Social Linguistics

"Appartengo a quella parte dell'umanità che passa gran parte delle sue ore di veglia in un mondo fatto di righe orizzontali: un mondo che può essere molto ricco, magari ancor più ricco di quello non scritto, ma che comunque richiede un aggiustamento speciale per situarsi al suo interno. Quando mi stacco dal mondo scritto per ritrovare il mio posto nell'altro, in quello che usiamo chiamare il mondo, fatto di tre dimensioni, cinque sensi, popolato da miliardi di nostri simili, questo equivale per me ogni volta a ripetere il trauma della nascita." (Italo Calvino)

Why do we love to swear so much? Why do we get so offended when others do it? In this lively and amusing exploration of the various puzzles that surround swearing, philosopher Rebecca Roache argues that what makes swearing offensive is not really the words at all: the offensiveness lies in what we don't say. The unspoken—and usually unconscious—inferences that speakers and listeners make about each other are key to explaining swearwords' capacity to shock.

What makes us human? Why are we the only animals who wear clothes, drive cars, trawl the internet, and fly helicopters on Mars? It’s all because we’ve learnt to talk, yet remarkably, we still don’t know how we did it. Speech! suggests an answer that’s been hiding in plain sight - the simple yet radical shift that turned our analog grunts and shrieks into words. But, its consequences are far from simple: being able to share ideas through language was an evolutionary tipping point - it allowed us to link up our minds.

Imagine what it would be like to be able to influence people. Not just to have them tolerate your ideas, but be really moved by them. What would it be like if you could easily get people on your side? What if you could turn every conflict in your favor, and easily get people to agree with you? Just think what this would mean for your career, your work, and your relationships.

When a volcano suddenly seems to erupt and threaten a mountain town of North Carolina, Inspector Strock is sent to determine the danger. When an automobile race in Wisconsin is interrupted by the unexpected appearance of a vehicle traveling at many times the top speed of the entrants, Strock is again consulted. And when an odd-shaped boat is sighted moving at impossible speeds off the New England coast, Stock and his boss begin to wonder if the incidents are related.

Un recorrido por diversos países de Europa, América y Asia para saber cuál es su verbo clave y a la vez entender más su cultura.

This amazing collection of poetry from the famous Greek Anthology spans over 1,500 years of ancient Greek and Byzantine history. The selections in this recording were chosen and translated by famed classicist J. W. Mackail.

Young, beautiful, wealthy and widowed Lady Lizzie Eustace plots to keep a beautiful necklace - which may (or may not) be her's. Her in-laws' solicitor fights for the diamonds return to their "rightful heirs." Then the theft of the jewels complicates matters even further.

This charming novel, one of Trollope's most popular, is full of love and laughter. Will Frank Gresham, heir to an impoverished estate, marry penniless Mary Thorne despite the protests of all of his family? Should Doctor Thorne divulge a secret that may make all of the difference?

Phineas Finn is an Irish M.P.A. climbing the political ladder, largely through the assistance of his string of lovers. The questions he is forced to ask himself about honesty, independence, and parliamentary democracy are questions still asked today.

Twenty-seven-year-old Nell Stevens was determined to write a novel, but life kept getting in the way. Then came a game-changing opportunity: she won a fellowship that would let her spend three months, all expenses paid, anywhere in the world to research and write a book. Would she choose a glittering metropolis, a romantic village, an exotic paradise? Not exactly. Nell chose Bleaker Island, a snowy, windswept pile of rock in the Falklands. There, in a guesthouse where she would be the only guest, she could finally rid herself of distractions and write.

In this unique new history of the world's most ubiquitous language, linguistics expert David Crystal draws on words that best illustrate the huge variety of sources, influences and events that have helped to shape our vernacular since the first definitively English word was written down in the fifth century.

En el lenguaje actual de las mujeres nombrar es poder, por eso esta obra propone palabras y situaciones cercanas a las mujeres, pero jamás exclusivas porque, como el lenguaje, este es un libro plural, cualquier persona interesada en el debate de por qué y cómo se expresan, es bienvenida a estas páginas. La autora se ocupa fundamentalmente de palabras, pero también de anécdotas, de casos reales, recuerdos, entrevistas, reflexiones, datos, estadísticas, referentes históricos y actuales; lugares, instituciones, consignas, canciones, lemas… pues cuando se trata de palabras todo suma.

In a sweeping synthesis of new research in a number of different disciplines, this book argues that we humans are not who we think we are. As he explores the interconnections between cutting-edge work in bioanthropology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, human language and learning, and beyond, James Paul Gee advances, also, a personal philosophy of language, learning, and culture, informed by his decades of work across linguistics and the social sciences.

The Future of Language distinguishes myth from reality and superstition from scientifically based prediction as it plots out the importance of language and raises questions about its future. From the rise of artificial intelligence and speaking robots, to brain implants and computer-facilitated telepathy, language and communications expert Philip Seargeant surveys the development of new digital ‘languages’ and investigates how conventions of spoken and written language are being modified by new trends in communication.

Sem a linguagem não seríamos os humanos que somos. Assim, entrar nesse complexo universo é fascinante. Este audiolivro trata tanto de questões mais gerais, como “Por que falamos?”, “Como nascem as palavras?”, até das mais específicas, como “Nossa língua é machista porque usamos o masculino quando nos referimos a um conjunto de pessoas de ambos os sexos?”, “Só existe a palavra "saudade"em português mesmo? E isso quer dizer que os falantes de outras línguas não lidam com esse sentimento?”.

「日本語が消滅するはずがない」と思う人も多いだろう。しかし世界のあちこちで民族固有の言語が消滅しているように、油断をすると日本語も消滅する――日本語研究の第一人者である著者はそう警鐘を鳴らす。

„W drogę!!!” to kolejny po „Jeść!!!” bogato ilustrowany, tematyczny leksykon profesora Jerzego Bralczyka. Tym razem przedmiotem rozważań autora są słowa związane z podróżowaniem, drogą, wędrowaniem. Każde z haseł to osobny, pełen humoru i imponującej erudycji felieton. Profesor Bralczyk pisze o pochodzeniu wybranych przez siebie słów, ich zmieniających się przez lata znaczeniach, zaskakujących kontekstach w jakich bywają używane i skojarzeniach jakie budzą. Ten słownik wciąga jak pasjonująca powieść.

Wyjątkowy leksykon w którym znany i lubiany językoznawca, prof. Jerzy Bralczyk, omówił sto osiemdziesiąt jeden „smacznych słów”. Są to w większości nazwy apetycznie brzmiących potraw, pozostałe służą jedzeniu lub się z nim kojarzą. Nie jest to jednak przewodnik kulinarny sensu stricto, ponieważ autor przede wszystkim delektuje się nie samym smakiem jedzenia, lecz słowami, ich brzmieniem, urodą i funkcją.

A compendium of 100 words and phrases smart people use—even if they only kinda sorta (secretly don't) know what they mean—with pithy definitions and fascinating etymologies to solidify their meanings.