Have you ever wondered why some people earn attention and respect when they speak and others don't?

A celebration of the huge linguistic diversity that is open to all of us at birth, and that has inspired and fascinated humans since the invention of speech.

Presents an investigation into the evolution of language. This book exposes the elusive forces of creation at work in human communication. Along the way, it teaches why German maidens are neuter while German turnips are female, why we have feet not foots, and how great changes of pronunciation may result from simple laziness.

Does language reflect the culture of a society? Is our mother-tongue a lens through which we perceive the world? Can different languages lead their speakers to different thoughts? This title states that contrary to the fashionable academic consensus of today, the answer to all these questions is - yes.

A thoroughly updated edition of a beloved classic that has guided generations of researchers in conducting effective and meaningful research. With more than a million copies sold since its first publication, The Craft of Research has helped generations of researchers at every level--from high-school students and first-year undergraduates to advanced graduate students to researchers in business and government. Conceived by seasoned researchers and educators Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, ...

A captivating portrait of contemporary New York City, the most linguistically diverse place ever to have existed on the planet, told through six speakers of little-known and overlooked languages.

A quirky language-lovers tour of the twenty most-spoken languages in the world - what puts them a cut above the other six thousand?

Whether we allow audiences to know that a text is a translation or to see the person responsible for translating it are questions that have dominated discussions about translation throughout history. Despite becoming one of the most ubiquitous terms in translation studies, however, the concept of translator invisibility is often criticized for being vague, overly adaptable, and grounded in literary contexts. This interdisciplinary volume therefore draws on concepts from fields such as sociolo...