But linguist Daniel Everett argues that, like other tools, language was invented by humans and can be reinvented or lost. He shows how the evolution of different language forms—that is, different grammar—reflects how language is influenced by human societies and experiences, and how it expresses their great variety.  For example, the Amazonian Pirahã put words together in ways that violate our long-held under-standing of how language works, and Pirahã grammar expresses complex ideas very differently than English grammar does. Drawing on the Wari’ language of Brazil, Everett explains that speakers of all languages, in constructing their stories, omit things that all members of the culture understand. In addition, Everett discusses how some cultures can get by without words for numbers or counting, without verbs for “to say” or “to give,” illustrating how the very nature of what’s important in a language is culturally determined. Combining anthropology, primatology, computer science, philosophy, linguistics, psychology, and his own pioneering—and adventurous—research with the Amazonian Pirahã, and using insights from many different languages and cultures, Everett gives us an unprecedented elucidation of this society-defined nature of language. In doing so, he also gives us a new understanding of how we think and who we are.

    This edition has been revised and edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Justin Kaplan.

    Senator S. I. Hayakawa discusses the role of language in human life, the many functions of language, and how language—sometimes without our knowing—shapes our thinking in this engaging and highly respected book. Provocative and erudite, it examines the relationship between language and racial and religious prejudice; the nature and dangers of advertising from a linguistic point of view; and, in an additional chapter called “The Empty Eye,” the content, form, and hidden message of television, from situation comedies to news coverage to political advertising.

    This text for advanced grammar courses is a comprehensive description of sentence structure that encourages students to recognise and use their innate language expertise as they study the systematic nature of sentence grammar.

    It offers a fresh, distinctive and beautifully written synthesis of the discipline. David Morley discusses where creative writing comes from, the various forms and camouflages it has taken, and why we teach and learn the arts of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. He looks at creative writing in performance; as public art, as visual art, as e-literature and as an act of community. As a leading poet, critic and award-winning teacher of the subject, Morley finds new engagements for creative writing in the creative academy and within science. Accessible, entertaining and groundbreaking, The Cambridge Introduction to Creative Writing is not only a useful textbook for students and teachers of writing, but also an inspiring read in its own right. Aspiring authors and teachers of writing will find much to discover and enjoy.

    Informed by Andrea Lunsford's research and written in clear, straightforward language that students can understand, the third edition gives quick and simple advice for reading images and writing texts -- every day.

    But here is the secret world of the index: an unsung but extraordinary everyday tool, with an illustrious but little-known history.Charting its curious path from the monasteries and universities of thirteenth-century Europe to Silicon Valley in the twenty-first, Dennis Duncan reveals how the index has saved heretics from the stake, kept politicians from high office, and made us all into the readers we are today. We follow it through German print shops and Enlightenment coffee houses, novelists’ living rooms and university laboratories, encountering emperors and popes, philosophers and prime ministers, poets, librarians, and—of course—indexers along the way. Duncan reveals the vast role of the index in our evolving literary and intellectual culture, and he shows that in the Age of Search we are all index-rakers at heart.

    What makes a good English sentence? How should you rewrite a bad one? What clichés and other word-traps are to be avoided? Using a wealth of examples drawn from British and American newspapers, Essential English is an indispensable guide for all who have to convey information by the written or printed word.

    Therefore: happiness depends at least partly on good grammar.'So writes Mr Gwynne in his small, but perfectly formed new book. Mr Gwynne believes passionately that we must regain our knowledge of the lost science of grammar before it is too late.Formerly a successful businessman, Mr Gwynne has for many years been teaching and tutoring just about every sort of subject to just about every sort of pupil in just about every sort of circumstance. His teaching methods are very much the traditional, common-sense ones, refined over the centuries, that were almost everywhere until they were abolished in the 1960s. Being disappointed in the standards of grammar he encountered in his pupils, Mr Gwynne, over time, wrote this wonderful, succinct and yet comprehensive little book - because nothing quite as suitable already existed.This edition also includes Strunk's classic guide to style, explaining how to write well and the main pitfalls to avoid. Beautifully designed, easy to understand and a joy to read, Gwynne's Grammar may be the best little book you will ever have in your life.

    A supplemental reference provides an offbeat source of unusual, obscure, and very legitimate English language terms, clearly and whimsically defined for the benefit of those needing "just the right word."

    This e-book is a completely new way to learn Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary fast - and for free! Start speaking Brazilian Portuguese in minutes with the powerful learning methods you will master in this book.The vocabulary words you’ll find in Learn BrazilianPortuguese - Word Power 101 were hand selected by our Brazilian Portuguese language teachers as the top 101 most frequently used words in the Brazilian Portuguese language. With each entry, you’ll see the word and a vibrant image to help remember the meaning. You’ll hear the word (separate free download) to master the pronunciation. Then you’ll see how the word is actually used in everyday speech with sample sentences and phrases. Learning Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary has never been easier!In this book, you’ll get: - 101 of the most frequently used Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary words - Audio with authentic native Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation *Supplementary mp3 audio files are a separate download - Vibrant photos and images to help memorization - Useful and practical sample sentences and phrases Purchase Learn BrazilianPortuguese - Word Power 101 today to start mastering Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary in the fastest, easiest and most fun way possible!

    Alphabetized definitions of related words are broken down into subjects and sub-headings, making it easy for readers to find the words they need.

    Since that time, authors X. J. and Dorothy M. Kennedy have won praise for their friendly tone and their view, apparent on every page of the text, that writing is the "usually surprising, often rewarding art of thinking while working with language." More recently, experienced teacher and writer Marcia F. Muth joined the author team, adding more practical advice to help all students — even those underprepared for college work — become successful academic writers. While retaining the highly praised "Kennedy touch," The Bedford Guide continues to evolve to meet classroom needs. The new edition does even more to build essential academic writing skills, with expanded coverage of audience analysis, source-based writing, argumentation and reasoning, and more.

    English Usage

    Also available The late Judith Kitchen, editor of the perennially popular anthologies Short Takes, In Short, and In Brief, was greatly influential in recognizing and establishing flash creative nonfiction as a form in its own right. In Brief Encounters, she and writer/editor/actor Dinah Lenney expand this vibrant field with nearly eighty new selections: shorts—as these sharply focused pieces have come to be known— representing an impressive range of voices, perspectives, sensibilities, and forms. Brief Encounters features the work of the emerging and the established—including Stuart Dybek, Roxanne Gay, Eduardo Galeano, Leslie Jamison, and Julian Barnes—arranged by theme to explore the human condition in ways intimate, idiosyncratic, funny, sad, provocative, lyrical, unflinching. From the rant to the rave, the meditation to the polemic, the confession to the valediction, this collection of shorts—this celebration of true and vivid prose—will enlarge your world.