Language: History & General Works

The existence of the Welsh-language can come as a surprise to those who assume that English is the foundation language of Britain. However, J. R. R...

The bizarre meanings behind everyday names!Did you know that Jacobs tend to cheat in school, Marys have nasty attitudes, and Catherines like to cau...

Most of us are aware that words such as geometry, mathematics, phobia and hypochondria derive from ancient Greek, but did you know that marmalade, ...

Some part of me believed I would become a more complete person if I spoke Irish, more in tune with my roots, my identity, my very being.  I was o...

'Beautifully researched account, full of humour and personal insight'David Crystal, author of Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar ...

Let me be clear. This book does not contain a raft of measures to address issues around the abuse of the English language. It is not a forward offe...

Fish mines cultural touchstones from Milton to 'Married with Children' to explain how various types of arguments are structured and how that unders...

Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers, Second Edition reveals the trajectory of the Greek language from the Mycenaean period of the sec...

In the beginning there was one language-one tongue that Adam used to compose the first poem, an elegy for Abel. These days, no one bothers to ask ...

Master the harsh, guttural language of Klingon with this indispensable audio phrasebook. This amusing and enlightening primer on ill-tempered and p...

This reference work delivers an interdisciplinary, applied spatial and geographical approach to the study of languages and linguistics. This work i...

La straordinaria polifonia di lingue che caratterizza le letterature nazionali di eta moderna e ormai un dato acquisito nelle piu aggiornate ricost...

'Susie Dent is a national treasure' Richard Osman'WORD PERFECT is a golden vaulted cave of fascinating and funny hidden gems' JO BRANDWelcome to a ...

This refereed volume is a collection of selected scholarly articles resulting from research conducted for the first international Australian Worksh...

This first and only work of non-fiction by the author of two novels, two collections of short stories and a collection of poetry, has an accessible...

Is That a Fish in Your Ear? by David Bellos asks: how do we really make ourselves understood to other people? This funny, wise and life-affirming l...

From minding your Ps and Qs to wondering why X should mark the spot, Alphabetical is a book for everyone who loves words and language. Whether it's...

This book tells a history of Ireland through the examination of 100 key words from the Royal Irish Academys Dictionary of the Irish Language, the m...

A lively, intelligent and persuasive history of speech...Expertly and patiently explained The TimesWhy are human beings the only animals that can s...

This lively account of the making of Canadian English traces the variety's conceptual, social and linguistic developments from the twentieth centur...

Following the success of the first edition, this new edition has been expanded and improved with additional images and enhanced drawings. The subje...

This book is the first of its kind on the socio-political history of Urdu. It analyses the historiography of the language-narratives about its name...

In this richly entertaining book, Jonathon Green traces the development of slang and its trajectory through society, and offers an impassioned argu...