This volume contains papers presented at a workshop held at the 18th annual meeting of Deutsche Gesellschaft fA1/4r Sprachwissenschaft in 1996. The articles contained in this volume focus on the lexical vs. functional categoryhood of prepositional elements, their syntactic and semantic properties (also with respect to grammaticalization), aspects of automatic language processing and the meanings of prepositional elements in cognitive linguistics.

Wenn man uber das menschliche Leben spricht oder schreibt, benutzt man oft metaphorische Ausdrucke wie am Kreuzweg stehen oder sein Leben aufs Spiel setzen. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit geht der Autor der Frage nach, wie metaphorische Idiome im Rahmen der kognitiven Linguistik, unter kritischer Betrachtung der kognitiven Metapherntheorie von Lakoff und Johnson, untersucht werden koennen. Im empirischen Teil wird eine Sammlung von deutschen metaphorischen Lebens-Idiomen aus Woerterbuchern und aus dem Deutschen Referenzkorpus (IDS-Korpus) zusammengestellt und ihre Motiviertheit in Korpusbelegen untersucht. Die Idiome werden demnach nicht nur durch konzeptuelle Metaphern, sondern auch durch Symbole sowie etymologisches, kulturelles und enzyklopadisches Wissen motiviert.

Homonyms are pairs of words (sometimes three or four words) that sound alike, but have different spellings and meanings, such as "side-sighed," "bare-bear," and "seen-scene." This book has been written not only because homonyms pose a problem for many native speakers of English, but because they are also particularly troublesome for learners of English as a second language. This collection does not contain every homonym, but it does contain many of the most common ones. Mostly Homonyms is a new treatment of a traditional topic that is easy to read and use without sacrificing academic relevance. It is intended not only for anyone who wishes to ascertain the correct spelling and usage of a homonym, whether non-native learners of English or native speakers of English, but also for people who just love words.

The 25th edition of Hermann Paul's grammar is the first step toward a study grammar that combines the virtues of greater ease of use, concentration on essentials, and a more reliable description of Middle High German. The revised accounts of phonology and morphology have profited in part from the ongoing work on the extensive Middle High German grammar now in the process of completion. The description of noun declination has been thoroughly revised. The syntax section has been extensively reworked and greatly expanded, with a wealth of references to Middle High German prose texts.

With this "impeccable" (BBC History) chronicle, acclaimed popular historian Ruth Goodman reveals a Renaissance Britain particularly rank with troublemakers. From snooty needlers who took aim with a cutting "thee," to lowbrow drunkards with revolting table manners, Goodman's "gleeful and illuminating" (Booklist, starred review) portrait of offenses most foul draws upon advice manuals, court cases, and sermons. Wicked readers will delight in learning why quoting Shakespeare was poor form, and why curses hurled at women were almost always about sex (no surprise there). "Accessible, fun, and historically accurate" (Publishers Weekly, starred review), How to Behave Badly is a celebration of one of history's naughtiest periods, when derision was an art form. "Oh, how I wish Ruth Goodman could be my tutor. But settling in for one of her history lessons is better than second best." - Alicia Becker, New York Times Book Review

The volume contains a selection of papers given at a workshop organized in 1994 on major lexical categories. The seven articles in this volume take a variety of viewpoints concerning problems of distinguishing major categories in general, as well as problems in connection with specific categories, namely nouns, verbs, prepositions, and conjunctions.

Put your editing skills into practice with this new companion to the handbook on every copyeditor's desk. The Copyeditor's Workbook-a companion to the indispensable Copyeditor's Handbook, now in its fourth edition-offers comprehensive and practical training for both aspiring and experienced copyeditors. Exercises of increasing difficulty and length, covering a range of subjects, enable you to advance in skill and confidence. Detailed answer keys offer a grounding in editorial basics, appropriate usage choices for different contexts and audiences, and advice on communicating effectively with authors and clients. The exercises provide an extensive workout in the knowledge and skills required of contemporary editors. Features and Benefits Workbook challenges editors to build their skills and to use new tools. Exercises vary and increase in difficulty and length, allowing users to advance along the way. Answer keys illustrate several techniques for marking copy, including marking PDFs and hand marking hard copy. Book includes access to online exercises available for download.

This study makes an important contribution to the theory of language change by analyzing the evolution of the French modal system from its origins in Late Latin through francais classique, based on newer textual corpora and using the framework of a modal semantic approach. These developments are compared to those of other Romance languages, with the Italian modal system serving as a foil to emphasize contrast."

Do you "know" that posh comes from an acronym meaning "port out, starboard home"? That "the whole nine yards" comes from (pick one) the length of a WWII gunner's belt; the amount of fabric needed to make a kilt; a sarcastic football expression? That Chicago is called "The Windy City" because of the bloviating habits of its politicians, and not the breeze off the lake?
If so, you need this book. David Wilton debunks the most persistently wrong word histories, and gives, to the best of our actual knowledge, the real stories behind these perennially mis-etymologized words.
In addition, he explains why these wrong stories are created, disseminated, and persist, even after being corrected time and time again. What makes us cling to these stories, when the truth behind these words and phrases is available, for the most part, at any library or on the Internet?
Arranged by chapters, this book avoids a dry A-Z format. Chapters separate misetymologies by kind, including The Perils of Political Correctness (picnics have nothing to do with lynchings), Posh, Phat Pommies (the problems of bacronyming--the desire to make every word into an acronym), and CANOE (which stands for the Conspiracy to Attribute Nautical Origins to Everything).
Word Myths corrects long-held and far-flung examples of wrong etymologies, without taking the fun out of etymology itself. It's the best of both worlds: not only do you learn the many wrong stories behind these words, you also learn why and how they are created--and what the real story is.