Brill – serie

Although what language users in different cultures say about their own language has long been recognized as of potential interest, its theoretical importance to the study of language has typically been thought to be no more than peripheral. "Theorizing Language" is the first book to place the reflexive character of language at the very centre both of its empirical study and of its theoretical explanation. Language can only be explained as a cultural product of the reflexive application of its own creative powers to construct, regulate, and give conceptual form to objects of understanding. Language is itself, first and foremost, an object of cultural understanding. Theoretical analyses of language which have neglected its reflexive character, or simply taken its effects for granted, merely impose their own artificial structures on their analytical object. The first part of this book discusses the consequences of neglecting this reflexive character for the technical concepts and methods which are used in analysing different types of communicational phenomena. In the second part, normativity - a crucial aspect of language's reflexive nature - is examined. The book's third and final part focuses on particular issues in the history of linguistic thought which bear witness to the rhetoric of language theorizing as a reflexive form of inquiry.

This collection of readings is complementary to Introduction to Integrational Linguistics (Language & Communication Library, Vol.17), but can be used independently. It brings together for the first time 24 key papers in integrational linguistics, and is intended to serve as a basic reading list for students and others making the first acquaintance with the subject. Originally published in sources that are for the most part out of print, these papers have been revised and updated by their authors where necessary. They are arranged in six sections: Language and Communication, Language and the Language Myth, Language and Meaning, Language and Discourse, Language and Writing, and Language and Society. An editorial introduction discusses the individual contributions and their relevance to integrationist theory.

Debates about the nature of literacy and literacy practices have been conducted extensively in the last fifteen years or so. The fact that both previous and current British governments have effectively suppressed any real debate makes the publication of this book both timely and important. Here, Urszula Clark stresses the underlying ideological character of such debates and shows that they have deep historical roots. She also makes the point that issues regarding the relationship between language and identity, especially national identity, become sharply focused at times of crisis in that identity. By undertaking a comparison with other major English-speaking countries, most notably Australia, New Zealand and the USA, Clark shows how these times of crisis reverberate around the globe.

This volume reflects a consensus that the investigation of words in the mind offers a unique opportunity to understand both human language ability and general human cognition. It brings together key perspectives on the fundamental nature of the representation and processing of words in the mind. This thematic volume covers a wide range of views on the fundamental nature of representation and processing of words in the mind and a range of views on the investigative techniques that are most likely to reveal that nature. It provides an overview of issues and developments in the field. It uncovers the processes of word recognition. It develops new models of lexical processing.

This is a handbook for readers who wish to learn more about providing services to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. It provides basic knowledge of Deaf Culture and the hard of hearing population, the aesthetics of American Sign Language, and an awareness of hearing loss and its influence on family and community life. This is a unique book in that it draws from the experiences of a Deaf (Rohring) and a hearing (Adams) author, providing a comprehensive perspective. It draws upon research and literature, from professional practice, and from anecdotal accounts. "Handbook to Service the Deaf and Hard of Hearing" is an essential resource for college training programs, hospitals, health care agencies, hearing and speech centers, school districts, educational agencies, and any one working with or employing deaf or hard of hearing persons. It features chapters containing research and practical information on understanding the primary issues affecting the lives of deaf and hard of hearing people. It has unique perspectives from Deaf, hard of hearing and hearing professionals relative to such topics as language development, Deaf Culture, medical advances in technology, literature, art and drama in the Deaf Community and growing up with a hearing loss. Illustrations and artwork presented throughout the book were created by renown deaf artists. Recommended best practices are offered on how to provide community accessibility to deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Resource section provides exhaustive list of books, articles, organizations, and Web sites in the areas of communication, deaf culture, legal rights, deaf studies and research, educational issues, language, mental health, technology, and more.

Investigates lateral asymmetries in the human brain and contrasts these with asymmetries in invertebrates, primitive vertebrates, rats, birds, mammals and primates. This book explains why lateralization of function depends upon a complex interplay of genetic, structural and environmental factors.

Theoretical Morphology provides a comprehensive and coherent treatment of contemporary morphological research and theory. A variety of theoretical paradigms are reviewed and illustrated by specific topics of debate within the field. The twenty-one chapters are divided into sections on inflection, function, historical/area studies, mapping to other components, and morphophonology.

Written by researchers in their field, this book is about the skills beyond basic word recognition that are necessary for the processing and comprehension of spoken and written language. It offers topics such as: language and text analysis; cognitive processing and comprehension; development of literacy; literacy and schooling; and more.

This volume explains the generative approach to phonological analysis and theory through a rigorous examination of data from a diverse sample of languages. It will give students the theoretical background necessary to read the phonological literature critically, and the analytical tools required for describing phonological structure.

What allows children to acquire language so effortlessly, with such speed, and with such amazing accuracy? Capitalizing on the most recent developments in linguistics and cognitive psychology, this volume sheds new light on the what, why, and how of the child's ability to acquire one or more languages. The "Handbook" is one of a kind in a number of respects. It includes state-of-the-art treatments of acquisition from a variety of theoretical viewpoints ranging from functionalist approaches and the implications of the creolization of languages for the study of acquisition to the relevance of Chomsky's Minimalist Program. It contains overviews of the acquisition of all components of linguistic structure, treats the acquisition of the sign languages of the deaf, and discusses the specific problems of bilingual acquisition. This handbook addresses the following questions: 'Is the capacity for language acquisition constant throughout the career of the language learner (that is, is it 'continuous') or does that capacity change in significant ways as the learner matures?' ; 'Is the language capacity a separate module of the mind or does it follow from general, 'all-purpose' cognitive capacities?'; 'What is innate in language acquisition and what is acquired on the basis of experience?'; 'What research/methodological issues arise in the study of child language acquisition?'; 'How might input from the language (or languages) of the environment, including visual/gestural input in the case of the sign languages of the deaf, affect the process and result of acquisition?'; and, 'How are the facts of non-normal acquisition to be explained?'

Author Philip Reynolds examines how marriage acquired a specifically Christian identity in the Latin West during the first millennium after Christ. Beginning with Jesus, everything the Christians did, including getting married, began a process of differentiation. Reynolds offers three themes for theological reflection and interpretation: Jesus’ teaching, Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, and Paul’s justification of marriage as a solution to the problem of sexual desire. Reynolds’ insights into the Christianization of marriage make this a valuable book at both the scholarly and the practical level.

The Septuagint, the first translation — or as Fernández Marcos points out, a “collection of translations”— of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek figures prominently in both the history of Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity. In this second, revised edition of the successful Spanish translation, Natalio Fernández Marcos introduces readers to the origin of the Septuagint in its earliest versions (Aquila, Theodotian, and Symmachus) and traces the fundamental issues associated with Septuagint studies. Published with financial support from the Dirección General del Libro, Archivos y Bibliothecas del Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Spain. The Septuagint in Context is also available in hardback (ISBN 90 04 11574 9)

John J. Collins offers readers a model for the scholarly study of all aspects of Judaism, from the Persian period through Late Antiqity, including its influence on early Christianity. The essays are thematically grouped to cover the problem of the Canon in Second Temple Judaism and deal with apocalypticism, the Book of Daniel, the Sibylline Oracles, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Also analyzed is the relationship between Wisdom and the Apocalypticism. This volume brings together over two decades of research by a leading authority in the field of Judaism.This publication has also been published in hardback, please click here for details.

The Bible in Africa explores the myriad ways Africans have made the Bible their own. Replete with diversity and complexity, the essays allow an intertextual conversation within the book to take place. The book includes essays on, among other topics, the historical development of biblical interpretation in Africa, the relationship between African biblical scholarship and scholarship in the West, and the ambiguity of the Bible in Africa. This book contains the most comprehensive bibliography on the Bible in Africa available in print.The Bible in Africa is also available in hardback (ISBN 90 04 10627 8)

The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam is a mandatory reference tool that will prove to be indispensable for students of all subjects which concern, or touch on, the religion and law of Islam. It includes all the articles contained in the first edition and supplement of the Encyclopedia of Islam which are particularly related to the religion and law of Islam.This volume has a vast geographical and historical scope which includes the old Arabo-Islamic Empire, the Islamic states of Iran, Central Asia, the Indian sub-continent and Indonesia, the Ottoman Empire and the various Muslim states and communities in Africa, Europe, and the former U.S.S.R.The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam contains an extensive index and bibliography.This publication has also been published in hardback, please click here for details.

Jesus was a man from Nazareth who died in Jerusalem. But he was nor ordinary man, or was he? That Jesus existed we are all quite sure, but what were the real, historical facts of his life and death? What, about all that has been said of him, is truly authentic? Who is the real Jesus? With Evans’ research, a more accurate portrait of Jesus begins to emerge. Ironically, the most important and obvious fact to bear in mind when trying to understand Jesus is that he was, in fact, a Jew. Embracing the historical and cultural context in which Jesus lived goes against the tide of Jesus research, specifically, Evans takes on the research from the Jesus Seminar. In the first part of his book, Evans shows us through comparative studies, the diversity of beliefs and actions that existed in the Jewish culture of which Jesus was indeed a part. Evans’ goal is to understand better the Sitz im Leben Jesu. In the second part of the book, Evans pits Jesus against his opponents, seeking to identify Jesus’ teachings and actions that led to his death. Not only does Evans paint a realistic portrait of Jesus, but he helps lay a firmer foundation upon which one can begin to understand the emergence of Christian theology.This publication has also been published in hardback (no longer available).

Difficult problems about early Jewish and Christian calendar and chronology are discussed here, with special attention to intertestamental evidence (Qumran and other). This evidence is both examined in itself and applied to illustrate significant biblical and patristic questions.Please note that Calendar and Chronology, Jewish and Christian] was previously published by Brill in hardback (ISBN 90 04 10586 7), no longer available)

International experts offer fresh insights into: (1) Review of Scholarship and Context; (2) Near Eastern Milieu; (3) Interpretation of Specific Passages; (4) Social Setting; (5) Literary Context, Including Qumran; (6) Reception in Judaism and Christianity; (7) Textual History; and (8) Theology of Daniel.This publication has also been published in hardback, please click here for details.

The papers in this volume offer a wide range of examples of how historians, writers, playwrights, and painters in the early modern period focused on classical antiquity as a source from which they could recreate the past as a way of understanding and legitimizing the present.This publication has also been published in hardback, please click here for details.

The Spirit in First Century Judaism lays a cornerstone in the foundation of pneumatological studies by scouring ancient writings like Plato and Plutarch, Daniel and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as those of Philo of Alexandria and Flavius Josephus.This publication has also been published in hardback, please click here for details.

In this study, Eric Orlin examines the process through which new temples were vowed, built, and dedicated as a way of examining key features of the interrelated political and religious systems of Republican Rome. He suggests the Senate, in addition to individual magistrates, played a significant role in the construction of new temples.This publication has also been published in hardback, please click here for details.

This volume contains a series of provocative essays that explore expressions of magic and ritual power in the ancient world. The essays are authored by leading scholars in the fields of Egyptology, ancient Near Eastern studies, the Hebrew Bible, Judaica, classical Greek and Roman studies, early Christianity and patristics, and Coptology.Throughout the book the essays examine the terms employed in descriptions of ancient magic. From this examination comes a clarification of magic as a polemical term of exclusion but also an understanding of the classical Egyptian and early Greek conceptions of magic as a more neutral category of inclusion.This book should prove to be foundational for future scholarly studies of ancient magic and ritual power.This publication has also been published in hardback (no longer available).

By analyzing Flavius Josephus' portrayal of the Pharisees, this study clarifies some of the crucial evidence that is necessary for scholars to evaluate anew the history of the Pharisees. Included in the discussion is Josephus' writings about the group in three of his four extant works.Please note that Flavius Josephus on the Pharisees was previously published by Brill in hardback (ISBN 90 04 09181 5, no longer available).

A Handbook to the Exegesis of the New Testament is a substantial theoretical and practical guide to the multifaceted discipline of New Testament exegesis. This handbook will serve well as both a textbook and a reference book for the major tools and topics in the area of New Testament exegesis.Please note that A Handbook to the Exegesis of the New Testament was previously published by Brill in hardback (ISBN 978 90 04 09921 0).