All About Language: A GuideIn clear, congenial style Barry Blake explains how language works. He describes the make-up of words and how they're built from sounds and signs and put together in phrases and sentences. He examines the dynamics of conversation and the relations between the sound and meaning. He shows how languages help their users connect to each other and to the world, how they vary around the world, why they never stop changing, and that no two people speak a language in the same way. He looks at how language is acquired by infant children, how it relates to thought, and its operations in the brain. He investigates current trends and issues such as the levelling of linguistic class differences and the rise of new secret or in-group languages such as argot and teenspeak. He describes the history of writing from its origins to digital diffusion, and ends by looking at how language might have originated and then evolved among our distant hominid and primate ancestors. Language is crucial to every aspect of our lives whether we're thinking, talking, or dreaming. Barry Blake reveals the wonders that lie beneath the surface of everyday communication, enriching his exposition with a unique blend of anecdote and humour. His engaging guide is for everyone curious about language or who needs to know more about it. |
Contents
Compounds | |
Blends | |
Other methods of dealing with new content | |
Hyponyms and hypernyms | |
Conscious connections between morphemes | |
Inflection | |
Questions | |
Sources and further reading | |
Complex sentences | |
Nominalization | |
Sources and further reading | |
Using language | |
Cooperative principle | |
Arbitrary relationship between form and meaning | |
Predicate and argument | |
Sources and further reading | |
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Common terms and phrases
accent acquire adjective adverb allomorphs allophones alveolar nasal aphasia auxiliary verb borrowed breath stream called chapter child Chinese common complement compound context dative derived dialect dictionary diphthongs direct object distinction expressions finite following example French fricative function function words further reading Problems gender grammar Greek homophony hyponym inflection instance Italian large number Latin lexical linguists marker marking meaning modifying morpheme nasal nominative non-finite notion noun phrase occurs Old English particular passive past tense person phonemes pidgins plural polysemy postpositions predicate prefix prepositional phrase pronoun pronunciation Received Pronunciation refer relative clause represented root semantic sentence sequence sign language singular snakes sometimes Sources and further speakers speech sounds spelling spoken stop suffix syllable symbols syntax talk term tongue transitive verb usage usually velar verb phrase voice voiceless vowel word class word order writing