The Language Hoax
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The Language Hoax
Author | : John H. McWhorter |
Publsiher | : Oxford University Press |
Total Pages | : 224 |
Release | : 2014-04-01 |
Genre | : Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | : 9780199361601 |
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Japanese has a term that covers both green and blue. Russian has separate terms for dark and light blue. Does this mean that Russians perceive these colors differently from Japanese people? Does language control and limit the way we think? This short, opinionated book addresses the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which argues that the language we speak shapes the way we perceive the world. Linguist John McWhorter argues that while this idea is mesmerizing, it is plainly wrong. It is language that reflects culture and worldview, not the other way around. The fact that a language has only one word for eat, drink, and smoke doesn't mean its speakers don't process the difference between food and beverage, and those who use the same word for blue and green perceive those two colors just as vividly as others do. McWhorter shows not only how the idea of language as a lens fails but also why we want so badly to believe it: we're eager to celebrate diversity by acknowledging the intelligence of peoples who may not think like we do. Though well-intentioned, our belief in this idea poses an obstacle to a better understanding of human nature and even trivializes the people we seek to celebrate. The reality -- that all humans think alike -- provides another, better way for us to acknowledge the intelligence of all peoples.
The Language Hoax
Author | : John H. McWhorter |
Publsiher | : Oxford University Press, USA |
Total Pages | : 203 |
Release | : 2014 |
Genre | : Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | : 9780199361588 |
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Challenges the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which claims that the language people speak shapes the way they perceive the world, arguing against the use of language as a lens through which to better understand human nature.
What Language Is
Author | : John McWhorter |
Publsiher | : Penguin |
Total Pages | : 240 |
Release | : 2013-02-12 |
Genre | : Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | : 9781101644454 |
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New York Times bestselling author and renowned linguist, John McWhorter, explores the complicated and fascinating world of languages. From Standard English to Black English; obscure tongues only spoken by a few thousand people in the world to the big ones like Mandarin - What Language Is celebrates the history and curiosities of languages around the world and smashes our assumptions about "correct" grammar. An eye-opening tour for all language lovers, What Language Is offers a fascinating new perspective on the way humans communicate. From vanishing languages spoken by a few hundred people to major tongues like Chinese, with copious revelations about the hodgepodge nature of English, John McWhorter shows readers how to see and hear languages as a linguist does. Packed with Big Ideas about language alongside wonderful trivia, What Language Is explains how languages across the globe (the Queen's English and Surinam creoles alike) originate, evolve, multiply, and divide. Raising provocative questions about what qualifies as a language (so-called slang does have structured grammar), McWhorter also takes readers on a marvelous journey through time and place-from Persian to the languages of Sri Lanka- to deliver a feast of facts about the wonders of human linguistic expression.
The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax and Other Irreverent Essays on the Study of Language
Author | : Geoffrey K. Pullum |
Publsiher | : University of Chicago Press |
Total Pages | : 247 |
Release | : 1991-07-09 |
Genre | : Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | : 9780226685342 |
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Contains a collection of twenty-three essays originally appearing in the journal "Natural Language and Linguistic Theory."
Words on the Move
Author | : John McWhorter |
Publsiher | : Henry Holt and Company |
Total Pages | : 288 |
Release | : 2016-09-06 |
Genre | : Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | : 9781627794732 |
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A bestselling linguist takes us on a lively tour of how the English language is evolving before our eyes -- and why we should embrace this transformation and not fight it Language is always changing -- but we tend not to like it. We understand that new words must be created for new things, but the way English is spoken today rubs many of us the wrong way. Whether it’s the use of literally to mean “figuratively” rather than “by the letter,” or the way young people use LOL and like, or business jargon like What’s the ask? -- it often seems as if the language is deteriorating before our eyes. But the truth is different and a lot less scary, as John McWhorter shows in this delightful and eye-opening exploration of how English has always been in motion and continues to evolve today. Drawing examples from everyday life and employing a generous helping of humor, he shows that these shifts are a natural process common to all languages, and that we should embrace and appreciate these changes, not condemn them. Words on the Move opens our eyes to the surprising backstories to the words and expressions we use every day. Did you know that silly once meant “blessed”? Or that ought was the original past tense of owe? Or that the suffix -ly in adverbs is actually a remnant of the word like? And have you ever wondered why some people from New Orleans sound as if they come from Brooklyn? McWhorter encourages us to marvel at the dynamism and resilience of the English language, and his book offers a lively journey through which we discover that words are ever on the move and our lives are all the richer for it.
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue
Author | : John McWhorter |
Publsiher | : Penguin |
Total Pages | : 258 |
Release | : 2009-10-27 |
Genre | : Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | : 9781592404940 |
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A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar Why do we say “I am reading a catalog” instead of “I read a catalog”? Why do we say “do” at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Language distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history. Covering such turning points as the little-known Celtic and Welsh influences on English, the impact of the Viking raids and the Norman Conquest, and the Germanic invasions that started it all during the fifth century ad, John McWhorter narrates this colorful evolution with vigor. Drawing on revolutionary genetic and linguistic research as well as a cache of remarkable trivia about the origins of English words and syntax patterns, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue ultimately demonstrates the arbitrary, maddening nature of English— and its ironic simplicity due to its role as a streamlined lingua franca during the early formation of Britain. This is the book that language aficionados worldwide have been waiting for (and no, it’s not a sin to end a sentence with a preposition).
Beyond the Hoax
Author | : Alan Sokal |
Publsiher | : OUP Oxford |
Total Pages | : 771 |
Release | : 2010-02-11 |
Genre | : Science |
ISBN | : 9780191623349 |
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In 1996, Alan Sokal, a Professor of Physics at New York University, wrote a paper for the cultural-studies journal Social Text, entitled 'Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a transformative hermeneutics of quantum gravity'. It was reviewed, accepted and published. Sokal immediately confessed that the whole article was a hoax - a cunningly worded paper designed to expose and parody the style of extreme postmodernist criticism of science. The story became front-page news around the world and triggered fierce and wide-ranging controversy. Sokal is one of the most powerful voices in the continuing debate about the status of evidence-based knowledge. In Beyond the Hoax he turns his attention to a new set of targets - pseudo-science, religion, and misinformation in public life. 'Whether my targets are the postmodernists of the left, the fundamentalists of the right, or the muddle-headed of all political and apolitical stripes, the bottom line is that clear thinking, combined with a respect for evidence, are of the utmost importance to the survival of the human race in the twenty-first century.' The book also includes a hugely illuminating annotated text of the Hoax itself, and a reflection on the furore it provoked.
The Sokal Hoax
Author | : Alan D. Sokal |
Publsiher | : U of Nebraska Press |
Total Pages | : 292 |
Release | : 2000-01-01 |
Genre | : Science |
ISBN | : 0803219245 |
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Med udgangspunkt i fysikeren Alan D. Sokals videnskabelige nonsens-artikel i det amerikanske tidsskrift Social text (Spring/Summer 1996) er her samlet et udvalg af artikler fra aviser og tidsskrifter.