Download or read book The Adaptive Value of Languages Non linguistic Causes of Language Diversity volume II written by Antonio Benítez-Burraco and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2024-03-18 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Research Topic is the second volume of "The Adaptive Value of Languages: Non-Linguistic Causes of Language Diversity". Please see the first volume here.The goal of this Research Topic is to shed light on the non-linguistic causes of language diversity and, specifically, to explore the possibility that some aspects of the structure of languages may result from an adaptation to the natural and/or human-made environment. Traditionally, language diversity has been claimed to result from random, internally-motivated changes in language structure. Ongoing research suggests instead that different factors that are external to language can promote language change and ultimately account for aspects of language diversity. Accordingly, linguistic complexity has been found to correlate with features of the social environment, such as the absence of cross-cultural exchanges or the number of native speakers. Likewise, language structure could be influenced by the physical environment, as the effect of dry climates on tone seemingly shows. Finally, core properties of human languages, like duality of patterning, have been argued to result from iterative learning and cultural evolution, as research in village sign languages illustrates. On the whole this means that some aspects of languages could be an adaptation to ecological, social, or even technological niches. Eventually, certain gene alleles, provided that they bias language acquisition or processing, may affect language change through iterated cultural transmission, and ultimately, to language structure.
Download or read book The Adaptive Value of Languages Non Linguistic Causes of Language Diversity written by Antonio Benítez-Burraco and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2018-11-08 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The goal of this eBook is to shed light on the non-linguistic causes of language diversity, and in particular, to explore the possibility that some aspects of the structure of languages may result from an adaptation to the natural and/or human-made environment. Traditionally, language diversity has been claimed to result from random, internally-motivated changes in language structure. However, ongoing research suggests instead that different factors that are external to language can promote language change and ultimately account for aspects of language diversity, specifically features of the social and physical environments. The contributions in this eBook discuss whether some aspects of languages are an adaptation to ecological, social, or even technological niches.
Download or read book The Adaptive Value of Languages Non Linguistic Causes of Language Diversity written by and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The goal of this eBook is to shed light on the non-linguistic causes of language diversity, and in particular, to explore the possibility that some aspects of the structure of languages may result from an adaptation to the natural and/or human-made environment. Traditionally, language diversity has been claimed to result from random, internally-motivated changes in language structure. However, ongoing research suggests instead that different factors that are external to language can promote language change and ultimately account for aspects of language diversity, specifically features of the social and physical environments. The contributions in this eBook discuss whether some aspects of languages are an adaptation to ecological, social, or even technological niches.
Download or read book Adaptive Languages written by Christian Bentz and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2018-06-11 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Languages carry information. To fulfil this purpose, they employ a multitude of coding strategies. This book explores a core property of linguistic coding – called lexical diversity. Parallel text corpora of overall more than 1800 texts written in more than 1200 languages are the basis for computational analyses. Different measures of lexical diversity are discussed and tested, and Shannon’s measure of uncertainty – the entropy – is chosen to assess differences in the distributions of words. To further explain this variation, a range of descriptive, explanatory, and grouping factors are considered in a series of statistical models. The first category includes writing systems, word-formation patterns, registers and styles. The second category includes population size, non-native speaker proportions and language status. Grouping factors further elicit whether the results extrapolate across – or are limited to – specific language families and areas. This account marries information-theoretic methods with a complex systems framework, illustrating how languages adapt to the varying needs of their users. It sheds light on the puzzling diversity of human languages in a quantitative, data driven and reproducible manner.
Download or read book Language Diversity Problem Or Resource written by Sandra McKay and published by Newbury House Publishers. This book was released on 1988 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Language and Linguistic Diversity in the US written by Susan Tamasi and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fresh and unique take on a widely taught topic, Language and Linguistic Diversity in the US discusses the many languages and forms of language that have been used in the US and shows how this distribution and diversity of languages has helped shape and define America and an American identity. This accessible volume introduces the basic concepts of sociolinguistics and the politics of language, and is ideal for readers with no prior knowledge of the field.
Download or read book Language Diversity in the USA written by Kim Potowski and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-08-05 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What are the most widely spoken non-English languages in the USA? How did they reach the USA? Who speaks them, to whom, and for what purposes? What changes do these languages undergo as they come into contact with English? This book investigates the linguistic diversity of the USA by profiling the twelve most commonly used languages other than English. Each chapter paints a portrait of the history, current demographics, community characteristics, economic status, and language maintenance of each language group, and looks ahead to the future of each language. The book challenges myths about the 'official' language of the USA, explores the degree to which today's immigrants are learning English and assimilating into the mainstream, and discusses the relationship between linguistic diversity and national unity. Written in a coherent and structured style, Language Diversity in the USA is essential reading for advanced students and researchers in sociolinguistics, bilingualism, and education.
Download or read book Sustaining Linguistic Diversity written by Kendall A. King and published by . This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last three decades the field of endangered and minority languages has evolved rapidly, moving from the initial dire warnings of linguists to a swift increase in the number of organizations, funding programs, and community-based efforts dedicated to documentation, maintenance, and revitalization. "Sustaining Linguistic Diversity" brings together cutting-edge theoretical and empirical work from leading researchers and practitioners in the field. Together, these contributions provide a state-of-the-art overview of current work in defining, documenting, and developing the world's smaller languages and language varieties. The book begins by grappling with how we define endangerment -- how languages and language varieties are best classified, what the implications of such classifications are, and who should have the final say in making them. The contributors then turn to the documentation and description of endangered languages and focus on best practices, methods and goals in documentation, and on current field reports from around the globe. The latter part of the book analyzes current practices in developing endangered languages and dialects and particular language revitalization efforts and outcomes in specific locations. Concluding with critical calls from leading researchers in the field to consider the human lives at stake, "Sustaining Linguistic Diversity" reminds scholars, researchers, practitioners, and educators that linguistic diversity can only be sustained in a world where diversity in all its forms is valued.
Download or read book English as a Global Language written by David Crystal and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-29 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written in a detailed and fascinating manner, this book is ideal for general readers interested in the English language.
Download or read book Multilingualism and Language Diversity in Urban Areas written by Peter Siemund and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2013-05-31 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This state-of-the-art volume provides an interdisciplinary overview of current topics and research foci in the areas of linguistic diversity and migration-induced multilingualism and aims to lay the foundations for interdisciplinary work and the development of a common methodological framework for the field. Linguistic diversity and migration-induced multilingualism are complex, mufti-faceted phenomena that need to be studied from different, complementary perspectives. The volume comprises a total of fourteen contributions from linguistic, educationist, and urban sociological perspectives and highlights the areas of language acquisition, contact and change, multilingual identities, urban spaces, and education. Linguistic diversity can be framed as a result of current processes of migration and globalization. As such the topic of the present volume addresses both a general audience interested in migration and globalization on a more general level, and a more specialized audience interested in the linguistic repercussions of these large-scale societal developments.
Download or read book Linguistic Ecology and Language Contact written by Ralph Ludwig and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book revisits and updates the concept of linguistic ecology, outlining applications to a variety of contact situations worldwide.
Download or read book The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages written by Peter K. Austin and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-03-24 with total page 581 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is generally agreed that about 7,000 languages are spoken across the world today and at least half may no longer be spoken by the end of this century. This state-of-the-art Handbook examines the reasons behind this dramatic loss of linguistic diversity, why it matters, and what can be done to document and support endangered languages. The volume is relevant not only to researchers in language endangerment, language shift and language death, but to anyone interested in the languages and cultures of the world. It is accessible both to specialists and non-specialists: researchers will find cutting-edge contributions from acknowledged experts in their fields, while students, activists and other interested readers will find a wealth of readable yet thorough and up-to-date information.
Download or read book Language vs Reality written by N.J. Enfield and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2022-03-29 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating examination of how we are both played by language and made by language: the science underlying the bugs and features of humankind’s greatest invention. Language is said to be humankind’s greatest accomplishment. But what is language actually good for? It performs poorly at representing reality. It is a constant source of distraction, misdirection, and overshadowing. In fact, N. J. Enfield notes, language is far better at persuasion than it is at objectively capturing the facts of experience. Language cannot create or change physical reality, but it can do the next best thing: reframe and invert our view of the world. In Language vs. Reality, Enfield explains why language is bad for scientists (who are bound by reality) but good for lawyers (who want to win their cases), why it can be dangerous when it falls into the wrong hands, and why it deserves our deepest respect. Enfield offers a lively exploration of the science underlying the bugs and features of language. He examines the tenuous relationship between language and reality; details the array of effects language has on our memory, attention, and reasoning; and describes how these varied effects power narratives and storytelling as well as political spin and conspiracy theories. Why should we care what language is good for? Enfield, who has spent twenty years at the cutting edge of language research, argues that understanding how language works is crucial to tackling our most pressing challenges, including human cognitive bias, media spin, the “post-truth” problem, persuasion, the role of words in our thinking, and much more.
Download or read book The Diversity Advantage written by G. Pascal Zachary and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2003-01-07 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why is Japan, a country that looked economically invincible a decade ago, stagnating, while long-moribund Ireland booms? What are the qualities that will ensure the continued dominance of U.S. culture, society, and business? In The Diversity Advantage, G. Pascal Zachary provides a provocative roadmap to the new civilization arising out of sweeping shifts in the world economy. He reveals – through vivid examples of individuals and institutions – that the key new determinants for any nation's economic, political, and cultural success are, surprisingly, a diverse population and a “mongrel” sense of self. Roaming the globe, Zachary shows how the rise of new forms of identity and migration are helping to determine exactly who will win and lose in the next century. Zachary's thesis isn't just about countries but about individuals, too. In his tour of a new global civilization, we meet a fascinating gallery of successful characters who possess an intriguing mix of “roots” and “wings.” Strong enough to know who they are, they are nevertheless ceaselessly becoming someone else – and in the process bestowing the gifts of creativity and social harmony on the cities and states that they call home. Updated with a new introduction by the author.
Download or read book Managing Diversity in Education written by David Little and published by Multilingual Matters. This book was released on 2013-11-08 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Diversity - social, cultural, linguistic and ethnic - poses a challenge to all educational systems. Some authorities, schools and teachers look upon it as a problem, an obstacle to the achievement of national educational goals, while for others it offers new opportunities. Successive PISA reports have laid bare the relative lack of success in addressing the needs of diverse school populations and helping children develop the competences they need to succeed in society. The book is divided into three parts that deal in turn with policy and its implications, pedagogical practice, and responses to the challenge of diversity that go beyond the language of schooling. This volume features the latest research from eight different countries, and will appeal to anyone involved in the educational integration of immigrant children and adolescents.
Download or read book An Introduction to Language and Linguistics written by Ralph Fasold and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-03-09 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This accessible textbook offers balanced and uniformly excellent coverage of modern linguistics.
Download or read book Linguistics For Dummies written by Rose-Marie Dechaine and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-02-08 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fascinating, fun, and friendly way to understand the science behind human language Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics students study how languages are constructed, how they function, how they affect society, and how humans learn language. From understanding other languages to teaching computers to communicate, linguistics plays a vital role in society. Linguistics For Dummies tracks to a typical college-level introductory linguistics course and arms you with the confidence, knowledge, and know-how to score your highest. Understand the science behind human language Grasp how language is constructed Score your highest in college-level linguistics If you're enrolled in an introductory linguistics course or simply have a love of human language, Linguistics For Dummies is your one-stop resource for unlocking the science of the spoken word.
