Språk: historia och allmänt
2 179 produkter
2 179 produkter
289 kr
Fröet till det svenska språket såddes för 5 000 år sedan, i området kring Svarta havet. Men det var först på 1300-talet som svenskan fick sin roll som ett eget språk, kopplat till nationen. Sedan dess har det utvecklats i nära samspel med landet där det talats och skrivits.
Genom att studera texter skrivna av kungligheter, lärarinnor, kanslister eller vetenskapsmän kan vi förstå hur språket användes – och hur människorna bakom orden tänkte och levde. Lingvisten Tore Janson visar i denna bok hur svenskans historia därmed också är en viktig del av Sveriges historia.
Med djup kunskap och pedagogisk blick lotsar han oss genom åtta sekler och öppnar dörrar till olika tider och språkformer.
Följ med på en lärd och underhållande resa från runskrifternas tidevarv till dagens digitala svenska!
- Nyhet
129 kr
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*A GUARDIAN, NEW STATESMAN, PROSPECT AND WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2025* 'The fascinating story of ancient words … new revelations await' The Guardian 'A magisterial feat' New Scientist ________________________________ One ancient language transformed our world. This is its story. Star. Stjarna. Stare. Thousands of miles apart, people look up at the night sky and use the same word to describe what they see.Listen to these English, Icelandic and Iranic words and you can hear echoes of one of the most extraordinary journeys in humanity’s past. All three of these languages – and hundreds more – share a single ancient ancestor.Five millennia ago, in a mysterious Big Bang of its own, this proto tongue exploded, forming new worlds as it spread east and west. Today, nearly half of humanity speaks an Indo-European language. How did this happen?In Proto, acclaimed journalist Laura Spinney sets off to find out. With her we travel the length of the steppe, navigating the Caucasus, the Silk Roads and the Hindu Kush. We follow in the footsteps of nomads and monks, Amazon warriors and lion kings – the ancient peoples who spread these tongues far and wide. In the present, Spinney meets the linguists, archaeologists and geneticists racing to recover this lost world. What they have discovered has vital lessons for our modern age, as people and their languages are on the move again.Proto is a revelatory portrait of world history in its own words.
168 kr
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Ny upplaga med 30 nya uttryck! Kan man ha is i magen? Och glida på en räkmackaInget av dessa uttryck bör tolkas bokstavligt. Detsamma gäller den uppsjö av uttryck som vi till vardags slänger ur oss utan att egentligen tänka på vad vi säger. Alla uttryck har ett ursprung: många härrör från det gamla bondesamhället, några från sagor och fabler, och de allra flesta har sitt ursprung i Bibeln Kasta yxan i sjön, fara fram som ett Jehu och dansa efter någons pipa är bara några exempel. Vem kan då skapa ett nytt uttryck i språket? Svaret är: vem som helst! Den här boken tar i bokstavsordning upp drygt 200 av våra vanligaste svenska uttryck med dess betydelse och ursprung. Man får även veta i vilka språk motsvarande uttryck finns, och vad man säger då. Följ med på en spännande upptäcktsresa i vårt språk. Kerstin Johanson har tidigare gett ut ett stort antal böcker, bl a Engelska uttryck och Ordbok för tänkare samt citatserien Bra citat om...
- Nyhet
263 kr
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'Moving, beautiful and important' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Punchy and persuasive' SUNDAY TIMES As Sophia Smith Galer’s Nonna lay dying, she realised it wasn’t just a beloved grandmother she was losing – it was the language she spoke, too. From Northern Italy, she spoke a dialët that Sophia, like so many children and grandchildren of migrants, can understand but can’t speak. With the death of the language, Sophia would lose a culture, a history, an inheritance – a whole world.This tragedy reaches far beyond her family. Globally we are witnessing an unprecedented mass extinction event. By the end of this century half of the world’s 7000 languages will be gone, killed by war, climate breakdown, migration, nationalism or neglect, along with the vital knowledge that they have sustained for centuries.Award-winning journalist Smith Galer has journeyed across continents and generations to report from this disappearing world. From Ghana to Greece, Ecuador to Oman, California to the UK, she meets people experiencing this loss at first hand – but also campaigners and linguists who prove that a multilingual future is still possible. Her travels ultimately lead her back to where she began: to Italy, and the tiny mountainside village where the church bells still ring out for her Nonna.How to Kill a Language is an impassioned investigation into a hidden global crisis, and a call to speak, read and write the languages of our world, before it’s too late. 'An extremely moving, passionate plea' CAL FLYN ‘Beautiful, thought-provoking, and compelling' SUSIE DENT
110 kr
Skickas inom 5-8 vardagar
The English language is spoken by more than a billion people throughout the world. But where did English come from? And how has it evolved into the language used today?In this Very Short Introduction Simon Horobin investigates how we have arrived at the English we know today, and celebrates the way new speakers and new uses mean that it continues to adapt. Engaging with contemporary concerns about correctness, Horobin considers whether such changes are improvements, or evidence of slipping standards. What is the future for the English language? Will Standard English continue to hold sway, or we are witnessing its replacement by newly emerging Englishes?ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
191 kr
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The Renaissance is one of the most studied and celebrated eras of history. Spanning the end of the Middle Ages to the beginning of modernity, it has come to symbolise the transformative rebirth of knowledge, art, culture and political thought in Europe. And for the last two hundred years, historians have struggled to describe what makes this famous golden age unique.In Inventing the Renaissance, acclaimed historian Ada Palmer provides a fresh perspective on what makes this epoch so captivating. Her witty and irreverent journey through the fantasies historians have constructed about the period show how its legend derives more from later centuries’ mythmaking than from the often grim reality of the period itself. She examines its defining figures and movements: the enduring legacy of Niccolò Machiavelli, the rediscovery of the classics, the rise of the Medici and fall of the Borgias, the astonishing artistic achievements of Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Cellini, the impact of the Inquisition and the expansion of secular Humanism. Palmer also explores the ties between culture and money: books, for example, could cost as much as grand houses, so the period’s innovative thinkers could only thrive with the help of the super-rich. She offers fifteen provocative and entertaining character portraits of Renaissance men and women, some famous, some obscure, whose intersecting lives show how the real Renaissance was more unexpected, more international and, above all, more desperate than its golden reputation suggests.Drawing on her popular blogs and writing with her characteristic energy and wit, Palmer presents the Renaissance as we have never seen it before. Colloquial, funny and brilliant, you would never expect a work of deep scholarship to make you alternately laugh and cry.
205 kr
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*A GUARDIAN, NEW STATESMAN, PROSPECT AND WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2025* 'The fascinating story of ancient words … new revelations await' The Guardian 'A magisterial feat' New Scientist ________________________________ One ancient language transformed our world. This is its story. Star. Stjarna. Stare. Thousands of miles apart, people look up at the night sky and use the same word to describe what they see.Listen to these English, Icelandic and Iranic words and you can hear echoes of one of the most extraordinary journeys in humanity’s past. All three of these languages – and hundreds more – share a single ancient ancestor.Five millennia ago, in a mysterious Big Bang of its own, this proto tongue exploded, forming new worlds as it spread east and west. Today, nearly half of humanity speaks an Indo-European language. How did this happen?In Proto, acclaimed journalist Laura Spinney sets off to find out. With her we travel the length of the steppe, navigating the Caucasus, the Silk Roads and the Hindu Kush. We follow in the footsteps of nomads and monks, Amazon warriors and lion kings – the ancient peoples who spread these tongues far and wide. In the present, Spinney meets the linguists, archaeologists and geneticists racing to recover this lost world. What they have discovered has vital lessons for our modern age, as people and their languages are on the move again.Proto is a revelatory portrait of world history in its own words.
309 kr
Skickas inom 3-6 vardagar
454 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Are you curious to know what all languages have in common and how they differ? Do you want to find out how language can be used to trace different peoples and their past? Now in its fourth edition, this fascinating book guides beginners through the rich diversity of the world's languages. It presupposes no background in linguistics, and introduces key concepts with the help of problem sets, end-of-chapter exercises and an extensive bibliography. It is illustrated with detailed maps and charts of language families throughout, and engaging sidebars and 'food for thought' boxes contextualise and bring the languages to life with demographic, social, historical, and geographical facts. This edition has been extensively updated with a new section on the languages of the Caribbean, new problem sets, and an updated glossary and index. Supplementary online materials includes links to all websites mentioned, and answers to the exercises for instructors.
108 kr
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Sail in on a shrimp sandwich and other curious Swedish sayings Every country has them culturally unique expressions that bring colour to everyday language and provoke a laugh or two in literal translation. Swedish contains all manner of weird and wonderful sayings, many without obvious equivalents in English. Here we roll out some of the funniest and learn a little about their origins and usage you ll never get caught buying a pig in a sack again!
228 kr
Vad heter du? Den frågan har du fått många gånger.Men varför heter du? Den frågan har du kanske inte tänkt på så ofta. Hur kommer det sig att du över huvud taget har ett namn, och varför ser det ut som det gör? Det vill Sverker Johansson berätta om i denna underhållande och tankeväckande bok. Med blick för såväl de stora utvecklingslinjerna som för de kuriösa exemplen rör han sig mellan alla tider och platser för att fånga in namntraditionernas mångfald.
Beroende på var vi hamnar i tid och rum kan ett förnamn bestämmas utifrån veckodag, förfäder, vilka onda andar som ska luras eller vad modern ser när barnet föds. Förutom förnamn kan vi ha efternamn – men också föräldranamn, gårdsnamn, bynamn, barnnamn, kastnamn, mellannamn, generationsnamn eller tillnamn baserade på allt från lyten via yrken till tv-program. Visste du till exempel att Caligula betyder barnstövlar, att John är det vanligaste förnamnet på Wikipedia, att delfiner har namnmelodier och att Mao Zedongs mellannamn Ze kommer från en dikt som hans släkt i fjorton generationer hämtade namn ur?
Mycket pekar på att vi bär namn inte så mycket för att kunna tilltalas som för att kunna omtalas…
"Denna historiska rundvandring är både lärorik och väl genomförd."Fokus
"Sverker Johanssons bok Hur var namnet? plockar fram något som är så vardagligt att vi knappt tänker på det och gör det ytterst intressant och spännande."BTJ
658 kr
Skickas inom 5-8 vardagar
Nearly six thousand years ago, seafront clans in Denmark likely began speaking the earliest form of Germanic language--the first of six "signal events" that Ruth Sanders highlights in this marvelous tour of the German language. Blending linguistic, anthropological, and historical research, Sanders presents a brilliant biography of the language as it evolved across the millennia. She sheds light on the influence of such events as the Battle of Kalkriese, which permanently halted the incursion of both the Romans and the Latin language into northern Europe, and the publication of Martin Luther's German Bible translation, which in effect forged from many regional dialects a single German language. The narrative ranges through the turbulent Middle Ages, the spread of the printing press, the formation of the nineteenth-century German Empire, and Germany's twentieth-century military and cultural horrors. The book includes fascinating sidebars on topics such as the Gothic language (now extinct), the branching off of Yiddish, and the revolution of 1848. The first book on this topic for general readers, this engaging volume will appeal to everyone interested in German language, culture, or history.
586 kr
Skickas inom 10-15 vardagar
In this book, John O’Regan examines the role of political economy in the worldwide spread of English and traces the origins and development of the dominance of English to the endless accumulation of capital in a capitalist world-system.O’Regan combines Marxist perspectives of capital accumulation with world-systems analysis, international political economy, and studies of imperialism and empire to present a historical account of the ‘free riding’ of English upon the global capital networks of the capitalist world-system. Relevant disciplinary perspectives on global English are examined in this light, including superdiversity, translanguaging, translingual practice, trans-spatiality, language commodification, World Englishes and English as a Lingua Franca. Global English and Political Economy presents an original historical and interdisciplinary interpretation of the global ascent of English, while also raising important theoretical and practical questions for perspectives which suggest that the time of the traditional models of English is past.Providing an introduction to key theoretical perspectives in political economy, this book is essential reading for advanced students and researchers in applied linguistics, World Englishes and related fields of study.
433 kr
Skickas inom 10-15 vardagar
Routledge English Language Introductions cover core areas of language study and are one-stop resources for students.Assuming no prior knowledge, books in the series offer an accessible overview of the subject, with activities, study questions, sample analyses, commentaries and key readings – all in the same volume. The innovative and flexible ‘two-dimensional’ structure is built around four sections – introduction, development, exploration and extension – which offer self-contained stages for study. Each topic can also be read across these sections, enabling the reader to build gradually on the knowledge gained. This revised second edition of History of English includes:❑ a comprehensive introduction to the history of English covering the origins of English, the change from Old to Middle English, and the influence of other languages on English;❑ increased coverage of key issues, such as the standardisation of English;❑ a wider range of activities, plus answers to exercises;❑ new readings of well-known authors such as Manfred Krug, Colette Moore, Merja Stenroos and David Crystal;❑ a timeline of important external events in the history of English.Structured to reflect the chronological development of the English language, History of English describes and explains the changes in the language over a span of 1,500 years, covering all aspects from phonology and grammar, to register and discourse. In doing so, it incorporates examples from a wide variety of texts and provides an interactive and structured textbook that will be essential reading for all students of English language and linguistics.
Language Lover’s Puzzle Book
Lexical perplexities and cracking conundrums from across the globe
Häftad, Engelska, 2021
141 kr
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From the bestselling author of Alex's Adventures in Numberland and Can You Solve My Problems? comes a fascinating, hugely entertaining collection of puzzles for crossword addicts and language-lovers of all stripes. 'The only puzzle book I've seen that manages to befuddle both sides of the brain at the same time.'DARA Ó BRIAIN'Such fun, full of unexpected ideas and charmingly written.'TIM HARFORDThe Language Lover's Puzzle Book is a book of more than 100 surprising and entertaining puzzles that celebrate the amazing diversity of the world of words and language.Featuring a huge variety of ancient, modern and even invented languages, this collection of problems will introduce you to unusual alphabets and scripts, curious vocabularies and phonologies, and global variations in simple behaviours like counting, telling the time, and naming children.Whether you are a crossword solver, a code-breaker or a Scrabble addict, these puzzles are guaranteed to twist your tongue and sharpen your mind.'Alex Bellos is a dazzling polymath whose cleverness and ingenuity are on full display in this utterly brilliant and original collection of linguistic puzzles. This book is destined to be a classic for puzzle lovers.'JOSHUA FOER, co-founder of Atlas Obscura and author Moonwalking with Einstein'An irresistible linguistic workout - challenging and deeply satisfying.'GASTON DORREN, author of Lingo and Babel'For all the language and puzzle fans in your life!' GRETCHEN McCULLOCH'A cornucopia of ingenious and insightful challenges.' DAVID CRYSTAL'This compendium of puzzles is a great idea.' MICHAEL ROSEN'You'll love what Alex Bellos has done here.' GYLES BRANDRETH'Tantalisting.' THE ECONOMIST'The perfect way to pass the time.' BBC SCIENCE FOCUS
129 kr
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Denna mycket omtyckta kommer nu i en nyutgåva.Språkets nära koppling till vardagslivet gör att de flesta har åsikter om det, men hur är det egentligen - vad är fakta och vad är myt? Är en kärring någon man håller kär? Finns order lagom bara i svenskan? Har eskimåerna så många fler ord för snö än vad vi har? Hotas det svenska språket av invandringen? Har engelskan fler ord än svenskan? Detta och mycket mer klarar Mikael Parkvall ut i "Lagom finns bara i Sverige". Trots sin akademiska utgångspunkt tar sig Parkvall an ämnet på ett lättsamt och humoristiskt sätt. En mycket välskriven och läsvärd bok!"Lärorikt som det är, är detta också bland de mest lättlästa och underhållande bidragen till språkvetenskaplig allmänbildning som man kan föreställa sig" Arthur Holmer, BTJ "Den är skriven med mycket humor och mycket sakkunskap" Ingalill Mosander, SVT:s Gokväll"Frejdigt och roligt" Bo Löfvendahl, SvD"Parkvalls bok är värd stor spridning" Knut Warmland, Värmlands Folkblad
125 kr
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"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.
299 kr
Tillfälligt slut
The Renaissance is one of the most studied and celebrated eras of history. Spanning the end of the Middle Ages to the beginning of modernity, it has come to symbolise the transformative rebirth of knowledge, art, culture and political thought in Europe. And for the last two hundred years, historians have struggled to describe what makes this famous golden age unique.In Inventing the Renaissance, acclaimed historian Ada Palmer provides a fresh perspective on what makes this epoch so captivating. Her witty and irreverent journey through the fantasies historians have constructed about the period show how its legend derives more from later centuries’ mythmaking than from the often grim reality of the period itself. She examines its defining figures and movements: the enduring legacy of Niccolò Machiavelli, the rediscovery of the classics, the rise of the Medici and fall of the Borgias, the astonishing artistic achievements of Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Cellini, the impact of the Inquisition and the expansion of secular Humanism. Palmer also explores the ties between culture and money: books, for example, could cost as much as grand houses, so the period’s innovative thinkers could only thrive with the help of the super-rich. She offers fifteen provocative and entertaining character portraits of Renaissance men and women, some famous, some obscure, whose intersecting lives show how the real Renaissance was more unexpected, more international and, above all, more desperate than its golden reputation suggests.Drawing on her popular blogs and writing with her characteristic energy and wit, Palmer presents the Renaissance as we have never seen it before. Colloquial, funny and brilliant, you would never expect a work of deep scholarship to make you alternately laugh and cry.
253 kr
Skickas inom 3-6 vardagar
SAOB : en jubileumsbok
Häftad, Svenska, 2024
180 kr
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"Ty åligger äfven Academien att utarbeta en Svensk ordabok och Gramatica, jemte
sådana Afhandlingar som bidraga Kunna till stadga och befordran af god Smak."
Så lyder paragraf 23 i Svenska Akademiens stadgebok från 1786. Instiftaren, Gustaf III, gav alltså
Akademien i uppdrag att utarbeta en ordbok över svenska språket. Resultatet blev en historisk
ordbok som beskriver svenskt skriftspråk från Gustav Vasas tid till våra dagar. Det dröjde dock till
sent 1800-tal innan arbetet kom i gång på allvar. Då tillsattes en ordboksredaktion i Lund som under
de följande 140 åren träget arbetade sig genom hela alfabetet, från A till Ö. Svenska Akademiens
ordbok, oftast förkortat SAOB, kom den att kallas. 1898 publicerades det första bandet av SAOB och
hösten 2023 nådde man fram till öxla – den allra sista ordboksartikeln i det avslutande trettionionde
bandet. Därmed hade ett närmast oöverskådligt stort arbete från flera generationer språkvetare vid
ordboksredaktionen i Lund slutförts. Så har också projektets omfattning bara några få motsvarigheter
i världen.
Den här jubileumsboken, i form av en antologi med bidrag från såväl akademiledamöter
och ordboksmedarbetare som ordboksläsare, undersöker SAOB och dess betydelse för svenska
språket. Bland skribenterna återfinns ledamöterna Jila Mossaed och Tomas Riad, liksom SAOB-fansen
Sara Lövestam och Fredrik Lindström.
185 kr
Skickas inom 5-8 vardagar
Whatever you need, Susie Dent has a word for it. Do you know the name for someone who loves reading in bed, or what a binfluencer does? How about the medieval invention of Lubberland as a place for lazy teenagers, or the story of Mayday as a request for help? Lexicographer extraordinaire and Queen of Countdown's Dictionary Corner, Susie Dent does and here are her greatest discoveries.From wabbit to dust bunnies, and from the strange history of arse to the best ways to describe moonlight, Words for Life offers a full year's supply of verbal vitamins guaranteed to brighten and boost every day. Here you will learn of the Mother-in-Law's Dream as well as the Yuleshard, and discover expressions that can fix (or at least nail) the problems of modern life, whether dealing with unrequited love or unsatisfactory politicians, eating a whole packet of biscuits or forgetting someone's name.From starting January 1 with your best foot forward (qualtagh) to leaping happily into the unknown (with a drink in your hand) on 31 December, here is the perfect guide to ensure your best year yet - and 365 words you'll want to keep for life.
162 kr
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LONGLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS' ASSOCIATION NON-FICTION CROWNA SUNDAY TIMES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR'Timely ... a long and engrossing survey of the library' FT'A sweeping, absorbing history, deeply researched' Richard Ovenden, author of Burning the BooksFamed across the known world, jealously guarded by private collectors, built up over centuries, destroyed in a single day, ornamented with gold leaf and frescoes or filled with bean bags and children's drawings - the history of the library is rich, varied and stuffed full of incident.In this, the first major history of its kind, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen explore the contested and dramatic history of the library, from the famous collections of the ancient world to the embattled public resources we cherish today. Along the way, they introduce us to the antiquarians and philanthropists who shaped the world's great collections, trace the rise and fall of fashions and tastes, and reveal the high crimes and misdemeanours committed in pursuit of rare and valuable manuscripts.
144 kr
Skickas inom 5-8 vardagar
'A fiendishly good read!'Mignon Fogarty, Grammar GirlThe English language is where words go to be tortured and mutilated into unrecognizable shadows of their former selves. It's where Latin, Greek, and Germanic roots are shredded apart and stitched unceremoniously back together with misunderstood snippets of languages snatched from the wreckage of conquest and colonialism. It wreaks merciless havoc upon grammar and spelling. It turns clinical terms into insults and children's tales into filthy euphemisms.With an emphasis on understanding where the foulest words in the English language came from-and the disgusting and hilarious histories behind them-this book demonstrates the true filth of our everyday words. But this book is more than just a list of vulgar words and salacious slang. It's a thoughtful analysis of why we deem words as being inappropriate as well as revealing 'good words' that have surprisingly naughty origins.Dirty-minded word nerds and lewd linguistics lovers will derive unadulterated pleasure in leering at the origins of swear words, sexual lingo, inappropriate idioms, violent vocabulary, and terminology for bodily functions-not to mention the unexpectedly foul origins of words you thought were perfectly innocent. If it's inappropriate, stomach-churning, uncomfortable, or offensive, this book reaches into the dark recesses of history and exposes them for all to see.True to the Chambers brand, this book combines humour, scholarly research and a beautiful design. It is a book to enjoy, collect and revisit time and time again.
229 kr
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From fjords to mountains, schools of herring to herds of reindeer, Scandinavia is rich in astonishing natural beauty. Less well known, however, is that it is also rich in languages. Home to seven languages, Scandinavia has traditionally been understood as linguistically bifurcated between its five Germanic languages (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, and Faroese) and its two Finno-Ugric ones (Finnish and Sámi). In The Languages of Scandinavia, Ruth H. Sanders takes a pioneering approach: she considers these Seven Sisters of the North together.While the two linguistic families that comprise Scandinavia’s languages ultimately have differing origins, the Seven Sisters have coexisted side by side for millennia. As Sanders reveals, a crisscrossing of names, territories, and even to some extent language genetics—intimate language contact—has created a body of shared culture, experience, and linguistic influences that is illuminated when the story of these seven languages is told as one. Exploring everything from the famed whalebone Lewis Chessmen of Norse origin to the interactions between the Black Death and the Norwegian language, The Languages of Scandinavia offers profound insight into languages with a cultural impact deep-rooted and far-reaching, from the Icelandic sagas to Swedish writer Stieg Larsson’s internationally popular Millennium trilogy. Sanders’s book is both an accessible work of linguistic scholarship and a fascinating intellectual history of language.
129 kr
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'More than 300 million people in the world speak English and the rest, it sometimes seems, try to...'Only Bill Bryson could make a book about the English language so entertaining. With his boundless enthusiasm and restless eye for the absurd, this is his astonishing tour of English. From its mongrel origins to its status as the world's most-spoken tongue; its apparent simplicity to its deceptive complexity; its vibrant swearing to its uncertain spelling and pronunciation, Bryson covers all this as well as the many curious eccentricities that make it as maddening to learn as it is flexible to use. Bill Bryson's classic Mother Tongue is a highly readable and hilarious tale of how English came to be the world's language.
161 kr
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Steven Roger Fischer’s fascinating book, now available in an updated B-format edition, traces the complete story of reading from the time when symbol first became sign through to the electronic texts of the present day. Describing ancient forms of reading, Fischer turns to Asia and the Americas and discusses the forms and developments of completely divergent writing systems and scripts.With the Middle Ages in Europe and the Middle East, innovative re-inventions of reading emerged – silent and liturgical reading; the custom of lectors; reading’s focus in general education – whereupon printing transformed society’s entire attitude to reading. Fischer charts the explosion of the book trade in this era, its increased audience and radically changed subject-matter; describes the emergence of broadsheets, newspapers and public readings; and traces the effect of new font designs on general legibility.Fischer discusses society’s dedication to public literacy in the sweeping educational reforms of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and notes the appearance of free libraries, gender differences in reading matter, public advertising and the ‘forbidden’ lists of Church, State and the unemancipated. Finally, he assesses the future, in which it is likely that read communication will soon exceed oral communication through the use of the personal computer and the internet, and looks at ‘visual language’ and modern theories of how reading is processed in the human brain. Asking how the New Reader can reshape reading’s future, he suggests a radical new definition of what reading could be.
150 kr
Skickas inom 5-8 vardagar
A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2019‘Richly evocative and entertaining.’ – Guardian‘A delightful read.’ – Tatler‘An essential book for anyone who wants to Polari Bona!’ – AttitudePolari is a language that was used chiefly by gay men in the first half of the twentieth century. It offered its speakers a degree of public camouflage and a means of identification. Its colourful roots are varied – from Cant to Lingua Franca to dancers’ slang – and in the mid-1960s it was thrust into the limelight by the characters Julian and Sandy, voiced by Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams, on the BBC radio show Round the Horne. (‘Oh hello Mr Horne, how bona to vada your dolly old eek!’) Paul Baker recounts the story of Polari with skill, humour and tenderness. He traces its historical origins and describes its linguistic nuts and bolts, explores the ways and the environments in which it was spoken, explains the reasons for its decline and tells of its unlikely re-emergence in the twenty-first century. With a cast of drag queens and sailors, Dilly boys and macho clones, Fabulosa! is an essential document of recent history – a fascinating and fantastically readable account of this funny, filthy and ingenious language.
149 kr
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'A breathtaking adventure through the alphabet... An absolutely delightful read, filled with jewels of lightly worn scholarship and dazzling insight. I just couldn't recommend it more highly.' Stephen Fry 'An excellent read.' Susie Dent 'You'll never look at a keyboard the same way after reading Danny Bate's fascinating linguistic history.' Sunday TimesWhy does 'W' sounds like 'double U'?What has the letter 'Q' got to do with monkeys?Why are the 'C's in circus pronounced differently?What's the point of the second 'N' in the author's first name, 'Danny'?And why does 'Q' need to be followed by 'U'?Every letter you're reading right now has a fascinating story to tell, having been on a long linguistic, historical, political and social journey.In Why Q Needs U, linguistic expert Danny Bate takes readers on a fascinating odyssey through the English alphabet, diving into history, archaeology, politics and linguistics to discover where we get our writing from. Sharing fun facts and revealing the alphabet's hidden mechanisms, he explains where we get our letters from and why the English language uses them so strangely.Explaining - and defending - the peculiar way English today uses our ancient letters, Bate's witty and entertaining book will help readers spot connections in languages across the world and inspire a newfound sense of wonder for the letters we use every day.'Charming' The Economist
129 kr
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Ibland dyker det upp uttryck som kanske känns främmande för att de inte används så ofta, som att någon persons svaga punkt är dennes akilleshäl är något som många känner till. Men varifrån kommer det uttrycket och en del andra uttryck, kanske mindre kända, som ibland dyker upp. Här får vi på ett pedagogisk sätt reda på bakgrunden till dem och när de används. Boken sammanfattar tolv berättelser ur den grekiska mytologin relaterade till just de uttryck vi ibland använder oss av. Berättelserna är vackert illustrerade av akvareller.Den andra delen av boken, inspirerad av berättelserna, reflekterar över likheterna i våra olika världskulturer samt några filosofiska principer bakom dessa uttryck.
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**LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2024**‘Unmissable’ Stephen Fry'A delight' Katherine Rundell‘Illuminating’ Susie Dent'Brilliant' Philippa Perry'Enthralling' Jeanette WintersonWhat do three murderers, Karl Marx's daughter and a vegetarian vicar have in common?They all helped create the Oxford English Dictionary.The Oxford English Dictionary has long been associated with elite institutions and Victorian men. But the Dictionary didn't just belong to the experts; it relied on contributions from members of the public. By 1928, its 414,825 entries had been crowdsourced from a surprising and diverse group of people, from astronomers to murderers, naturists, pornographers, suffragists and queer couples.Lexicographer Sarah Ogilvie dives deep into previously untapped archives to tell a people's history of the OED. Here, she reveals, for the first time, the full story of the making of one of the most famous books in the world - and celebrates the extraordinary efforts of the Dictionary People.'An astonishing book' Sunday Times'Utterly fascinating, entertaining, astonishing and as clever as a box of monkeys ... I completely love it' Joanna Lumley‘A fascinating and delightful exploration of the Victorian world … Wonderful’ Nicola Shulman, TLS Podcast** A Financial Times, TLS and Daunt Books Book of the Year **