1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910255108803321

Autore

Shapiro Michael

Titolo

The Speaking Self: Language Lore and English Usage : Second Edition / / by Michael Shapiro

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2017

ISBN

3-319-51682-5

Edizione

[1st ed. 2017.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XXVIII, 517 p.)

Collana

Springer Texts in Education, , 2366-7672

Disciplina

407.1

Soggetti

Language and education

Comparative linguistics

Philology

Linguistics

English language

Semiotics

Language Education

Comparative Linguistics

Language and Literature

English

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Preface -- Acknowledgments -- About the Author -- Preface to the First Edition -- The Physiognomy of Speech -- Chapter One: Sounds -- Chapter Two: Meanings -- Chapter Three: Style -- Chapter Four: Syntax -- Chapter Five: Theory -- Chapter Six: Poetics -- Chapter Seven: The Psycholinguistic Pathos of Everyday Life -- Epilegomenon -- Master Glossary -- Index. .

Sommario/riassunto

This book aims to explain social variation in language, otherwise the meaning and motivation of language change in its social aspect. It is the expanded and improved 2nd edition of the author’s self-published volume with the same title, based on revised and adapted posts on the author’s Languagelore blog. Each vignette calls attention to points of grammar and style in contemporary American English, especially cases where language is changing due to innovative usage. In every case



where an analysis contains technical or recondite vocabulary, a Glossary precedes the body of the essay, and readers can also consult the Master Glossary which contains all items glossed in the text. The unique form of the book’s presentation is aimed at readers who are alert to the peculiarities of present-day American English as they pertain to pronunciation, grammar, and style, without “dumbing down” or compromising the language in which the explanations are couched. Praise for the First Edition “Michael Shapiro is one of the great thinkers in the realm of linguistics and language use, and his integrated understanding of language and speech in its semantic and pragmatic structure, grammatical and historical grounding, and colloquial to literary stylistic variants is perhaps unmatched today. This book is a treasure to be shared.” Robert S. Hatten, The University of Texas at Austin “Jewel of a book. . . . a gift to us all from Michael Shapiro. Like a Medieval Chapbook it can be a kind of companion whose vignettes on language use can be randomly and profitably consulted at any moment. Some may consider these vignettes opinionated. That would be to ignore how deeply anchored each vignette is in Shapiro’s long and rare polyglot experience with language. It could well serve as a night table book, taken up each night to read and reflect upon ––to ponder––both in the twilight mind and in the deeper reaches of associative somnolence. There is nothing else like it that I know of.” James W. Fernandez, The University of Chicago.