Language has no counterpart in the animal world. Unique to Homo sapiens, it appears inseparable from human nature. But how, when and why did it emerge? The contributors to this volume - linguists, anthropologists, cognitive scientists, and others - adopt a modern Darwinian perspective which offers a bold synthesis of the human and natural sciences. As a feature of human social intelligence, language evolution is driven by biologically anomalous levels of social cooperation. Phonetic competence correspondingly reflects social pressures for vocal imitation, learning, and other forms of social transmission. Distinctively human social and cultural strategies gave rise to the complex syntactical structure of speech. This book, presenting language as a remarkable social adaptation, testifies to the growing influence of evolutionary thinking in contemporary linguistics. It will be welcomed by all those interested in human evolution, evolutionary psychology, linguistic anthropology, and general linguistics.

The decision by the Oakland, California school board to declare "Ebonics" as the official language of their African-American students unleashed a firestorm of controversy with overtly racial overtones. While the vast majority of linguists were caught off guard by these events, equivocating over technical distinctions between "a language" and "a dialect", journalists, legislators, and the public demanded to know more about "Ebonics", and the controversial claims that were asserted by its proponents. John Baugh, a leading authority on African-American English, sifts through the volatile circumstances and evidence that triggered this debate, including the origin of Ebonics, and provides detailed comparisons of the notorious resolutions that brought it to global attention.

There are some 6,500 different languages in the world; they belong to around 250 distinct families and conform to numerous grammatical types. This book investigates why diversity arose, how it relates to the origins and evolution of language and culture, and whether the uneven distribution of human languages may be linked with patterns of human geography and history. Daniel Nettle draws on work in anthropology, linguistics, geography, archaeology, and evolutionary science to explain linguistic diversity. He writes clearly and accessibly: his book will appeal broadly across the human and natural sciences, as well as to the informed general reader.

This study focuses on the cognitive processes involved in creole genesis: relexification, reanalysis, and direct leveling. The role of these processes is documented by a detailed comparison of Haitian creole with its two major contributing languages, French and Fongbe, to illustrate how mechanisms from source languages show themselves in creole. The author examines the input of adult, as opposed to child, speakers and resolves the problems in the three main approaches, universalist, superstratist and substratist, which have been central to the recent debate on creole development.

Diachronic Prototype Semantics is concerned with the theory of explanation of changes in word meaning. The author demonstrates the explanatory value of the prototype model of meaning, in which the distinction between central and peripheral senses of a word is crucial.

In the most reliable and readable guide to effective writing for the Americans of today, Wilson answers questions of meaning, grammar, pronunciation, punctuation, and spelling in thousands of clear, concise entries. His guide is unique in presenting a systematic, comprehensive view of language as determined by context. Wilson provides a simple chart of contexts -- from oratorical speech to intimate, from formal writing to informal -- and explains in which contexts a particular usage is appropriate, and in which it is not.

The Columbia Guide to Standard Written American English provides the answers to questions about American English the way no other guide can with:

* an A--Z format for quick reference;

* over five thousand entries, more than any other usage book;

* sensible and useful advice based on the most current linguistic research;

* a convenient chart of levels of speech and writing geared to context;

* both descriptive and prescriptive entries for guidance;

* guidelines for nonsexist usage;

* individual entries for all language terms.

A vibrant description of how our language is being spoken and written at the end of the twentieth century -- and how we ourselves can use it most effectively -- The Columbia Guide to Standard American English is the ideal handbook to language etiquette: friendly, sensible, and reliable.

Although the large Hispanic community of Los Angeles is basically a geographically stable urban community, bound by historical, social, linguistic, and cultural factors, both its boundaries and its internal structure are impermanent and undergoing constant change. In this original study of Spanish-English bilinguals in Los Angeles County, Carmen Silva-Corvalan explores in depth the linguistic, cognitive, and social processes underlying language maintenance, as well as changes characteristic of language shift and loss. She brings together analytical techniques employed in sociolinguistics, functional syntax, and discourse analysis.

This dictionary, first published in 1994, is a vast collection of English words and multiword lexical units borrowed from the German language. It contains over 6,000 entries. This dictionary also includes the first recorded date of the German loan in English, the semantic area, variant forms, etymology, a definition of the English word, a listing of derivative forms and often grammatical comment for each word. It also provides original, nontechnical essays on the chronological sequencing of German loans in English and their relationship to historical events and people, and on the linguistic phenomena, processes and concepts involved in borrowing. The entries in this dictionary will intrigue cultural historians. Students of the history of the English language and of language contact and change will find the book invaluable. Essential for German-language scholars and historians with a special interest in German influence on Anglo-American culture.

"Rich and powerful—and funky and bold—dissects black writing and speech, its grammar and history, its controversy, and the media coverage of it. . . . A book that’s truly da bomb."—Geneva Smitherman

"The language, only the language. . . . It’s a love, a passion. Its function is like a preacher’s: to make you stand up out of your seat, make you lose yourself and hear yourself. The worst of all possible things that could happen would be to lose that language."—Toni Morrison (1981)

Claude Brown called it "Spoken Soul." Legendary author James Baldwin referred to it as "incredible music." Writers from Paul Laurence Dunbar to Toni Morrison and Alice Walker have employed it to fully convey the experiences of black America.

In Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English, scholar and linguistics expert John R. Rickford and journalist Russell J. Rickford offer a fascinating, definitive history of the use of Black English in literature, the performing arts, religion, and everyday conversation. The Rickfords also explore America’s love/hate relationship with Black English and its role in our ongoing dialogue about why and how race matters.

From our embrace of Black English as the language of jazz, funk, hip-hop, and rap, to the media-fanned furor surrounding proposals to use Ebonics as a springboard to teaching Standard English, Black English is as deeply rooted in America’s politics as it is in America’s culture. The Rickfords scrupulously show how education, the media, and society have been affected by the power and tenacity of Spoken Soul.

If you love words or are interested in the connection between language and identity, Spoken Soul will intrigue and enlighten you.

"Spoken Soul brilliantly fills a huge gap. . . a delightfully readable introduction to the elegant interweave between the language and its culture, its admirable linguistic structure, its multifaceted history, and its potential use in education."—Ralph W. Fasold, Georgetown university
"Spoken Soul provides a profound portrait of the power, passion, and poignancy of Black English beyond the Ebonics controversy and the perplexing paradox of linguistic prejudice."—John Baugh, Stanford University, author of Black Street Speech

In Praise of African American Vernacular English
"It possesses a pronounced lyrical quality which is frequently incompatible with any music other than that ceaselessly and relentlessly driving rhythm from poignantly spent lives."—Claude Brown (1968)

" . . . this passion, this skill, this incredible music." —James Baldwin (1978)

"Three qualities of Black English—the presence of life, voice, and clarity—testify to a distinct black value system."—June Jordan (1985)

"That mainstream English is essential to our self-preservation is indisputable. . . but it is not necessary to abandon Spoken Soul to master Standard English, any more than it is necessary to abandon English to learn French or to deprecate jazz to appreciate classical music."—John R. Rickford and Russell J. Rickford (2000)

The Cambridge Thesaurus of American English is an original and up-to-date collection of over 200,000 synonyms and antonyms for the most commonly used words and phrases in contemporary American English. Compiled by renowned expert on American language use and author of Doublespeak, William Lutz, the Thesaurus is alphabetically arranged, and designed to give the user quick access to a coherent set of synonyms and antonyms. The Cambridge Thesaurus provides a brief list of common, usable synonyms organized according to their frequency of use and their meaning. In those cases where the distinction between senses of a word is not clear, a brief definition is provided. Any synonyms that are slang or that have restricted usage are clearly labeled to that effect. Concise and readable yet complete and reliable, The Cambridge Thesaurus will be the ideal desktop reference for high school and college students, office personnel, and anyone else in search of that perfect word.

American Speech, the journal of the American Dialect Society has for fifty years included a regular collection of neologisms called "Among the New Words." A recent issue, for example, includes four quotations for "date rape," two for "designated driver," and six for "DNA fingerprinting," "intifada," and other current terms. Complete documentation is given for all citations, which are fuller than those given in most dictionaries and both British and American sources have been consulted. At the time these terms appeared in "Among the New Words," they appeared in none of the major dictionaries. A survey of "Among the New Words" can therefore reveal much about the origin and early use of these expressions and the social climate in which they prospered. Now for the first time, this valuable resource will be available in one volume. The original articles themselves are reproduced and John Algeo has prepared a complete index, with glossary, to every word and expression included in the 113 installments of "Among the New Words." In addition, he has written several introductory essays exploring both the linguistic and social implications of new words as revealed in this collection. No other collection of new words has been so systematically compiled over such a long period, demonstrating changing word patterns and social norms over five decades. None has been prepared with such thorough and accurate documentation. It is a unique repository of language use from 1941-1991. John Algeo currently co-edits "Among the New Words."

American Speech, the journal of the American Dialect Society has for fifty years included a regular collection of neologisms called "Among the New Words." A recent issue, for example, includes four quotations for "date rape," two for "designated driver," and six for "DNA fingerprinting," "intifada," and other current terms. Complete documentation is given for all citations, which are fuller than those given in most dictionaries and both British and American sources have been consulted. At the time these terms appeared in "Among the New Words," they appeared in none of the major dictionaries. A survey of "Among the New Words" can therefore reveal much about the origin and early use of these expressions and the social climate in which they prospered. Now for the first time, this valuable resource will be available in one volume. The original articles themselves are reproduced and John Algeo has prepared a complete index, with glossary, to every word and expression included in the 113 installments of "Among the New Words." In addition, he has written several introductory essays exploring both the linguistic and social implications of new words as revealed in this collection. No other collection of new words has been so systematically compiled over such a long period, demonstrating changing word patterns and social norms over five decades. None has been prepared with such thorough and accurate documentation. It is a unique repository of language use from 1941-1991. John Algeo currently co-edits "Among the New Words."

"Bastard Tongues "is an exciting, firsthand story of scientific discovery in an area of research close to the heart of what it means to be human--what language is, how it works, and how it passes from generation to generation, even where historical accidents have made normal transmission almost impossible. The story focuses on languages so low in the pecking order that many people don't regard them as languages at all--Creole languages spoken by descendants of slaves and indentured laborers in plantation colonies all over the world. The story is told by Derek Bickerton, who has spent more than thirty years researching these languages on four continents and developing a controversial theory that explains why they are so similar to one another. A published novelist, Bickerton (once described as "part scholar, part swashbuckling man of action") does not present his findings in the usual dry academic manner. Instead, you become a companion on his journey of discovery. You learn things as he learned them, share his disappointments and triumphs, explore the exotic locales where he worked, and meet the colorful characters he encountered along the way. The result is a unique blend of memoir, travelogue, history, and linguistics primer, appealing to anyone who has ever wondered how languages grow or what it's like to search the world for new knowledge.

GET D!RTY
Next time you're traveling or just chattin' in French with your friends, drop the textbook formality and bust out with expressions they never teach you in school, including:
-Cool slang
-Funny insults
-Explicit sex terms
-Raw swear words
"Dirty French" teaches the casual expressions heard every day on the streets of France:
-What's up?
ca va?
-He's totally hot.
Il est un gravure de mode.
-That brie smells funky.
Ce brie sent putain de drole.
-I'm gonna get ripped!
Je vais me fracasser!
-I gotta piss.
Je dois pisser.
-The ref is fucking asshole.
L'arbitre est un gros enaele!
-Wanna try doggy-style?
Veux-tu faire l'amour en levrette?

Audio recordings of English are available from the first half of the twentieth century and thus complement the written data sources for the recent history of the language. This book is the first to bring together a team of globally recognised scholars to document and analyse these early recordings in a single volume. Looking at examples of regional varieties of English from England, Scotland, Ireland, the USA, Canada and other anglophone countries, the volume explores both standard and vernacular varieties, and demonstrates how accents of English have changed between the late nineteenth century and the present day. The socio-phonetic examinations of the recordings will be of interest to scholars of historical linguistics, the history of the English language, language variation and change, phonetics, and phonology.

'Greatly enjoyable' GUARDIAN 'It is always exhilarating to read a book which says what so many of us think' SPECTATOR 'Timely and lively' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'Let us be very clear about this from the start: John Humphrys is a Good Thing' EVENING STANDARD * * * * * * From Today programme presenter and national treasure John Humphrys, the bestselling cry in book form for better English and an expose of the political uses and abuses of language. From empty cliche to meaningless jargon, dangling participle to sentences without verbs, the English language is reeling. It is under attack from all sides. Politicians dupe us with deliberately evasive language. Bosses worry about impacting the bottom line while they think out of the box. Academics talk obscure mumbo jumbo. Journalists and broadcasters, who should know better, lazily collaborate. In his bestselling Lost for Words, Today presenter and national treasure John Humphrys wittily and powerfully exposes the depths to which our beautiful language has sunk and offers many examples of the most common atrocities. He also dispenses some sensible guidance on how to use simple, clear and honest language. Above all, he shows us how to be on the alert for the widespread abuse - especially by politicians - and the power of the English language.

This audio recording, which accompanies the Luath Scots Language Learner book, conveys the authentic pronunciation, especially important to readers from outside Scotland. It is suitable as an introductory course or for those interested in reacquainting themselves with the language of childhood and grandparents. There are dictionaries and grammar books but this is the first-ever language course. The book assumes no prior knowledge on the reader's part. Starting from the most basic vocabulary and constructions, the reader is guided step-by-step through Scots vocabulary and the subtleties of grammar and idiom that distinguish Scots from English.

The Pocket Scots Dictionary, based on the Concise Scots Dictionary, provides information on Scots language for the general public and for schools in a compact and user-friendly form. * Scots words old and new, general and local * Clear, simple definitions * Pronunciation guide for difficult words * Literary uses as in Burns and Scott * Brief history of Scots

The Handbook of Dialectology provides an authoritative, up-to-date and unusually broad account of the study of dialect, in one volume. Each chapter reviews essential research, and offers a critical discussion of the past, present and future development of the area. * The volume is based on state-of-the-art research in dialectology around the world, providing the most current work available with an unusually broad scope of topics * Provides a practical guide to the many methodological and statistical issues surrounding the collection and analysis of dialect data * Offers summaries of dialect variation in the world s most widely spoken and commonly studied languages, including several non-European languages that have traditionally received less attention in general discussions of dialectology * Reviews the intellectual development of the field, including its main theoretical schools of thought and research traditions, both academic and applied * The editors are well known and highly respected, with a deep knowledge of this vast field of inquiry

Every page in this new volume of the "Dictionary of American Regional English" makes it wonderfully clear that regional expressions still flourish throughout the United States.

Depending on where you live, your conversation may include such beguiling terms as "paddybass" (North Carolina), "pinkwink" (Cape Cod), or "scallyhoot" (West); if you're invited to a potluck dinner, in Indiana you're likely to call it a "pitch-in," while in northern Illinois it's a "scramble"; if your youngsters play hopscotch, they may call it "potsy" in Manhattan, but "sky blue" in Chicago.

Like the popular first three volumes of "DARE," the fourth is a treasure-trove of linguistic gems, a book that invites exclamation, delight, and wonder. More than six hundred maps pinpoint where you might live if your favorite card games are sheepshead and skat; if you eat "pan dulce" rather than "pain perdu"; if you drive down a "red dog road" or make a purchase at a "racket store"; or if you look out your window and see a "parka squirrel" or a "quill pig."

The language of our everyday lives is captured in "DARE," along with expressions our grandparents used but our children will never know. Based on thousands of interviews across the country, the "Dictionary of American Regional English" presents our language in its infinite variety. Word lovers will delight in the wit and wisdom found in the quotations that illustrate each entry, and will prize the richness and diversity of our spoken and written culture.

What is it to 'cock a snook', where is the land of Nod, and who was first to go the extra mile? Find the answers to these questions (and many more!) in the new edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms. This dictionary uncovers the meanings of myriad phrases and sayings that are used daily in the English language, encompassing more than 10,000 figurative expressions, similes, sayings, and proverbs. More than 400 idioms have been added to this new edition, and comprise recently coined and common sayings alike. New additions include 'back of the net', 'drag and drop', 'go it alone', 'how come?', 'if you ask me', 'make your skin crawl', and 'woe betide'. Illustrative quotations sourced from the Oxford corpora give contextual examples of the idioms and their standard usage, and many entries include background information on the origins of the idiom in question. An updated thematic index makes for easy navigation, and anyone who is interested in the origins and diversity of English vernacular will have hours of fun browsing this fascinating dictionary.

Heller and McElhinny reinterpret sociolinguistics for the twenty-first century with an original approach to the study of language that is situated in the political and economic contexts of colonialism and capitalism. In the process, they map out a critical history of how language serves, and has served, as a terrain for producing and reproducing social inequalities. The authors ask how, and by whom, ideas about language get unevenly shaped, offering new perspectives that will excite readers and incite further research for years to come.

One of the best ways to learn a language is by studying the media that native speakers themselves listen to and read, and popular songs can also reveal much about the culture and traditions of an area where the language is spoken. Following on the success of his Kilma Hilwa: Egyptian Arabic through Popular Songs (AUC Press, 2015), Cairo-based Arabic teacher Bahaa Ed-Din Ossama now brings together twenty songs in Modern Standard Arabic performed by popular singers of the Arab world from Abd al-Halim Hafez to Fairouz and builds a variety of language lessons around them, with notes on vocabulary, grammar, and usage, and communicative exercises in listening, writing, and speaking. The songs are graded from easiest to most difficult, and each lesson includes a link to a performance of the song on YouTube, the lyrics of the song, and notes on the songwriter, the composer, and the singer. Students using this unique book will not only improve their Arabic skills but will also gain an insight into the cultural landscape of the Arab world. The book can be used in the classroom or for self-study.Includes songs by: Abd al-Halim Hafez, Fairouz, Fuad Abd al-Magid, Karem Mahmoud, Kazem al-Saher, Muhammad Abd al-Wahab, Nagat al-Saghira, Rima Khashish, and Umm Kulthum.

For the 411 on American slang, this guidebook is the top banana. .

From "head trip" to "foot in mouth," "American Slang Dictionary" gives you the complete definitions of thousands of uniquely American words and phrases, ranging from golden oldies such as "catch some rays" and "take the fifth" to more up-to-the-minute coinages like Wall Street's "jonx," the Internet's "ping," and the gangsta's favorite, "shizzle.," .

Inside you'll find more than 12,000 words and expressions from a wide variety of sources, including gangsta rap, the blogosphere, and the U.S. prison system. In a New York minute, you'll be down with the colloquialisms, vulgarities, and substandard English that make everyday interactions in contemporary American life so colorful.. .

BSOD or blue screen of death the blue computer screen that appears after a programming or operational error
. crunk wild; crazy; out of control
. kvetch to complain
. left-handed monkey wrench a nonexistent tool
. word of mouse a message spread by e-mail
. . .

Slang, however one judges it, shows us at our most human. It is used widely and often, typically associated with the writers of noir fiction, teenagers, and rappers, but also found in the works of Shakespeare and Dickens. It has been recorded since at least 1500 AD, and today's vocabulary, taken from every major English-speaking country, runs to over 125,000 slang words and phrases. This Very Short Introduction takes readers on a wide-ranging tour of this fascinating sub-set of the English language. It considers the meaning and origins of the word 'slang' itself, the ideas that a make a word 'slang', the long-running themes that run through slang, and the history of slang's many dictionaries. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.