Guy Deutscher - Böcker

"Guy Deutscher is that rare beast, an academic who talks good sense about linguistics... he argues in a playful and provocative way, that our mother tongue does indeed affect how we think and, just as important, how we perceive the world." Observer*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? In Through the Language Glass, acclaimed author Guy Deutscher will convince you that, contrary to the fashionable academic consensus of today, the answer to all these questions is - yes. A delightful amalgam of cultural history and popular science, this book explores some of the most fascinating and controversial questions about language, culture and the human mind.

'A persuasive and beautifully written take on how languages are constantly evolving... an enthralling read about human psychology and anthropology as well as linguistics.' ALEX BELLOS___________________________________'Language is mankind's greatest invention - except of course, that it was never invented'. So begins Guy Deutscher's fascinating 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, and 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, groundbreaking discoveries in modern linguistics, Deutscher exposes the elusive forces of creation at work in human communication. Along the way, we learn why German maidens are neuter while German turnips are female, why we have feet not foots, and how great changes in pronunciation may result from simple laziness..._____________________'Powerful and thrilling' SPECTATOR'Really ought to be read by anyone who persists in complaining that the English language is going to the dogs' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'I was enthralled' A.S. Byatt, for GUARDIAN 'Books of the Year''Highly original... clever and convincing... this book will stretch your mind' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY'Fascinating' BOSTON GLOBE

Akkadian is one of the earliest attested languages and the oldest recorded Semitic language. It exists in written record between 2500BC and 500BC, much of it in letters and reports concerned with domestic and business matters, and written in colloquial language. It provides a unique and valuable source for the study of linguistic change but which, perhaps because of the impenetrability of its writing system, has rarely been exploited by linguists. In this book, Guy Deutscher examines the historical development of subordinate structures in Akkadian. A case study comprises the first two parts of the book, presenting an historical grammar of sentential complementation. Part I traces the emergence of new structures and describes how the finite complements first emerged in Babylonian. It also explains the grammaticalization of the quotative construction. Part II is a functional history which examines the changes in the functional roles of different structures. It shows how, during the history of the language, finite complements and embedded questions became more widespread, whereas other structures (e.g. infinite complements, parataxis, etc.) receded. Part III seeks to explain the historical developments in a theoretical light, showing how the development in Akkadian is mirrored in many other languages. It goes on to suggest that the emergence of finite complementation may be seen as 'adaptive' and related to the development of more complex communication patterns. This book will be of interest to both specialists and general linguists alike. For specialists it offers a contribution towards a badly-needed historical grammar of the Akkadian language. For general linguists this book will be of interest not only for the questions which it raises about the nature of complementation, but also for the window which it provides on to this little-known language.

In this book Guy Deutscher examines the historical development of Akkadian, the oldest recorded Semitic language and one of the earliest attested languages. Two thousand years of texts from 2500BC to 500BC provide a unique source for the study of linguistic change.The first two parts of the book present an historical grammar of sentential complementation. Part one traces the emergence of new structures, describing how finite complements first developed, and tracing the grammaticalization of the quotative construction. Part two examines the language's functional history. It looks at the evolution of linguistic structures, showing for example how finite complements and embedded questions became more widespread as other parataxis and non-finite complements receded. In the final part of the book the author puts these changes in a broader typological perspective and compares the development of Akkadian to similar processes in other languages. The emergence of finite complementation may, he suggests, be an adaptive process, related to the growing complexity of communication.This book throws new light on the nature of linguistic change and offers fresh insights on a language that has rarely been presented to non-specialists, despite its enormous historical importance.

A consequence of the description of the superfluid condensate in superfluid He or in superconductors as a single macroscopic quantum state is the quantization of circulation, resulting in quantized vortex lines. This book draws no distinction between superfluid He3 and He4 and superconductors. It examines theoretical and experimental progress in understanding of the vortex state in both superconductors and superfluids, from lectures given by both experimentalists and theoreticians, who gathered in Cargese for a NATO ASI. The peculiar features related to short coherence lengths, 2D geometry, high temperatures, disorder and pinning are discussed.

Since the discovery in 1986 of high temperature superconductors by J. G. Bednorz and K. A. Müller, a considerable progress has been made and several important scientific problems have emerged. Within this NATO Advanced Study Institute our intention was to focus mainly on the controversial topic of the symmetry of the superconducting gap and given the very short coherence length, the role of fluctuations. The Institute on ‘The Gap Symmetry and Fluctuations in High- Superconductors’ took place in the “Institut d’Etudes Scientifiques de Cargèse” in Corsica, France, between 1 - 13 September 1997. The 110 participantsfrom 18 countries (yet 30 nationalities) including 23 full time lecturers, have spent two memorable weeks in this charming Mediterranean resort. All lecturers were asked to prepare pedagogical papers to clearly present the central physical idea behind specific model or experiment. The better understanding of physics of high temperature superconductivity is certainly needed to guide the development of applications of these materials in high and weak current devices.

One of the most spectacular consequences of the description of the superfluid condensate in superfluid He or in superconductors as a single macroscopic quantum state is the quantization of circulation, resulting in quantized vortex lines. This book draws no distinction between superfluid He3 and He4 and superconductors. The reader will find the essential introductory chapters and the most recent theoretical and experimental progress in our understanding of the vortex state in both superconductors and superfluids, from lectures given by leading experts in the field, both experimentalists and theoreticians, who gathered in Cargèse for a NATO ASI. The peculiar features related to short coherence lengths, 2D geometry, high temperatures, disorder, and pinning are thoroughly discussed.

Practical applications of the cuprates depend heavily on the coherence of their superconducting state. Introductory chapters of this book present the special problems posed by the strong anisotropy of the cuprates. They are followed by pedagogical reviews on fluctuation effects, the properties of the vortex state, physics of tunneling (s and d-wave superconductors), and properties of related junction devices. Preparation methods and advanced experiments on state of the art single crystals and thin films are emphasized.

How new are the high Tc superconductors, as compared to the conventional low Tc ones? In what sense are these oxides different from regular metals in their normal state? How different is the mechanism for high Tc superconductivity from the well-known electron-phonon interaction that explains so well superconductivity in metals and alloys? What are the implications of the new features of the high Tc oxides for their practical applications? This interesting book aims to provide some answers to those questions, drawing particularly on similarities between the high Tc oxides and granular superconductors, which also present a short coherence length and a small superfluid density.

Climate warming and disorder are the consequence of a free trade economic growth model that has failed to anticipate its physical impact on the environment. This failure reveals a lack of interaction between economists and scientists, long separated from an academic standpoint.The separation is artificial. This book shows that the free trade concept of David Ricardo and that of the Sadi Carnot thermodynamic cycle, both developed at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, are amazingly close to each other. The analogy between the two cycles helps understand the fundamental mechanism of free trade. Irreversible processes, such as the release of CO₂ by fossil fuel burning, have increased the Boltzmann entropy level. It has generated climate warming and disorder, a phenomenon accelerated by a growth model largely based on delocalization of industrial production to low wage countries. Major irreversible phenomena such as melting of all arctic ice including the Greenland ice sheets can be expected within 1000 years that can only be avoided by active removal of atmospheric CO₂, whose cost can be calculated based on the entropy laws of Clausius and Boltzmann.

Climate warming and disorder are the consequence of a free trade economic growth model that has failed to anticipate its physical impact on the environment. This failure reveals a lack of interaction between economists and scientists, long separated from an academic standpoint.The separation is artificial. This book shows that the free trade concept of David Ricardo and that of the Sadi Carnot thermodynamic cycle, both developed at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, are amazingly close to each other. The analogy between the two cycles helps understand the fundamental mechanism of free trade. Irreversible processes, such as the release of CO₂ by fossil fuel burning, have increased the Boltzmann entropy level. It has generated climate warming and disorder, a phenomenon accelerated by a growth model largely based on delocalization of industrial production to low wage countries. Major irreversible phenomena such as melting of all arctic ice including the Greenland ice sheets can be expected within 1000 years that can only be avoided by active removal of atmospheric CO₂, whose cost can be calculated based on the entropy laws of Clausius and Boltzmann.

This book aims to prove that the so-called “energy crisis” is really an entropy crisis. Since energy is conserved, it is clear that a different concept is necessary to discuss meaningfully the problems posed by energy supplies and environmental protection. This book makes this concept, entropy, accessible to a broad, nonspecialized audience.Examples taken from daily experiences are used to introduce the concept of entropy in an intuitive manner, before it is defined in a more formal way. It is shown that the entropy increase due to irreversible transformations (or “unrecoverable” energy) simultaneously determines the level of fresh energy supplies of our society and the damage that it causes to the environment. Minimizing the rate of entropy increase with advanced technologies and society organizations, and keeping it in check with appropriate energy sources, is the key to a sustainable development.

This book aims to prove that the so-called “energy crisis” is really an entropy crisis. Since energy is conserved, it is clear that a different concept is necessary to discuss meaningfully the problems posed by energy supplies and environmental protection. This book makes this concept, entropy, accessible to a broad, nonspecialized audience.Examples taken from daily experiences are used to introduce the concept of entropy in an intuitive manner, before it is defined in a more formal way. It is shown that the entropy increase due to irreversible transformations (or “unrecoverable” energy) simultaneously determines the level of fresh energy supplies of our society and the damage that it causes to the environment. Minimizing the rate of entropy increase with advanced technologies and society organizations, and keeping it in check with appropriate energy sources, is the key to a sustainable development.