Historical & Comparative

This practical introduction to word history investigates every aspect of where words come from and how they change. Philip Durkin, chief etymologist of the Oxford English Dictionary, shows how different types of evidence can shed light on the myriad ways...

Uncover the Rich Meaning Behind the Hebrew and Greek Words of the Bible Whether you're a pastor, a student, or simply a lover of the Bible, this book helps you get more out of God's Word by revealing the original meanings of key biblical words.The...

What could Greek poets or Roman historians say in their own language that would be lost in translation? After all, different languages have different personalities, and this is especially clear with languages of the ancient and medieval world. This...

Featuring Latinate and Celtic words, weasel words and nonce-words, ancient words ('loaf') to cutting edge ('twittersphere') and spanning the indispensable words that shape our tongue ('and', 'what') to the more fanciful ('fopdoodle'), Crystal takes us...

This revised and expanded edition provides a comprehensive overview of comparative Indo-European linguistics and the branches of the Indo-European language family, covering both linguistic and cultural material. Now offering even greater coverage than...

This is a classic book on a fascinating subject. Peter Trudgill examines the close link between language and society and the many factors that influence the way we speak. These range from gender, environment, age, race, class, region and politics...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781250049049Author Jean-Benoit NadeauFormat PaperbackPage Count 448Imprint St. Martin's GriffinPublisher St. Martin's GriffinWeight(grams)...

'A writer of genius' - William DalrympleCan anyone really own a culture? This magnificent account argues that the story of global civilisations is one of mixing, sharing, and borrowing.It shows how art forms have crisscrossed continents over centuries to...

Maybe you've been speaking English all your life, or maybe you learned it later on. But whether you use it just well enough to get your daily business done, or you're an expert with a red pen who never omits a comma or misplaces a modifier, you must have...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781519735461Author Phil WilliamsFormat PaperbackPage Count 102Imprint Rumian PublishingPublisher Rumian PublishingWeight(grams) 195gDimensions(mm) 229mm *...

Where does the ampersand get its name from? What does the hashtag have to do with commerce in ancient Rome? Keith Houston gives the answers in this delightfully entertaining book.From the pilcrow to the ampersand, the entire cast of Shady Characters...

The English Language is spoken by more than a billion people throughout the world. But where did English come from? And how has it evolved into the language used today? In How English Became English Simon Horobin investigates the evolution of the...

How many languages are there? What differentiates one language from another? Are new languages still being discovered? Why are so many languages disappearing? The diversity of languages today is varied, but it is steadily declining. In this Very...

Covering thinkers from Aristotle to Saussure and Chomsky, "Introducing Linguistics" reveals the rules and beauty that underlie language, our most human skill.About the AuthorR.L. Trask was a professor of Linguistics at the University of Sussex. A hugely...

The purpose of this book is to contribute to the appreciation of the linguistic, literary and contextual value of Homeric personal names. This is an old topic, which famously interested Plato, and an object of constant scholarly attention from the time...

'Marvellous . . . I read it with astonished delight . . . It is equally scholarly and entertaining.' - Jan Morris 'Quirky and compelling.' - The Times Once we've learned it as children, few of us think much of the alphabet and its familiar sing-song...

A unique collection of original essays by 21 of the world's leading linguists. The topics discussed focus on some of the most popular myths about language: The Media Are Ruining English; Children Can't Speak or Write Properly Anymore; America is Ruining...

Written by the world-renowned pioneer in the field of modern sociolinguistics, this volume examines the cognitive and cultural factors responsible for linguistic change, tracing the life history of these developments, from triggering events to driving...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9782503518411Author Matthew TownendFormat PaperbackPage Count 248Imprint Brepols N.V.Publisher Brepols N.V.

When he died in 1930 aged 26, Frank Ramsey had already invented one branch of mathematics and two branches of economics, laying the foundations for decision theory and game theory. Keynes deferred to him; he was the only philosopher whom Wittgenstein...

In this book, Noam Chomsky reflects on the history of 'generative enterprise' - his approach to the study of languages that revolutionized our understanding of human languages and other cognitive systems.Book InformationISBN 9780195684469Author Noam...

This fascinating collection investigates the origins of our most intriguing superstitions, many of which we still observe today.Hundreds of the beliefs passed down through the generations have their foundations in our ancestors' efforts to ward off evil,...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781907165368Author George McLennanFormat PaperbackPage Count 80Imprint New Argyll PublishingPublisher AkerbeltzWeight(grams) 88gDimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm...

A fascinating cultural and linguistic history of the Slavic languages, exploring the deep connections and distinctions between them Water, whiskey, and vodka are three words that seem to have nothing in common, but each of them comes from the same root...

It's not what you say, it's the way that you say it ... There have long been debates about 'correct' pronunciation in the English language, and Britain's most distinguished linguistic expert, David Crystal, is here to set the record straight. Sounds...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9789351775386Author Rajiv MalhotraFormat HardbackPage Count 488Imprint HarperCollins Publishers IndiaPublisher HarperCollins Publishers IndiaWeight(grams)...

Some people say scohn, while others say schown.He says bath, while she says bahth.You say potayto. I say potahtoAnd--wait a second, no one says potahto. No one's ever said potahto. Have they?From reconstructing Shakespeare's accent to the rise and fall...

Jack D. Forbes's monumental Africans and Native Americans has become a canonical text in the study of relations between the two groups. Forbes explores key issues relating to the evolution of racial terminology and European colonialists' perceptions of...

Ti Alkire and Carol Rosen trace the changes that led from colloquial Latin to five major Romance languages, those which ultimately became national or transnational languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian. Trends in spoken Latin...

It's the most simple, unassuming, innocent-looking verb: 'to be'. Yet it is jam-packed with more different meanings, forms, and uses than any other English word. As he reveals be's multiple incarnations, David Crystal takes us to the heart of our...

Among the most influential figures in the development of modern linguistics, the American scholar Edward Sapir (1884-1939) notably promoted the connection between anthropology and the study of language. His name is also associated with that of his...

A masterfully updated edition of The F-Word which renders a comprehensive portrait of English's most notorious and colorful word. No word has generated more uses, more creative euphemisms, and more strong opinions than fuck. Jesse Sheidlower's...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781907165399Author George McLennanFormat PaperbackPage Count 184Imprint New Argyll PublishingPublisher AkerbeltzWeight(grams) 186gDimensions(mm) 198mm *...

Lynda Mugglestone's hugely popular The Oxford History of English is now updated and entirely reset in a new edition featuring David Crystal's new take on the future of English in the wider world. In accounts made vivid with examples from a vast range...

Born since the mid-1990s, Generation Z is the first generation never to know the world without the internet, and it is the most diverse generation yet. As Gen Z starts to emerge into adulthood and enter the workforce, what do we really know about them?...

The English language is spoken by more than a billion people throughout the world. But where did English come from? And how has it evolved into the language used today? In this Very Short Introduction Simon Horobin investigates how we have arrived at...

Have you ever wondered whether we are alone in the universe, or if life forms on other planets might exist? If they do exist, how might their languages have evolved? Could we ever understand them, and indeed learn to communicate with them? This highly...

A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR'A brilliantly enlightening book . . . at times moving, at others ironic, full of insights and detail'Michael Rosen'A kaleidoscopic portrait of the UK . . . with insight and compassion'Irish TimesOur names are so mundane...

In Latin Alive, Joseph Solodow tells the story of how Latin developed into modern French, Spanish, and Italian, and deeply affected English as well. Offering a gripping narrative of language change, Solodow charts Latin's course from classical times to...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780425276181Author Mark ForsythFormat PaperbackPage Count 256Imprint Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.Publisher Penguin Putnam IncWeight(grams)...