Reviews (2)

Sociology and Language
Bourdieu's point is not to explore linguistics but rather to explore the larger impact that language has on shaping symbols, meaning and power in the social context.Symbolic interactionists and conflict theorists would probally find this book to be a great read.

abstract but has a lot of potential
This book will most likely not appeal to US students in linguistics. Because Bourdieu deals with rather abstract concepts which cover a lot of social ground (e.g., symbolic, cultural, economic capital, field, etc.)and not enough linguistic ground, some linguists will have trouble applying concepts to the actual production of speech at the phonological, morpho-syntactic, pragmatic and discourse level. He never really deals with actual production of language by speakers, so it creates a lot of work for the reader to fill in the details of what, for example, an actual linguistic habitus might look like, what its dispositions might be, and how they might be coordinated in their habitus set.Read more

Subjects:  1. Language    2. Language Arts & Disciplines    3. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    4. Linguistics    5. Semantics    6. Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics    7. Language teaching & learning material & coursework   

Reviews (19)

Some Things Shouldnt Be Tolerated.
Hayakawa does fine when he sticks to language. He had a firm 5 Stars from me until the end when he included his political opinions. And his political opinions are filled with the errors the rest of the book caution against. There really are assheads in the world. Lots of them. And they cant be reached by reason and being nice and being tolerant. So Hayakawa's politics dont abstract down very well. At the lower levels, where you deal with individuals and groups, oftentimes you have to deal with people by applying a folding-chair against the side of their skulls rather than use Hayakawa's advice and be their victim. Get your own thinking straight, recognize the assheads, and step on them.

Read this book -- It helps to open one's mind!
S. I. Hayakawa's "Language in Thought and Action" is an excellent read.There isn't much that I can add to what has already been said by other reviewers.In terms of writing and speaking, this book will help me to remain cognizant about the words I use, their meanings, and their contexts.As a reader of books, articles, ads, etc., as well as one who "listens" to what others are saying, this book will help me to recognize that I must discern the "messages" I am receiving, in terms of their intended meaning by the writer and/or the speaker.While the book is very profound and thought-provoking, Hayakawa's style is not erudite -- that is, he does not talk "down" to the reader.I intend to re-read this book many times, in order to glean more of Hayakawa's important message.What remains is to try and get more people to read this excellent work, including relatives, friends, those in government, scientists and engineers, academics, media types, and those in the entertainment industry.If I could give this book more than five stars, I would do so without hesitation.
A great foundational book for anyone who wants to think more clearly
I read the second edition of this great work 35 years ago and it became the center of my educational process. Now when someone uses growl words, or refuses to lower the level of generality or brands a person by associating them with a label, I mentally repeat these basic principles of thought and civilization: The Word is not the Thing. Truth is found by getting to the lowest level of generality and examining things with care, not by inflaming people with symbols and putting people in boxes. This book is not only needed by students, but to help all of us deal with those politicans, marketing strategists and commentators who make their living by getting us to think in terms of shallow, implusive reactions. We live in a world of thought manipulation. Semantics can help you filter out the noise and learn how to think.
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Subjects:  1. English language    2. Language    3. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    4. Linguistics    5. Semantics    6. Word Lists    7. English    8. Semantics (meaning)   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Language    3. Language Arts & Disciplines    4. Language and languages    5. Linguistics    6. Reference    7. Semantics    8. Vocabulary    9. English    10. Language Arts & Disciplines / General    11. Psycholinguistics   

Reviews (7)

Empiricism Squared
Quine tells a fascinating story about translation.His is not a lazy mind.
Probably wrong but great nonetheless
First of all, unless you specialize in self-torture, don't try to read past chapter 2. (I myself died in the middle of chapter 5.) Chapters 1 and 2, however, are fantastic. You've probably heard the story before...it seems we can't tell whether by "Gavagai" the natives mean "rabbit", or "undetached rabbit part." The reason is, every single time a native is stimulated by the one, he is stimulated by the other...or something like that. That much is a fairly amusing observation, and Quine has a field day with it, suggesting that it's impossible in principle to discriminate between these putative "referents". Hmm. Well, let's just see. Say you and I are observing a "source"...a black box, out of which ticks a stream of letters. Say that, occasionally, the string of characters "R-A-B-B-I-T" appears in the stream. You have noticed that whenever this happens, I announce (gleefully) "Gavagai!" It seems you're stuck. You can never tell whether by "Gavagai!" I take myself to "refer" to "R-A-B-B-I-T" or to the rabbit-embedded "B-B" appearing in the stream. At least, not by passive observation. Once you can ask me questions about what I do take myself to be "referring" to, it seems that we can clear this issue up, but fast. Or not? Quine thinks not, and that's where things get interesting. I'm pretty sure he's wrong, but I'm not (exactly) sure why. Probably you can employ a meta-language to artificially attach referential information to sentences...more interesting, however, is the question why you would want to. Indeed, wouldn't a philosopher versed in the paradox just say "what's the difference?" when asked whether he "referred" to "R-A-B-B-I-T" or a rabbit-embedded "B-B"? The moral seems to be that you aren't stuck at all...you know what I *mean* either way, you just don't know what I'm referring to: reference, in short, doesn't contribute in the way we usually think it does to meaning. But, whatever the answers are, the puzzles are here, so read it.

A Seminal Book in Contemporary Pragmatism
This book is Quine's first full-length book, and it sets forth his most elaborate statement of his wholistic thesis of language.Instead of the metaphorical statement in "Two Dogmas" written a decade earlier, here in Word and Object Quine expresses his thesis in the literal vocabulary of behavioristic psychology with his idea of "stimulus meaning".
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Subjects:  1. General    2. History & Surveys - General    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Language and languages    7. Linguistics    8. Logic    9. Logic, Symbolic and mathematic    10. Logic, Symbolic and mathematical    11. Philosophy    12. Semantics    13. Semantics (Philosophy)    14. Language & Linguistics    15. Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics   

Reviews (6)

Uncommon Sense OfExtensional Orientating
Bruce I. Kodish has a doctorate in Applied Epistemology: General Semantics; further has studied physical therapy with posture-movement education.Currently serves on the teaching staff of the Institute of General Semantics.Susan Presby Kodish has a Psychology doctorate.Joining the Institute of General Semantics teaching staff in 1983, serving as Educational Director.Further both served as senior editors of the "General Semantics Bulletin".
Thank You S&S
I first read S&S in my late teens while in college probably in 1960. I truly believe that it kept me sane during that decade.
Introduction to Sanity
This is an excellent introduction and explanation of Korzybski's work, and I recommend it to both newcomers and experts alike. Alfred Korzybski was one of the unacknowledged geniuses of the twentieth century. He influenced a host of other thinkers and writers, among them Buckminster Fuller, Robert Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard. Korzybski's great work, "Science and Sanity" (1933), can be a difficult book. I thus I tried to get this book, "Drive Yourself Sane," but the at that time it was out of print. I was forced to tackle "Science and Sanity" alone. I had to read it three times through over a period of several years. I wish I'd had "Drive Yourself Sane" to help me through some of the rough spots. It is well organized, nicely laid out, and has a valuable glossary in the back. It also includes valuable personal accounts from the authors. However, even an expert can gain knowledge from this book. I found that it filled in gaps in my knowledge of the subject (general semantics), gave me some new insights, and told me what others had been doing in the field since 1933. Regardless of whether you are interested in Korzybski or not, you won't finish this book without a little IQ rise. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General semantics    2. Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication    3. Language Arts & Disciplines / Semantics    4. Meaning (Psychology)    5. Self-Help    6. Applied Psychology    7. Communication    8. Language Arts & Disciplines    9. Philosophy    10. Psychology, Applied    11. Semantics    12. Thinking   

Reviews (12)

Intellectually Playful Posts and Ponderings Now in Print
"Approximately three people still haven't read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code: Mark Liberman, David Lupher, and reportedly at least one other person (as yet unidentified)." ~ gkp
Fresh, Smart, and Entertaining
Culled from their marvelous Language Log, Mark Liberman and Geoffrey Pullman have put together a volume of choice morsels for those of us who love the complexities of the English language, and they do it with wit and a sharp eye and ear for the way other linguists, grammarians, authors, and "the man on the street" are using (and misusing) the Queen's, and the President's English. Yes, there is an amusing post by Liberman about President Bush's "linguistic miscues," and how "you can make any public figure sound like a boob," with enough scrutiny.
Putting the fun back into proper grammar
I've always been sort of a grammar freak (which is not to say I don't make my share of mistakes), but I now know I'm not quite ready to play with the big boys.Mark Liberman and Geoffrey K. Pullum are definitely two of the big boys, and they do indeed like to play.That's part of the reason they started an online magazine called Language Log and began filling it with mini-essays, observations, and occasional rants on all sorts of grammatical topics.Their overriding goal was to reintroduce the general public to linguistics and the proper use of the English language.Even now, it sounds like a crazy dream - after all, I certainly don't remember the last time a break room conversation at work turned into a debate over linguistics - but I think it is safe to say the site has been wildly successful.It's not all that hard to see why.Liberman and Pullum are not your prototypical linguistics professors, and they don't write boring, pedantic, stodgy old posts about arcane topics.Instead, their writing is witty, pithy, sometimes surprisingly irreverent, and - well - fun.Most of their posts are borne of things they hear on the news, read in a book, come across on a web page, etc.Scholars by day - working on articles that take months to appear in journals only those in the profession will likely ever read - these fellows, as they readily admit, have a blast working on The Language Log, largely because the site affords them the luxury of instant publication, grants them the means to correspond with a growing readership of laymen genuinely interested in the proper use of language, and allows them to express ideas they could never truly address in a peer-reviewed journal.Far From the Madding Gerund is the natural outgrowth of their online mission, bringing together a wide range of Language Log posts.
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Subjects:  1. Grammar    2. Language    3. Language Arts & Disciplines    4. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    5. Language and languages    6. Linguistics    7. Semantics   

Reviews (7)

This made my head spin!
This book was cool man! It's like forget everything because nothing exists, right? I think the only other time I had this much fun was when I whooped Gabe's arse in Power Stone 2.

Controlled form triumphs over historical substance
In regard to the two seminal essays that make up the 100 or so pages of "Plato's Pharmacy" - these are reprints of articles published in the late 1960s, and presumably based on research dating back even earlier.
Barbara Johnson provides an erudite translation.
Reading most of Jacques Dierrda's body of work is a task akin to Chinese water torture.Dierrda's project is to debunk the foundation of Western philosophy by subverting it's classic texts. Dierrida uses deconstructive readings of these texts to point out logical flaws, indeterminate meanings and self referrential errors which call into question all that we understand about the structuralist notion of the relationship of the self to the other.In short, Dierrda may be the most radical thinker in modern history, because the success of his project would leave western civilization in the lurch. If Plato was wrong, then all we have learned from the beginning of philosophy is rendered useless.Barbara Johnson's translation of this difficult text is the best grip on Dierrda's project that I have ever read. Stay away from other intrepetations of Derrida, Johnson's translation is elegant and erudite. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History & Surveys - Modern    2. Philosophy    3. Rhetoric    4. Philosophy / Modern    5. Semantics (meaning)   

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Reviews (2)

Is There A Time-Frame On Which This Is A Cheap Book?Yes
In *Formal Semantics: The Essential Readings*, Paul Portner and Barbara Partee have collected the fruits of 30 years of research by linguists and logicians into the formal structure of natural language.And as this work has previously been exceptionally difficult to acquire (including the late Richard Montague's seminal "Proper Treatment of Quantification in Ordinary English") even the rather high sticker price of this volume is justified in terms of the historical and contemporary relevance of that particular essay alone (much of the work contained within this volume was influenced *in the main* by Montague Grammar). nice collection
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Subjects:  1. General    2. Language    3. Language Arts & Disciplines    4. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    5. Linguistics    6. Semantics    7. Language Arts & Disciplines / Semantics    8. Philosophy of language    9. Semantics (meaning)   

Subjects:  1. Grammar    2. Grammar, Comparative and general    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Linguistics    7. Morphology    8. Nominals    9. Syntax    10. Grammar, syntax, linguistic structure    11. Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics    12. Linguistics | Syntax & Morphology    13. Semantics (meaning)   

Reviews (2)

An excellent book and very useful to those engaged in critical discourse analysis
The book provides a very clear view of all the directions in Critical Discourse Analysis, according to the different scholars.However, they all have in common, their concern with social inequalities and their aim to create awareness of injustice and abuse of power.
A great and accessible overview
As a beginning student of CDA, I was pleased to read this volume, which almost serves as a personal valet welcoming one into this growing area of Linguistics.In a short and very readable book, we get the latest theories and methods in concise language that covers a lot of ground quickly.If you have read Titscher, Meyer, Wodak, and Vetter's "Methods of Text and Discourse Analysis" (Sage, 2000), you'll be relieved to see that this book is more focused and, for the most part, less technical.That's not to say that it's any less powerful, because the flip-side is that with this volume's emphasis only on CDA, we are reminded again and again of the ethical and emancipatory imperative of the CDA researcher.Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Linguistics    3. Psychology    4. Social Psychology    5. Social Science    6. Sociology    7. Sociology - General    8. Teaching Methods & Materials - Social Science    9. Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics    10. Semantics (meaning)    11. Sociology, Social Studies   

Subjects:  1. Discourse analysis    2. Education    3. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    4. Linguistics    5. Research    6. Teaching Methods & Materials - General    7. Teaching Methods & Materials - Social Science    8. Semantics (meaning)    9. Social Science / Research   

Reviews (2)

very hard to read, but pays
As the previous reviewer says, the book contains many of Davidson's seminal papers in the philosophy of language. This book, however, cannot be used as an introduction to anything, not to philosophy of language and not even to Davidson's. His style is extremely compressed, and sometimes he merely intimates what should be carefully explained. What it ideally takes two paragraphs to say, Davidson says in two lines; each sentence is therefore crammed up with thoughts; at some places the author becomes oracular. Read it!
Excellent book. A must read for everyone interested in philosophy of language. This book contains all of Davidson's important articles concerning philosophy of language. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Mind & Body    2. Philosophy    3. Semantics    4. Philosophy / Mind & Body    5. Philosophy of language    6. Philosophy | Mind    7. Topics in philosophy   

Reviews (11)

Interesting for curious speakers
The book consists of a series of essays that address many common myths about languages, such as "Some languages are just harder than others", "Double negatives are illogical", "Everyone has an accent except me" and many others.
Most Essential
This book is a wonderful read for anyone interested in language. It contains short essays on twenty-one common misconceptions about language by established (socio-) linguists.
Interesting
This is a collection of essays by today's leading linguists.Their mission is to debunk some of the most popular myths about languages.For example, some of the topics coverd are "Double Negatives Are Illogical," "TV Makes People Sound the Same," and "Some Languages Are Harder Than Others."My favorite essay had to do with the topic of the perception of American dialects.Read more

Subjects:  1. Language    2. Language Arts & Disciplines    3. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    4. Language and languages    5. Linguistics    6. Linguistics (Specific Aspects)    7. Semantics    8. Language & Linguistics    9. Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication    10. Other prose: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (12)

A feast of insights
This is a wonderfully enriching collection of juicy words from cultures around the world. The author is to be commended for the breadth of his trolling in the waters of many nations to bring together this feast of insights - into national and cultural diversities, humor, pathos, and creativity, suggesting aspects of the human condition that we may have overlooked, and enhancing our appreciation of life in its infinite variations.
A veritable buffet for logophiles
Believe me, I really wanted to give this book five stars. It is five-star quality in almost every respect. The only reason I didn't is, IMO, it gives unduly short shrift to Spanish. And of the handful or so Spanish words that are included, at least three are characteristic of Spain. It seems to me the author missed a great opportunity to introduce readers to the multifaceted Spanish of Latin America. I for one would have loved to see the word "carteluo" in there, since I have yet to find a satisfactory definition/description anywhere else. Yet try as I might to identify other shortcomings, that is the only criticism I have of this book.
Differences between the matter and present Japanese
I only read about the chapter of Japanese, but I think it is a little bit strange. Some Japanese words the author chose are not used resently. So these don't express update Japanese. For example, the author refers about Japanese word, 'myo' , but there are expressed only one meaning. But the word is not used as that meaning. So from the point of Japanese view, it is hard to say that all contents of Japanese don't become reference, but at the same time some contents refer interesting point and make pointed remark. It was interesting to read about Japanese which are refered by foreign writer! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Etymology    2. Language    3. Language Arts & Disciplines    4. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    5. Polyglot glossaries, phrase books, etc    6. Semantics   

Subjects:  1. Democracy    2. General    3. Habermas, Jurgen    4. Interpretation and constructio    5. Interpretation and construction    6. Language    7. Language Arts & Disciplines    8. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    9. Law    10. Linguistics    11. Contributions in law    12. English legal system    13. Habermas, Jürgen    14. Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics    15. Semantics (meaning)   

Subjects:  1. Grammar    2. Grammar, Comparative and general    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Linguistics    7. Realization (Linguistics)    8. Verb    9. Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics    10. Semantics (meaning)   

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Subjects:  1. Cognitive Psychology    2. General    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Linguistics    7. Methodology    8. Language Arts & Disciplines / Semantics    9. PRAGMATICS    10. Psycholinguistics   

Reviews (1)

A difficult but rewarding read
The title 'Simpler Syntax' means simpler than syntax as implemented in Chomskyan mainstream generative grammar. The book is not at all simple, and readers who are not already familiar with arcane linguistic concepts such as c-command, theta roles, pied-piping, and pro-drop, will soon become lost. I'm not a linguist, but I've tried to follow mainstream linguistics over the years and I could follow enough of this book to see that the authors were saying something very important, despite the complexity of the arguments, which were illustrated with alternative analyses of a wide range of linguistic constructions.
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Subjects:  1. Grammar    2. Grammar, Comparative and general    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Linguistics    7. Semantics    8. Syntax    9. English    10. Grammar, syntax, linguistic structure    11. Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics    12. Linguistics | Syntax & Morphology    13. Psycholinguistics    14. Semantics (meaning)   

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Subjects:  1. Language    2. Language Arts & Disciplines    3. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    4. Linguistics    5. Semantics    6. Cultural studies    7. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS    8. Language Arts & Disciplines / Semantics    9. SOCIAL CHANGE    10. SOCIOLINGUISTICS    11. Social Sciences   

Subjects:  1. English language    2. Foreign speakers    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Linguistics    7. Report writing    8. Rhetoric    9. Semantics    10. Study and teaching    11. Study and teaching (Higher)    12. Applied linguistics for ELT    13. Education / Bilingual Education    14. English    15. Language acquisition    16. Writing skills