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Language Matters: A Guide to Everyday Questions About Language
Is Ebonics really a dialect or simply bad English? Do women and men speak differently? Will computers ever really learn human language? Does offensive language harm children? These are only a few of the issues surrounding language that crop up every day. Most of us have very definite
opinions on these questions one way or another. Yet as linguist Donna Jo Napoli points out in this short and highly entertaining volume, many of our most deeply held ideas about the nature of language and its role in our lives are either misconceived or influenced by myths and stereotypes
Napoli provides an entertaining tour through the world of language, examining these and other vexing and controversial language-related questions. Throughout, she encourages and leads the reader to use common-sense and everyday experience rather than preconceived notions or technical linguistic
expertise. Both her questions and her conclusions are surprising, sometimes provocative, and always entertaining. This volume is sure to engage both general readers and students of language and linguistics at any level.
opinions on these questions one way or another. Yet as linguist Donna Jo Napoli points out in this short and highly entertaining volume, many of our most deeply held ideas about the nature of language and its role in our lives are either misconceived or influenced by myths and stereotypes
Napoli provides an entertaining tour through the world of language, examining these and other vexing and controversial language-related questions. Throughout, she encourages and leads the reader to use common-sense and everyday experience rather than preconceived notions or technical linguistic
expertise. Both her questions and her conclusions are surprising, sometimes provocative, and always entertaining. This volume is sure to engage both general readers and students of language and linguistics at any level.
208 pages, Paperback
First published March 27, 2003
About the author
Donna Jo Napoli
150 books1,118 followersDonna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's and YA fiction. She loves to garden and bake bread, and even dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist.
At various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, "Taxi!" to make the neighbors wonder. But dear dear Taxi died in 2009.
She has five children, seven grandchildren, and currently lives outside Philadelphia. She received her BA in mathematics in 1970 and her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1973, both from Harvard University, then did a postdoctoral year in Linguistics at MIT. She has since taught linguistics at Smith College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Swarthmore College. It was at UM that she earned tenure (in 1981) and became a full professor (in 1984). She has held visiting positions at the University of Queensland (Australia), the University of Geneva (Switzerland), Capital Normal University of Beijing (China), the University of Newcastle (UK), the University of Venice at Ca' Foscari (Italy), and the Siena School for the Liberal Arts (Italy) as well as lectured at the University of Sydney (Australia), Macquarie University (Australia), the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), and the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and held a fellowship at Trinity College Dublin. In the area of linguistics she has authored, coauthored, edited, or coedited 17 books, ranging from theoretical linguistics to practical matters in language structure and use, including matters of interest to d/Deaf people. She has held grants and fellowships from numerous sources, including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, the Sloan Foundation.
At various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, "Taxi!" to make the neighbors wonder. But dear dear Taxi died in 2009.
She has five children, seven grandchildren, and currently lives outside Philadelphia. She received her BA in mathematics in 1970 and her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1973, both from Harvard University, then did a postdoctoral year in Linguistics at MIT. She has since taught linguistics at Smith College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Swarthmore College. It was at UM that she earned tenure (in 1981) and became a full professor (in 1984). She has held visiting positions at the University of Queensland (Australia), the University of Geneva (Switzerland), Capital Normal University of Beijing (China), the University of Newcastle (UK), the University of Venice at Ca' Foscari (Italy), and the Siena School for the Liberal Arts (Italy) as well as lectured at the University of Sydney (Australia), Macquarie University (Australia), the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), and the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and held a fellowship at Trinity College Dublin. In the area of linguistics she has authored, coauthored, edited, or coedited 17 books, ranging from theoretical linguistics to practical matters in language structure and use, including matters of interest to d/Deaf people. She has held grants and fellowships from numerous sources, including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, the Sloan Foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 10, 2015
این کتاب یکی از درسنامههای کمک آموزشی آمریکا در حوزهی زبانشناسی است که برای دانشجویان دورهی کارشناسی رشتههای جز علوم انسانی فراهم آمده است. دو نویسندهی این کتاب که به تدریس زبانشناسی اشتغال دازند، هرفصل کتاب را با پرسشی آغاز کرده و یافتن پاسخی به هر پرسش به پایان بردهاند. (از یادداشت مترجم - ص 13)
به نظرم کتاب خیلی خوبی بود، به خصوص برای کسانی که رشته تخصصیشان زبان شناسی نیست و میخواهند اطلاعات عمومی دربارهی آن پیدا کنند. کتاب به زبانی ساده مفاهیم مهم زبانشناسی را توضیح میدهد. برخی از بخشهای کتاب مربوط به امریکا و زبان انگلیسی است اما چون بحث کلی دربارهی زبان است میتوان آنها را به زبانهای دیگر هم تعمیم داد. از خواندن این کتاب لذت بردم.
http://choobalef.blog.ir/1394/07/26/%...
به نظرم کتاب خیلی خوبی بود، به خصوص برای کسانی که رشته تخصصیشان زبان شناسی نیست و میخواهند اطلاعات عمومی دربارهی آن پیدا کنند. کتاب به زبانی ساده مفاهیم مهم زبانشناسی را توضیح میدهد. برخی از بخشهای کتاب مربوط به امریکا و زبان انگلیسی است اما چون بحث کلی دربارهی زبان است میتوان آنها را به زبانهای دیگر هم تعمیم داد. از خواندن این کتاب لذت بردم.
http://choobalef.blog.ir/1394/07/26/%...
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November 27, 2021کتاب برخلاف جلد عبوس و رسمیاش برای خوانندهٔ غیرمتخصص نوشته شده. نویسندگان پانزده سؤال دربارهٔ زیان مطرح میکنند که هر آدمی ممکن است بهش فکر کرده باشه و به خاطر پیچیدگی دانش زبانشناسی واردش نشده باشه. نکته این که در نهایت چیزی بیش از این پانزده سؤال گیر خواننده میآید؛ بینش روشنی دربارهٔ زبان و مسائل آن.
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