16.1797, Books: Hist Ling/English/French/German: Deutscher

Tue Jun 7 22:33:12 UTC 2005

LINGUIST List: Vol-16-1797. Tue Jun 07 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.1797, Books: Hist Ling/English/French/German: Deutscher

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1)
Date: 07-Jun-2005
From: Jessica Firger < Jessica.Firger at hholt.com >
Subject: The Unfolding of Language: Deutscher 

-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Tue, 07 Jun 2005 18:31:48
From: Jessica Firger < Jessica.Firger at hholt.com >
Subject: The Unfolding of Language: Deutscher 

Title: The Unfolding of Language 
Subtitle: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention 
Publication Year: 2005 
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
	   http://www.henryholt.com/

Book URL: http://www.unfoldingoflanguage.com 

Author: Guy Deutscher, Ph.D., University of Leiden

Hardback: ISBN: 0805079076 Pages: 360 Price: U.S. $ 26.00
Hardback: ISBN: 043401155X Pages: 360 Price: U.K. £ 14.00

Abstract:

"Language is mankind's greatest invention - except of course, that it was
never invented."  So begins Guy Deutscher's investigation into the
evolution of language. No one believes that the Roman Senate sat down one
day to design the complex system that is Latin grammar, and few believe,
these days, in the literal truth of the story of the Tower of Babel. But
then how did there come to be so many languages of such elaborate design?
If we started off with rudimentary utterances on the level of "man throw
spear," how did we end up with sophisticated grammars, enormous
vocabularies, and intricately nuanced shades of meaning? 

Drawing on recent discoveries in modern linguistics, The Unfolding of
Language exposes the elusive forces of creation at work in human
communication. The emergence of linguistic complexity is reconstructed from
an early evolutionary "Me Tarzan" stage, all the way to the expressive
power of languages today. Arguing that destruction and creation in language
are intimately entwined, Deutscher shows how these processes are
continuously in operation, generating new words, new structures, and new
meanings. From the written records of lost civilizations to the spoken
idiom of today's streets, we move nimbly from ancient Babylonian through
medieval French to the English of the present. We marvel at the triumph of
design that is the Semitic verb, puzzle over single words that can express
highly elaborate sentiments, such as the Turkish
sehirlilestiremediklerimizdensiniz ("you are one of those whom we couldn't
turn into a town-dweller"), and observe how great changes of pronunciation
may result from an age old human habit - simple laziness. Through the
dramatic story of The Unfolding of Language, we discover the genius behind
a uniquely human faculty. 

Introduction:'This marvellous invention' 
Chapter 1: A Castle in the Air 
Chapter 2: Perpetual Motion 
Chapter 3: The Forces of Destruction 
Chapter 4: A Reef of Dead Metaphors 
Chapter 5: The Forces of Creation 
Chapter 6: Craving for Order 
Chapter 7: The Unfolding of Language 
Epilogue 

Appendix A: Flipping Categories 
Appendix B: Laryngeals Again? 
Appendix C: The Devil in the Detail 
Appendix D: The Cook's Counterpoint 
Appendix E: The Turkish Mirror 

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics

Subject Language(s): English (ENG)
                     French (FRN)
                     German, Standard (GER)
                     Turkish (TRK)
                     Sumerian (SVM)

Written In: English  (ENG)

See this book announcement on our website: 
http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=15193

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	Cambridge University Press          
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		http://www.eup.ed.ac.uk/	

	Elsevier Ltd.          
		http://www.elsevier.com/linguistics	

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		http://www.equinoxpub.com/	

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		http://www.press.georgetown.edu	

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		http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk	

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		http://www.benjamins.com/	

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	Lincom GmbH          
		www.lincom.at	

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		http://mitpress.mit.edu/	

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	Kingston Press Ltd
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	MIT Working Papers in Linguistics
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	Multilingual Matters
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	Pacific Linguistics
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	Palgrave Macmillan
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	SIL International
		http://www.ethnologue.com/bookstore.asp 

	St. Jerome Publishing Ltd.
		http://www.stjerome.co.uk 

	Utrecht Institute of Linguistics / LOT Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistic
		http://www-uilots.let.uu.nl/ 

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