Stephen Pax Leonard – författare

Language, Society and Identity in early Iceland offers a much-needed exploration into the problem of linguistic and social identity construction in early Iceland, and is a fascinating account of an under examined historical-linguistic story that will spur further research and discussion amongst researchers. Engages with recent theoretical research on dialect formation and language isolationMakes a significant contribution to our understanding of dialect development, putting forward a persuasive hypothesis accounting for the lack of dialect variation in IcelandicUses a unique, multi-disciplinary approach that brings together material from a wide range of fields for a comprehensive examination of the role of language in identity constructionOpens up opportunities for further research, especially for those concerned with language and identity in Iceland today, where there is for the first time sociolinguistic variation

Arctic Journal grew out of twelve months of fieldwork, living in a remote corner of the Arctic in the most northern permanently inhabited settlement in the world. It is a response to an alluring polar environment and different way of life whose appeal leaves an indelible mark on the mind, changing forever one's perspective on the world. Written in large part during the dark period when there is no sun at all for over three months of the year, the poem is the product of extraordinary circumstances which allowed certain privileged insights into what is happening hamani 'down there' in the urbanised world of megacities and environmental destruction. Battling bitter cold, solitude, a wall of mistrust and the winter darkness, Arctic Journal is a chronological poem of introspection and marks the arrival of an important poet.

This book serves as an insightful ethnographic introduction to the language and oral traditions of the Inugguit, a sub-group of the Inuit who live in north-west Greenland. A unique work, it encompasses an overview of the grammar of Polar Eskimo – a language spoken by about 770 people – as well as a description of their oral traditions (drum-dancing and story-telling) and the most extensive glossary of the language compiled to date. The book presents the Polar Eskimo language in the orthography established by the author in conjunction with the local community in Greenland, an extremely difficult task for a language made up of such an aberrant phonology and with no written tradition. By exploring their ways of speaking and ways of belonging, Leonard provides an original ethnographic interpretation of the nature of Inugguit social organization and their world-view. Some Ethnolinguistic Notes on Polar Eskimo will serve as an invaluable resource for linguists who specialise in the Eskimo-Aleut group and will be of much interest to anthropologists working in the Arctic region.