Arts and Humanities

The English language is spoken by more than a billion people throughout the world. But where did English come from? And how has it evolved into the language used today? The English Language: A Very Short Introduction investigates how we have arrived at the English we know today, and celebrates the way new speakers and new uses mean that it continues to adapt. Engaging with contemporary concerns about correctness, it considers whether such changes are improvements, or evidence of slipping standards. What is the future for the English language? Will Standard English continue to hold sway, or we are witnessing its replacement by newly emerging Englishes?Less

Languages: A Very Short Introduction addresses questions such as: How many languages are there? What differentiates one language from another? Are new languages still being discovered? Why are so many languages disappearing? Considering a wide range of different languages and linguistic examples, this VSI demonstrates that, just as some places are more diverse than others in terms of plants and animal species, the same is true of the distribution of languages. Exploring the basis for linguistic classification and raising questions about how we identify a language, it examines the wider social issues of losing languages, and their impact in terms of the endangerment of cultures and peoples.Less

Linguistics: A Very Short Introduction considers a subject that falls in the gap between arts and science, on the edges of which fascinating discoveries and important problems are found. Beginning with the oldest, ‘arts’ end of the subject, it moves chronologically through to the newest research — the ‘science’ aspects. Themes included are: the prehistory of languages and their common origins; language and evolution; language in time and space (the nature of change inherent in language) grammars and dictionaries (how systematic is language?) and phonetics. Explication of the newest discoveries relating to language in the brain completes the coverage of major aspects of linguistics.Less

Multilingualism—language diversity in society—is a perfect expression of human plurality. About 6,500–7,000 languages are spoken, written, and signed, throughout the linguistic landscape of the world, by people who communicate in more than one language. Languages are instruments for interacting with the cultural environment and their ecology is complex. Multilingualism: A Very Short Introduction shows how multilingualism offers cultural diversity and complex identities, and plays a part in issues of nationalism and regional rights. It considers multilingualism in the context of globalization and the fate of many endangered languages as they disappear from the world. Why do some languages thrive, but others decline?Less

Slang, however one judges it, shows us at our most human. It is used widely and often, typically associated with the writers of noir fiction, teenagers, and rappers, but also found in the works of Shakespeare and Dickens. It has been recorded since at least 1500 AD, and today’s vocabulary, taken from every major English-speaking country, runs to over 125,000 slang words and phrases. Slang: A Very Short Introduction explores this fascinating subset of the English language. It considers the meaning and origins of the word ‘slang’ itself, the ideas that make a word ‘slang’, the long-running themes that run through slang, and the history of slang’s many dictionaries.Less

Sociolinguistics: A Very Short Introduction deals with the social life of language: language in its sociocultural context. It draws from sociolinguistics, the sociology of language, and psycholinguistics. It explains the differential social evaluations of languages and dialects, how names (and naming) are much more than simple designations, and why some languages come to dominate others. It also explores the relationship between language and gender, sexist language, the language of poverty, the intertwining of language and religion, and politically driven language planning and policy. It demonstrates the connections and continuities that exist within the language arena in which we all participate.Less

Translation is everywhere, and matters to everybody. Translation doesn’t only give us foreign news, dubbed films, and instructions for using the microwave: without it, there would be no world religions, and our literatures, our cultures, and our languages would be unrecognizable. Translation: A Very Short Introduction provides an authoritative and thought-provoking account of the field, from ancient Chinese to World English, from St Jerome to Google Translate. It shows how translation determines meaning; how it matters in commerce, empire, conflict, and resistance; and why it is fundamental to literature and the arts.Less

Writing and Script: A Very Short Introduction explains how early forms of writing developed into hundreds of scripts including the Roman alphabet and Chinese characters. Without writing, there would be no records, no history, no books, and no emails. Writing is an integral and essential part of our lives; but when did it start? Why do we each write differently and how did writing develop into what we use today? We began to write five thousand years ago, with cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs. To what extent do the modern writing symbols and abbreviations we take for granted today, such as airport signage and text messaging, resemble ancient ones?Less