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American and British English in the twenty-first century are still divided by a common language. Now in its second edition, this highly readable guide provides an authoritative reference to English usage, covering the differences, and some emerging similarities, between British, American and international English. It has been thoroughly updated and expanded to document hundreds of variable points of usage for the benefit of British and American readers, and for those seeking international forms of English for written communication, as first- or second-language users. It discusses the current status of each usage item with quantitative evidence from the NOW (News on the Web) corpus and contemporary research. Lively examples of usage are provided to capture aspects of twenty-first century culture world-wide. It also discusses issues in the use of personal names and ethnic naming practices, as well as sexist and homophobic words, and person-centred words for those living with a disability.
The Minimalist Program is a long-established branch of Chomsky's Generative approach to linguistics, which, since its first incarnation in the early 1990s, has become one of the most prominent frameworks for syntax. Bringing together a team of world-renowned scholars, this Handbook provides a comprehensive guide to current developments in generative syntactic theory. Split into five thematic parts, the chapters cover the historical context and foundations of the program, overviews of the major areas of research within modern syntactic theory, and a survey of the variety of phenomena dealt with within Minimalism through a focus on concepts, primitives, and operations. It offers in-depth perspectives on the core concepts and operations in the Minimalist Program for readers who are not already familiar with it, as well as a complete overview of the state-of-the-art in the field, making it essential reading for both scholars and students in the field.
Entertaining usage of language is all around us and can explain more about how language works than we realise. This lively and engaging book explains key linguistic concepts, illustrated throughout with humorous and entertaining examples. Providing an accessible yet comprehensive survey of the field, it is especially helpful for students who might struggle with an overly technical text. Now in its second edition, it has been extensively updated and expanded to be more comprehensive and include culturally relevant content, from memes to smartphone autocorrect errors, to misheard song lyrics. It includes four new chapters on lexical meaning, onomastics, writing systems, and language in the digital world. Key linguistic terminology is clearly introduced throughout, ensuring that students are well equipped for more technical and formal courses in their later studies. With thorough coverage of nearly all linguistic subfields, the book is an ideal text for an introduction to linguistics or language.
Now in its second edition, this handbook is a comprehensive and up-to-date resource that explores the applications of corpus-based research in linguistics. Since the first edition, corpus linguistics has evolved dramatically, and this edition has been fully updated to reflect these developments, with new chapters on emerging areas such as online language, legal discourse, and lexical complexity in learner language. Bringing together contributions from leading scholars, it critically evaluates methodologies, presents cutting-edge research, and includes empirical case studies that showcase corpus analysis in action. Each chapter surveys key studies, assesses methodological strengths and weaknesses, and highlights what corpus linguistics has uncovered about language variation and use. Covering topics ranging from phraseology to World Englishes, it serves as an essential reference for linguistics students, researchers, and educators. Whether you're new to corpus linguistics or an experienced scholar, this handbook provides valuable insights into the evolving role of corpora in linguistic research.
Now in its second edition, this Handbook is a current overview of Second Language (L2) research, providing state-of-the-art synopses of recent developments in each sub-area of the field, and bringing together contributions by emerging scholars and experts in Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Since the first edition, broad socio-political movements, alternative views of bilingualism, emergence of global markets, vast expansion of electronic resources, the development of social media, and the availability of big data have transformed the discipline, and this edition has been thoroughly updated to address these changes. It is divided into six main parts: Part I situates SLA in terms of research and practice; Part II explores individual cognitive, age-related and neurolinguistic similarities and differences; Part III outlines external, sociocultural, and interactive factors; Part IV presents profiles of bilinguals who take differing paths of acquisition; Part V describes interlanguage properties; and Part VI comprises clear models of L2 development.
Many lawsuits arise over disagreements about language and about the meanings of everyday words, phrases, and sentences. This book draws on over fifty cases involving disputed meanings in the American legal system where the author served as an expert witness or consultant, to explore the interaction between language and law. Stepping back from the legal specifics and their outcomes, it analyzes the disputes from the perspective of the language sciences, especially semantics and pragmatics, and language comprehension. It seeks to understand why, and in what areas of English grammar, lexis, and usage, they have arisen among speakers who do not normally miscommunicate and disagree like this. The cases involve contracts, patents, advertising, trademarks, libel, and defamation, and descriptive insights and methods from the language sciences are applied to each case to make explicit the meanings that speakers would normally assign to English.
The first textbook to bring together the linguistics of both BSL and ASL, this accessible book provides a uniquely international and comparative introduction to the structure and use of signed languages. Presupposing no prior knowledge, it covers all levels of linguistic structure: phonetics/phonology, morphology, the lexicon, syntax, semantics and discourse. Photographic illustrations of BSL and ASL signs feature throughout every chapter, and are linked to over 150 online videos, making this a clear and immersive resource for anyone interested in sign language linguistics. End of chapter exercises, questions for discussion and annotated further reading suggestions allow students to fully engage with the material they have read, and to extend their learning independently.
A thorough introduction to formal syntactic typology by a leader in the field, Comparing Syntax systematically covers syntactic variation across languages. The textbook covers word-order parameters, null subjects, polysynthesis, verb-movement, ergativity, interrogatives and negation within a comparative framework, ensuring that readers are able to engage with the key topics in the most up-to-date primary research literature. The comprehensive glossary, end-of-chapter exercises and annotated further reading lists allow readers to consolidate and extend their knowledge as they progress through the book. A self-contained work ideal for intermediate and advanced-level students, Comparing Syntax also builds on the author's Beginning Syntax and Continuing Syntax.
Bringing together an international team of scholars from various linguistic areas, theoretical viewpoints, and educational contexts, this book makes the case for strengthening the role of linguistics in second language (L2) teaching and learning. Seeing firsthand how the strengths and tools of the science of language contribute greatly to pedagogical effectiveness in the L2 classroom, the authors of each chapter lay out the strengths of linguistics for L2 teaching and learning with examples, case studies, research, anecdotal evidence, illustrations, and sample activities for the language classroom. The book argues as well for the place of L2 theory and data in linguistic inquiry and linguistics education. Bringing these disparate disciplines together around the shared reality of language itself has great promise of mutual benefit. Accessibly written with readers from both disciplines in mind, each chapter includes recommended readings and discussion questions intended to spark conversations across the disciplines.
Basque is a language of central importance to linguists because it is a 'language isolate,' a rare type of language that is typologically 'alone' and cannot be classified as a part of any language family. Language isolates remain somewhat a mystery, and this book aims to provide an important piece of the puzzle, by both exploring the structure of Basque and shedding new light on its unique place within the languages of the world. It meticulously examines various properties of Basque, including the alignment of intransitive verbs, the introduction of dative arguments, the nature of psych predicates, the causative/inchoative alternation, impersonals, and morphological causatives. By doing so, it presents a comprehensive overview of Basque's intricacies within the realm of argument structure alternations and voice. In its final chapter, it provides an introduction to potential formal analyses of the topics discussed, paving the way for future research in the field. This title is part of the Flip it Open programme and may also be available open access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.
How does a biologically-programmed language faculty interact with language experience in the acquisition of language across the world? Bringing together linguistic theory, language typology, and cross-linguistic experimental results from parallel studies of development in language acquisition, this book reports new research on the nature of the human competence for language acquisition. It investigates the acquisition of complex sentence formation through relativization -a fundamental component of language knowledge- through systematic, formally explicit, hypothesis-driven experimental studies from English, French and Tulu (in the US, Belgium and India). It demonstrates that across languages, the course of acquisition shares basic properties in keeping with universals of a language faculty, while at the same time, in all languages, specific relativization forms are achieved through development. The results show the power of an approach to the study of language acquisition which bridges linguistic theory of Universal Grammar with real-time creation of a specific language by the child.
Bringing together a globally representative team of scholars, this Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of comparative syntax, the study of universal and variable properties of the structure of building blocks in natural language. Divided into four thematic parts, it covers the various theoretical and methodological approaches to syntactic variation; explores dependency relations and dependency marking; shows how the building blocks of syntax both vary and display universal properties across languages, and explores the interfaces between syntax and other aspects of language structure. It also includes examples from a typologically broad range of languages, as well as data from child language, sign language, language processing, and diachronic syntax, giving a clear picture of the ubiquity of cross-linguistic variation. It serves as a source of inspiration for future research, and forges a deeper understanding of the variant and invariant parts of language, making it essential reading for researchers and students in linguistics.
The term non-canonical syntax generally refers to deviations from 'typical' word order. These represent a fascinating phenomenon in natural language use. With contributions from a team of renowned scholars, this book presents a range of case-studies on non-canonical syntax across historical, register-based, and non-native varieties of English. Each chapter investigates a different non-canonical construction and assesses to what extent it can be called 'non-canonical' in a theory-based and frequency-based understanding of non-canonical syntax. A range of state-of-the-art methodologies are used, highlighting that an empirical approach to non-canonical syntactic constructions is particularly fruitful. An introduction, a synopsis, a terminological chapter, and three section introductions frame the case studies and present overviews of the theory behind non-canonical syntax and previous work, while also illustrating open questions and opportunities for future research. The volume is essential reading for advanced students of English grammar and researchers working on non-canonical syntax and syntactic variation. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
The topic of language and brain is a large and significant area of research and study, and this Handbook provides a state-of-the-art survey of the field. Bringing together contributions from an interdisciplinary team of internationally-renowned scholars, it focuses on important theoretical positions that have changed the study of language and brain in the first two decades of the 21st century. It is split into seven thematic parts, covering topics such as theoretical foundations of language and brain, neuroimaging studies of brain and language, language and cognitive development, building cognitive brain reserve and the importance of proficiency, aphasia and autism spectrum disorders, brain, language and music, and new directions and perspectives. Representing the most powerful trends in the field, it will inform new directions in the study of language and brain, cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging, and scholars and advanced students will find this compilation an invaluable resource for years to come.
Although multilingual education is still a relatively new field, it has already become a solid and dynamic area of academic investigation growing worldwide. Bringing together a stellar line-up of leading experts, this Handbook covers a wide range of topics crucial for understanding the concept of multilingual education and its implementation. It includes a wide range of overviews and case studies from diverse systems of education from across the globe, to help facilitate effective multilingual instruction relevant in the realities of local and global contexts. All chapters are written in a knowledgeable, yet accessible, style, and the theory is introduced step-by-step, to provide a rich resource for classroom instructors worldwide. It will serve as the principal text for many of the rapidly increasing multilingual programmes, degrees, courses and seminars devoted to multilingual education in tertiary institutions worldwide, as well as a reference text for instructors in primary and secondary education.