'What grammarians say should be has perhaps less influence on what shall be than even the more modest of them realize ...' No book had more influence on twentieth-century attitudes to the English language in Britain than Henry Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage. It rapidly became the standard work of reference for the correct use of English in terms of choice of words, grammar, and style. Much loved for his firm opinions, passion, and dry humour, Fowler has stood the test of time and is still considered the best arbiter of good practice. In this new edition of the original Dictionary, David Crystal goes beyond the popular mythology surrounding Fowler's reputation to retrace his method and arrive at a fresh evaluation of his place in the history of linguistic thought. With a wealth of entertaining examples he looks at Fowler's stated principles and the tensions between his prescriptive and descriptive temperaments. He shows that the Dictionary does a great more than make normative recommendations and express private opinion. In addition he offers a modern perspective on some 300 entries, in which he shows how English has changed since the 1920s. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Les differentes varietes de francais observables dans l'espace francophone, dites " francais regionaux ", dans la terminologie sociolinguistique, sont etudiees dans ce volume par certains des meilleur-e-s specialistes du sujet, dans une perspective synchronique et a travers un spectre large qui embrasse aussi bien la variation diatopique que la variation sociale. Les chercheur-e-s interrogent le statut linguistique de ces formes endogenes de francais et la place qu'elles seraient susceptibles d'occuper dans les politiques linguistiques-educatives de regions ou d'Etats traverses par des tensions sociales et ethniques. Ces varietes s'inscrivent dans le paysage plurilingue et pluriculturel de la francophonie du XXIe siecle ou la question des langues et des identites en contact est centrale.

The New Oxford Style Manual brings together the new editions of two essential reference works in a single volume. Combining New Hart's Rules with the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, this is the definitive guide to the written word. New Hart's Rules, Oxford's definite guide to style, gives authoritative and expert advice on how to prepare copy for publication in print and electronically. Topics covered include how to punctuate and hyphenate accurately, capitalization guidelines, structuring text coherently, how to use quotations and citations clearly, how to provide accurate references, UK and US usage, and much more. Recent developments in the publishing industry, such as scientific publishing conventions have been included in the up-to-date second edition. These guidelines are complemented by the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors which features 25,000 A to Z entries giving authoritative advice on those words and names which raise questions time and time again because of spelling, capitalization, hyphenation, or cultural and historical context. Entries give full coverage of recommended spellings, variant forms, confusable words, hyphenation, capitalization, foreign and specialist terms, proper names, and abbreviations. The New Oxford Style Manual also includes superb appendices for quick reference including proofreading marks, countries and currencies, and alphabets. Combining these two updated works and drawing on the unrivalled research and expertise of the Oxford Reference and Dictionaries departments, this volume is an essential part of every editor's and writer's toolkit.

The story of battles--both past and present--surrounding English language usage, The Fight for English explores why millions of people feel linguistically inferior. Unhappy with the "zero tolerance" approach to punctuation offered by Lynn Truss's Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, David Crystal offers a view of the subject that is much more balanced. Instead of answering the claims made by other manuals of English usage, Crystal provides an explanation and analysis of the genre as a whole.
Crystal weaves an intricate and engaging account that traces the history of the English language and its development over time. From Anglo-Saxon to Modern English, Crystal addresses why the same language issues that were bothering people 250 years ago are still bothering people today. This is the story of the fight for English usage--the story of the people who tried to shape the language in their own image, but failed generation after generation. In short, they ate, shot, and left.
The Fight for English brings language to life on the page with a witty and engaging writing style. Broadening the perspective on the English language, this compellingly informative book has something for everyone interested in the topic. Move over Harry Potter. Here comes punctuation.

Gegenstand dieser Untersuchung ist die Ermittlung und Beschreibung des Bestandes der mittelhochdeutschen Subjunktionen auf der Grundlage eines handschriftentreuen Textkorpus. Die Autorin analysiert und beschreibt die Funktionen der Subjunktionen, ihre Verteilung in Sprachraum, Zeit und Textart sowie ihre Herkunft und Entwicklung. So kann sie aufzeigen, welche der Subjunktionen absterben und welche neu aufkommen, wo es zu funktionalen Verschiebungen kommt und welche regionalen Unterschiede bei den Subjunktionen im Korpus beobachtbar sind.

Sprache ist ohne Wiederholungen nicht moeglich. Aber nicht alle Wiederholungen sind gleichermassen notwendig. Diese Arbeit klart, welche formal zu unterscheidenden Wiederholungen bestehen und wie ihre jeweilige Funktion zu beschreiben ist. Der Autor betrachtet das komplexe Thema aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln und macht sich das Wissen antiker und moderner Rhetorik ebenso zunutze, wie die Erkenntnisse von Textlinguistik, Pragmatik und generativer Grammatik. Das verwendete Korpus fusst auf Beispielen der englischsprachigen Literatur. Die Verbindung unterschiedlicher Disziplinen und theoretischer Ansatze ermoeglicht eine umfassende, fur Linguisten, Literaturwissenschaftler und Rhetoriker gleichermassen relevante Beschreibung sprachlicher Wiederholungen.

En una serie de interesantes articulos, esta publicacion presenta, de manera innovadora, como los diarios mas importantes de la Argentina, Brasil, Colombia y Mexico comunican las nociones sobre la pobreza, como las encuadran y el lenguaje que utilizan para hacerlo. Los articulos contextualizan estas nociones a traves de un analisis multidisciplinario y las relacionan con las teorias contemporaneas mas relevantes sobre el tema, asi como con el discurso politico vigente y las medidas para erradicarla. Los articulos son resultado de las investigaciones llevadas a cabo por el proyecto Pobreza, Lenguaje y Medios: Los Casos de la Argentina, Brasil, Colombia y Mexico (Polame), financiado por el Consejo Noruego de Investigacion (RCN).

Have you ever struggled to communicate with a limited-English speaker? Have you been frustrated by unsuccessful interactions with non-native English speakers? Did you know there is a simple solution to improve cross-cultural communication in English? What most of us native speakers overlook in these situations is that the problem here may not be the limited English of the other person; it could be our English. And while we certainly can't do anything about the former, we can do a great deal about the latter. In just 160 pages, this book gives 50 practical tools to help you become aware of and adapt your own language to completely transform exchanges with limited-English speakers and greatly increase the chances of a satisfying outcome for native speakers and for the limited-English speakers they're trying to serve. And the good news is: it is not that difficult and it is entirely in the hands of the native speaker. Craig Storti is a nationally known figure with over 30 years of experience in the field of intercultural communications and cross-cultural adaptation, and the author of several standard works, including Culture Matters, a cross-cultural workbook used by the U. S. government in over 90 countries. He has successfully led workshops on cultural diversity for Fortune 500 companies, hotels such as Marriott, diplomats, civil servants, and foreign aid workers. But it was his 90-minute segments on common mistakes native speakers make when talking to limited-English speakers and how participants could improve interactions that became the most popular and useful aspect of his training. This much-needed book is ideal for anyone working in a public facing job from government to hospitality, international organizations, human resources, cross-cultural and diversity training, English teaching, foreign aid, or those with a love of language, culture and communication.

El libro tiene como objetivo explorar uno de los fenomenos de aprendizaje que se considera tradicionalmente como central en esta lengua y en relacion a los estudiantes de lengua extranjera. Contiene un capitulo introductorio al fenomeno y una secuencia de estudios monograficos con abundante aporte de datos empiricos sobre la alternancia de tiempos y modos, y la combinatoria de los mismos, relativos a diferentes grupos de aprendientes de una gran variedad de lenguas maternas y contextos de ensenanza. El ultimo capitulo relaciona las conclusiones de las diferentes investigaciones con el plano psicolinguistico y didactico, lo que permite tener un panorama general no teorico o deductivo, sino consolidado por aportes empiricos provenientes de metodologias afianzadas en la Linguistica aplicada.

Das Buch thematisiert phraseologische Irregularitaten, also Phraseme, die strukturelle oder semantische Abweichungen gegenuber dem freien Sprachgebrauch aufweisen. Der Autor zeigt systematisch deren Vielfalt auf, wertet ihren tatsachlichen Gebrauch mithilfe von Korpusanalysen aus und reflektiert ihre Spezifika aus sprachnorm- und sprachwandeltheoretischer sowie konstruktionsgrammatischer Perspektive. Er kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass phraseologische Irregularitaten innerhalb der Phraseologie beziehungsweise der formelhaften Sprache keine Randstellung einnehmen. Ihr irregularer Charakter muss daher aus verschiedenen Blickrichtungen relativiert werden.

Extensively revised and updated, this second edition provides, in an A-Z format, an analysis of the most important generalizations that have been made on the unidirectional change of grammatical forms and constructions. Based on the analysis of more than 1,000 languages, it reconstructs over 500 processes of grammatical change in the languages of the world, including East Asian languages such as Chinese, Korean and Japanese. Readers are provided with the tools to discover how lexical and grammatical meanings can be related to one another in a principled way, how such issues as polysemy, heterosemy, and transcategoriality are dealt with, and why certain linguistic forms have simultaneous lexical and grammatical functions. Definitions of lexical concepts are provided with examples from a broad variety of languages, and references to key relevant research literature. Linguists and other scholars will gain a better understanding of languages on a worldwide scale.

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

Readers and writers of all levels will find the Oxford A-Z of English Usage essential. Based on Oxford's world-leading dictionary research programmes and contemporary language monitoring, and giving examples of real usage, this book provides the essential information about usage and correct English that is needed in practical, everyday situations. Arranged in A-Z sequence, it contains over 680 entries on issues of spelling, grammar, meaning and PC language that confuse people (e.g. licence / license; learning difficulties / mental handicap; fewer / less). In addition, there are more than 20 special feature articles on specific topics such as hyphenation or the use of Latin plurals, as well as commonly confused terms like Britain, Great Britain, the British Isles, England. With a fresh page design, the Oxford A-Z of English Usage gives the reader immediate and easy access to answers, by means of clear and coherent explanations and illustrations. It will prove the first port of call for any reader seeking clear, authoritative help with usage questions.

Die Autorin stellt einen sprachwissenschaftlichen Schulartenvergleich an. Sie untersucht das mentale Lexikon von Lehrkraften und Schulern der Hauptschule bzw. Mittelschule und des Gymnasiums in Bayern auf Basis der Sprachbarrierenforschung und der institutionellen Kommunikationsforschung - erganzt um aktuelle Ergebnisse der PISA-Studie. Anhand einer neu entwickelten pragma-institutionellen Methodenkombination wahlt sie quantitative und qualitative Untersuchungspunkte aus und analysiert diese hinsichtlich ihrer konkreten Wirkung auf den Unterricht. Die Autorin ermittelt anhand dieses Verfahrens den Wortschatz der Aktanten beider Schularten, zieht erste Schlussfolgerungen hinsichtlich der Wortartenverwendung und zeigt moegliche Auswirkungen auf die Institutionsagenten und -klienten auf.

This textbook provides a detailed introduction to the study of Latin from the perspective of contemporary linguistics. It adopts some basic tenets of generative grammar in an in-depth analysis of the main phonological, morphological, and syntactic properties of Latin, and offers a step-by-step guide to the universal principles and specific parameters which shape the language, along with comparative data from English and other languages. Latin: A Linguistic Introduction is a user-friendly and essential guide to the synchronic study of Latin as a natural language. The clarity of exposition and the richness of the examples cited provide a new approach to Latin as a topic of linguistic research: although the general structure of the book is like that of a traditional Latin grammar, the discussion of grammatical rules is both more straightforward and more theoretically informed. This textbook is principally suitable for students of Latin and Romance linguistics at undergraduate level and above, but also for teachers and researchers interested in new ways of looking at the study of Latin. It differs from many other textbooks in the field by striking a valuable balance between the longstanding tradition of classical philology and the innovations of contemporary linguistics.

In der traditionellen Sprachwissenschaft machte man eine wichtige Unterscheidung zwischen besonderer Grammatik und universaler Gram- matik, wobei sich die erste mit den idiosynkratischen Eigenschaften spezifischer Sprachen, die zweite mit den allgemeinen Merkmalen jeder menschlichen Sprache beschaftigt. In den letzten Jahren ist diese Un- terscheidung erneut in den Vordergrund der Forschung geruckt worden, und dieses erneute Interesse fiel mit dem Beginn ernsthafter Forschung auf einem Gebiet der mathematischen Linguistik zusammen, das man manch- mal algebraische Linguistik nennt, um es von statistischen Sprach- untersuchungen und vom Studium probilistischer Performanzmodelle zu unterscheiden. Das Zusammenfallen dieser Entwicklungen ist in mancher Hinsicht ganz naturlich. Algebraische Linguistik studiert die formalen Eigenschaften naturlicher Sprache, indem sie von spezifischen Realisie- rungen in einzelnen Sprachen abstrahiert. So definiert ist sie von der universalen Grammatik gar nicht zu unterscheiden, obwohl es in der Pra- xis eine Arbeitsteilung zwischen den starker empirisch orientierten Studien der universalen Grammatik und den streng mathematischen Studien der von der linguistischen Forschung vorgeschlagenen formalen Struktu- ren gegeben hat. Die Existenz dieser Teilung ist einerseits ein Zeichen fur den unausgereiften Stand der Forschung auf diesem Gebiet, anderer- seits eine Widerspiegelung der differierenden Motivationen und Inter- essen der einzelnen Forscher. Wenn die Teilung inhaltlich eingeschrankt werden kann, dann koennte eine echte Theorie der mathematischen Lingui- stik entstehen, die rein abstrakt die Klasse der von den Prinzipien der universalen Grammatik definierten Systeme untersucht - die Klasse moeg- licher menschlicher Sprachen.

What does wordplay - in the broadest sense - teach us about language, its functions, its characteristics, its structure, and how it works? Marina Yaguello investigates how language is used in word games and literature, and how this relates to linguistic theory. This book is an excellent and entertaining introduction to language for students and non-specialists.

Con la presente miscelanea de trabajos quiere el Instituto Universitario de Linguistica Andres Bello, que rinde en su nombre homenaje al mas grande de los gramaticos de la lengua espanola, traer a la memoria a dos de los linguistas mas influyentes de todos los tiempos: al fundador de la linguistica comparada, el aleman Franz Bopp, en el bicentenario de la publicacion de su "Conjugationssystem" (1816), y al fundador de la linguistica moderna, el ginebrino Ferdinand de Saussure, en el centenario de la publicacion de su "Cours" (1916). Partiendo de los conceptos y distinciones metodologicas establecidos por estos tres autores y sus continuadores han elaborado los investigadores de nuestro centro los diversos trabajos de tematica gramatical, lexicologica, lexicografica, onomastica, etimologica, dialectologica, de linguistica textual, de planificacion linguistica, de didactica de la lengua, etc., que se recogen en este volumen.

Even the best wordsmiths can find themselves tripping over words that are commonly misused, mixed up or misspelled. Most of us have suffered the embarrassment of suddenly discovering that they have been using or spelling a word wrong for years, or, in some cases, their entire life. This useful reference untangles the mix-ups and misuses of language so that you can ensure you've got the word you're looking for, whether it's 'taught', 'taut', 'tort' or 'torte'. With definitions, examples of how to sharpen up text and improve your writing, lists of useful social media abbreviations and a discussion of unusual plurals, this playful look at the often bizarre and frustrating English language has got you covered. Word to the Wise will help you get your word use straight, whether you're writing a book, blog, email or text message.

One of the most difficult tasks confronting the English speaker learning German is that of finding exactly the right German word to translate an English word in a particular context. Many common English words have several, sometimes a bewildering number of German equivalents. Thus it is all too easy to find yourself saying the equivalent of Have you extinguished the rubbish? instead of Have you put out the rubbish? Bilingual dictionaries list equivalents, but give little or no information about their use. The articles in this practical dictionary are much longer than those to be found in a bilingual dictionary, and the number of words treated is fewer, with a concentration on those which cause particular difficulties for speakers of English. The complexity of the relationship between English words and their German equivalents is attributable to two factors. Firstly, frequently used English words often have more than one meaning, and each of these meanings likely to require a different German equivalent. Secondly, any one of the English meanings may be expressed by more than one German word. Such words will be at least partial synonyms, but the field of meaning is likely to be divided up in a way that is different from English. Each article in the book starts by separating out the different meanings of an English word, and then explains the meaning and use of the German equivalents for each, with numerous examples. The book will be an essential reference work for advanced language learners and for teachers of German at all levels, offering a uniquely detailed insight into the structure of word meaning in German as well as practical advice on usage.

'Fascinating... I loved this book; I really did' David Crystal, Spectator A biography of a much misunderstood punctuation mark and a call to arms in favour of clear expression and against stifling grammar rules. Cecelia Watson used to be obsessive about grammar rules. But then she began teaching. And that was when she realized that strict rules aren't always the best way of teaching people how to make words say what they want them to; that they are even, sometimes, best ignored. One punctuation mark encapsulates this thorny issue more clearly than any other. The semicolon. Hated by Stephen King, Hemingway, Vonnegut and Orwell, and loved by Herman Melville, Henry James and Rebecca Solnit, it is the most divisive punctuation mark in the English language, and many are too scared to go near it. But why? When is it effective? Have we been misusing it? Should we even care? In this warm, funny, enlightening and thoroughly original book, Cecelia Watson takes us on a whistle-stop tour of the surprising history of the semicolon and explores the remarkable power it can wield, if only we would stop being afraid of it. Forget the rules; you're in charge. It's time to make language do what you want it to.