LINGUIST List 15.1883

Tue Jun 22 2004

Books: General Linguistics: Burridge

Editor for this issue: Neil Salmond <neillinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. jreid, Blooming English: Burridge

Title: Blooming English
Subtitle: Observations on the Roots, Cultivation and Hybrids of the
	 English Language
			
Publication Year: 2004
			
Publisher: Cambridge University Press http://www.cup.org
			
Book URL: http://www.cup.org/linguistics

Author: Kate Burridge, Monash University 

Hardback: ISBN: 0521839483, Pages: 248, Price: U.S. $: 55.00
Paperback: ISBN: 0521548322, Pages: 248, Price: U.S. $: 20.00


Abstract:
			
English is the most creative, changeable and imaginative of
languages. Some words are invented to meet temporary needs and are
quickly discarded; others carry meanings hundreds of years
old. Language fascinates us, and we spend a lot of time playing with
it, concocting everything from puns, riddles and secret languages to
wonderful prose and poetry. We also worry about it a great deal,
looking up and checking words in dictionaries and usage guides,
occasionally arguing about definitions. This book celebrates our
capacity to play with language, as well as examining the ways we use
it: in slang and jargon, swearing, speaking the unspeakable, or
concealing unpleasant or inconvenient facts. It is a book for
browsing, for finding beguiling snippets about language, history and
social customs, and for using as a formidable weapon in word games.

Contents:

1. Why a garden?
2. The complexity of language
3. Language change
4. Word creation
5. Meaning shifts
6. Relics of linguistic change
7. The nature of exotics
8. Bad language
9. Colloquial today, Standard English tomorrow
10. Our untidy English
11. Sound symbolism
12. What is correct English?
13. Dictionaries, style guides and grammars
14. Personal names
15. Dirty words
16. Taboo language.


Lingfield(s):	General Linguistics 	
			 
Subject Language(s):	English (Language Code: ENG)

Written In: English (Language Code: English)

 See this book announcement on our website:
	 http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=9950