular: From Dialect to Written Standard Language examines the differences between 'standard' and 'nonstandard' varieties of several different languages. Not only are some of the best-known languages of Europe represented here, but also some that have been less well-researched in the past. The chapters address the syntax of Dutch, English, French, Finnish, Galician, German and Spanish. For these languages, and many others, it is the standard varieties on which the most extensive syntactic research has been carried out, with the result that very little is known about the syntax of their dialects or the spoken colloquial varieties. The editors of this volume seek to redress the balance by taking a cross-linguistic perspective on the historical development of the standardised varieties. This allows them to identify some common characteristics of spoken language. It also helps the reader to understand the kinds of filtering processes that are involved in standardization, which result in the syntax of spoken colloquial language being different from the syntax of the standard varieties. Taming the Vernacular: From Dialect to Written Standard Language is suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Linguistics, particularly those taking courses in sociolinguistics, dialectology, and historical linguistics. The focus on a variety of languages also makes this text suitable for students studying courses which cover the linguistic aspects of European languages.

This book makes accessible the major structural features of the dialects of Italy and emphasises the importance of a detailed understanding of the dialects for issues in general linguistic theory. Selected contents include:
* Phonology
* Morphology
* Syntax
* Lexis
* The Dialect Areas * Sociolinguistics of Dialects
Contributors: Paola Benica; Gaetano Berruto; Guglielmo Cinque; Michela Cennamo; Patrizia Cordin; Thamas Cravens; Marie-Jose Dalbera Stefanaggi; Franco Fanciullo; Werner Forner; Luciano Giannelli; John Hajek; Hermann Haller; Robert Hastings; Michael Jones; Michele Loporcaro; Martin Maiden; Marco Mazzoleni; Zarko Miljacic; Mair Parry; Cecilia Poletto; Lorenzo Renzi; Lori Repetti; Giovanni Ruffino; Giampaolo Salvi; Glauco Sanga; Leonardo Savoia; Alberto Sobrero; Rosanna Sornicola; Tullio Telmon; John Trumper; Edward Tuttle; Alberto Valvaro; Laura Vanelli; Ugo Vignuzzi; Nigel Vincent; Irene Vogel.

The English language in the Renaissance was in many ways a collection of competing Englishes. Paula Blank investigates the representation of alternative vernaculars - the dialects of early modern English - in both linguistic and literary works of the period. Blank argues that Renaissance authors such as Spenser, Shakespeare, and Jonson helped to construct the idea of a national language, variously known as "true" English or "pure" English or the "King's English", by distinguishing its dialects - and sometimes by creating those dialects themselves. Broken English reveals how the Renaissance "invention" of dialect forged modern alliances of language and cultural authority. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of Renaissance studies and Renaissance English literature. It will also make fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in the history of the English language.