17.2205, Books: General Linguistics: Parkvall

Mon Jul 31 19:49:05 UTC 2006

LINGUIST List: Vol-17-2205. Mon Jul 31 2006. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 17.2205, Books: General Linguistics: Parkvall

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1)
Date: 30-Jul-2006
From: Philip Baker < battlebridge at sltnet.lk >
Subject: Limits of Language: Parkvall 

-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 15:46:44
From: Philip Baker < battlebridge at sltnet.lk >
Subject: Limits of Language: Parkvall 

Title: Limits of Language 
Subtitle: Almost everything you didn't know you didn't know about language and
languages

Publication Year: 2006 
Publisher: Battlebridge
	   www.battlebridge.com

Author: Mikael Parkvall, Stockholm University

Paperback: ISBN: 1903292042 Pages: 400 Price: U.K. £ 17.95

Abstract:

Limits of Language is a collection of the most extreme and unusual facts
about the languages of the world.  It covers almost every facet of
linguistics. Written in an engaging style for a wide readership, it
nevertheless contains a great deal of information which even the best-read
professional linguist will not have encountered before. The reader learns
about the complex case system of Kalaw Lagaw La, the dazzling plural
formation in Shilluk, Sursurunga, and Kiowa, and the hundreds of noun
classes in Tzeltal. Examples are given of the intriguing verb suppletion in
Imonda, the startlingly simple tense/aspect system of Maibrat, the amazing
three degrees of lip rounding in Scandinavian languages, the unusual aspect
marking in Yimas and Berik, the astonishing article system of Chamicuro,
and the dadaistic verb morphology of Kobon.

The many hundreds of questions discussed in this book include: In what
country are people the most polyglot? How did dord come to mean 'density'?
Who made the first ever recording in Sumerian? Which linguistic fields have
the greatest appeal to women? Why do some inhabitants of the city of Baarle
say gazet for 'newspaper' while others say krant? Which preposition do
Italian children acquire first? How do deaf Japanese say 'condom'? Which
country has the most generous minority language policy? Can normal Kalam
speech really cause panadamus nuts to rot? Is a suffixed definite article
enough to make Macedonia a Bulgarian province? Why is there no point in
founding a local radio station in Laurent, South Dakota?

Apart from the languages themselves, "Limits of language" also abounds with
interesting facts about the discipline itself. The reader is served an
exposé of linguistic theories that failed the test of time, gets to know
why Adam Smith, Friedrich Nietzsche, August Strindberg, Alice in
Wonderland, Joseph Stalin, and serial killer Edward Rulloff all deserve a
place in the history of linguistics. For those with a taste for the
macabre, there is a section on unusual linguistic experiments, and for the
lewd, "Limits of Language" offers the memorable example sentences of
generative semantics, a dirty dictionary of Russian, and naughty
grammaticalizations in Ancient Egyptian and Takelma. We also get to know
our colleagues a little better by learning about left-handed linguists,
those who have spent time in prison, those who died youngest and lived
longest, and those with the most impressive hairdos. As if this weren't
enough, the book offers the linguistic life-style guide, including the
definitive top-ten list of linguistic monuments as well as the Linguist's
Calendar which provides a suitable pretext for celebrating every single day
of the year.

The book contains an extensive bibliography (nearly 800 titles) and a very
detailed index (3 500 entries). 

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics

Written In: English  (eng)

See this book announcement on our website: 
http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=20515

MAJOR SUPPORTERS

	Blackwell Publishing          
		http://www.blackwellpublishing.com	

	Cambridge University Press          
		http://us.cambridge.org	

	Cascadilla Press          
		http://www.cascadilla.com/	

	Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd          
		http://www.continuumbooks.com	

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

	Equinox Publishing Ltd.          
		http://www.equinoxpub.com/	

	European Language Resources Association          
		http://www.elda.org/sommaire.php	

	Georgetown University Press          
		http://www.press.georgetown.edu	

	Hodder Arnold          
		http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk	

	John Benjamins          
		http://www.benjamins.com/	

	Lawrence Erlbaum Associates          
		http://www.erlbaum.com/	

	Lincom GmbH          
		http://www.lincom.at	

	MIT Press          
		http://mitpress.mit.edu/	

	Mouton de Gruyter          
		http://www.mouton-publishers.com	

	Multilingual Matters          
		http://www.multilingual-matters.com/	

	Oxford University Press          
		http://www.oup.com/us	

	Palgrave Macmillan          
		http://www.palgrave.com	

	Rodopi          
		http://www.rodopi.nl/	

	Routledge (Taylor and Francis)          
		http://www.routledge.com/	

	Springer          
		http://www.springer.com	

OTHER SUPPORTING PUBLISHERS	

	Anthropological Linguistics
		http://www.indiana.edu/~anthling/ 

	CSLI Publications
		http://cslipublications.stanford.edu/ 

	Graduate Linguistic Students' Assoc.   Umass
		http://glsa.hypermart.net/ 

	International Pragmatics Assoc.
		http://www.ipra.be 

	Kingston Press Ltd
		http://www.kingstonpress.com/ 

	Linguistic Assoc. of Finland
		http://www.ling.helsinki.fi/sky/ 

	MIT Working Papers in Linguistics
		http://web.mit.edu/mitwpl/ 

	Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke
		http://www.lotpublications.nl/ 

	Pacific Linguistics
		http://pacling.anu.edu.au/ 

	SIL International
		http://www.ethnologue.com/bookstore.asp 

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

	Utrecht institute of Linguistics
		http://www-uilots.let.uu.nl/ 

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