Language Change
Progress or Decay?
4th Edition
Published on 20. December 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
308 pages
978-1-107-67892-7 (ISBN)
Description
How and why do languages change? Where does the evidence of language change come from? How do languages begin and end? This introduction to language change explores these and other questions, considering changes through time. The central theme of this book is whether language change is a symptom of progress or decay. This book will show you why it is neither, and that understanding the factors surrounding how language change occurs is essential to understanding why it happens. This updated edition remains non-technical and accessible to readers with no previous knowledge of linguistics.
Reviews / Votes
'Jean Aitchison's Language Change: Progress or Decay? has been essential introductory reading for students of historical linguistics for many years: it manages the rare trick of combining theoretical sophistication and clear, simple (but not simplistic) expression. This new edition, which takes account of current issues in language-change studies while not discarding classic discussions, remains a fine and very approachable survey. I shall certainly recommend it to my undergraduates.' Jeremy J. Smith, University of Glasgow 'A brilliant essay in linguistics ... Even in the most complex spaghetti junctions of her argument, her own directions are always clear, and her own language lively, fresh and stimulating.' The Guardian '... captivating and highly readable ... linguistic phenomena are lucidly explained, often through the use of analogy, graphics and clear examples taken from a range of different languages. A new and welcome addition to this fourth edition are the questions placed at the end of the book - three for each chapter - which help readers to test their understanding of the main points.' Ilse Wischer, translated from Zeitschrift fuer Dialektologie und LinguistikMore details
Series
Edition
4th Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
2 Tables, black and white; 37 Line drawings, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
442 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-107-67892-7 (9781107678927)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Book
12/2000
3rd Edition
Cambridge University Press
€28.46
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
After many years lecturing with the University of London (at the London School of Economics and Political Science), Jean Aitchison was Professor of Language and Communication at the University of Oxford (1993-2003) and is now an Emeritus Professor. She is the author of a number of books on language, including The Language Web (Cambridge University Press, 1997).
Content
Part I. Preliminaries: 1. The ever-whirling wheel; 2. Collecting up clues; 3. Charting the changes; Part II. Transition: 4. Spreading the word; 5. Conflicting loyalties; 6. Catching on and taking off; 7. Caught in the web; 8. The wheels of language; 9. Spinning away; Part III. Causation: 10. The reason why; 11. Doing what comes naturally; 12. Repairing the patterns; 13. Pushing and pulling; Part IV. Beginnings and Endings: 14. Language birth; 15. Language death; 16. Progress or decay?