On The Origins Of Speaking

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On the Origins of Speaking

Author : Lord Walsingham
Publisher : New Generation Publishing
Page : 408 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2016-10-22
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9781787191013

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On the Origins of Speaking by Lord Walsingham Pdf

This is a serious book examining the original sounds and meanings of languages right back to the Stone Age - up until now believed to be impossible. But it can also be seen as tracing the overwhelming sexual orientation of human thinking for the last six hundred thousand years or more - when we were only hominids, squatting round the camp fires at the mouths of our caves - to keep the sabre toothed tigers out. It was here that our original bare bottomed language committees first got to grips with meanings and their audible representation. The committees were convened as a result of the taming of fire, the high tech of the day. It was a cosy environment in a cold and hostile world, and the unaccustomed warmth led to an outburst of amorous inclinations, and the need to express them in words. Ka they thought echoic of the strike of flint on flint, and so striking, and so the tenderising of raw meat for which they had already been making "e;hand axes"e; for at least half a million years. It is from ka-ka for tenderising with a hand axe that our cooking comes! The flame did it for you. Flint knapping left a lot of "e;debetage"e; or waste flakes, whence ka-ka also came to mean waste - including today human waste. Metaphor led to odd bedfellows. All this evidence is decoded from an exhaustive forty year research into over a hundred languages, many of them dead ones, where like flies in amber our original Lithic (Stone Age) language roots are still embedded. There is nothing salacious in the tale. It simply tells it as it is and was, and it is not going to go away. This short version is abstracted from a major work of over 600 pages, and there is nothing in it which the ordinary man in the street (and his sister) can not easily follow. It ranks quite highly in the order of useless information, but it has its indirect usage. If you understand how all our languages have actually come about - the product of human whimsy - you will be that much less likely to believe some of the sillier alternative views put forward by ideologically inclined placemen. Lastly, how has Lithic Language been cracked? The answer lies in "e;semantic triangulation"e;. Believe it or not, all our languages today (over 6000) bear traces of the original meanings given to the sounds as we first learned to articulate them, and it is possible to work backwards using the current meanings in numerous languages to home in on the original source meanings which are common to the current ones. Then we can see if they make sense as a first guess by our Stone Age (hominid) forebears of what they thought of as the "e;natural"e; meanings of the sounds. They didn't do thinking very much. That is how they all guessed the same, or nearly the same. So we are probably on the right track: language was all spun by human whimsy, (over a few hundred millennia), from only a baker's dozen original articulated sounds. The English language alone reached a million words last year.

Speak: A Short History of Languages

Author : Tore Janson
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 327 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2002-03-14
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780191622908

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Speak: A Short History of Languages by Tore Janson Pdf

This book is a history of human speech from prehistory to the present. It charts the rise of some languages and the fall of others, explaining why some survive and others die. It shows how languages change their sounds and meanings, and how the history of languages is closely linked to the history of peoples. Writing in a lively, readable style, distinguished Swedish scholar Tore Janson makes no assumptions about previous knowledge. He takes the reader on a voyage of exploration through the changing patterns of the world's languages, from ancient China to ancient Egypt, imperial Rome to imperial Britain, Sappho's Lesbos to contemporary Africa. He discovers the links between the histories of societies and their languages; he shows how language evolved from primitive calls; he considers the question of whether one language can be more advanced than another. The author describes the history of writing and looks at the impact of changing technology. He ends by assessing the prospects for English world domination and predicting the languages of the distant future. Five historical maps illustrate this fascinating history of our defining characteristic and most valuable asset.

Why We Talk

Author : Jean-Louis Dessalles
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 398 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2007-01-04
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780199276233

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Why We Talk by Jean-Louis Dessalles Pdf

Constant exchange of information is integral to our societies. The author explores how this came into being. Presenting language evolution as a natural history of conversation, he sheds light on the emergence of communication in the hominine congregations, as well as on the human nature.

Speaking into the Air

Author : John Durham Peters
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2012-04-26
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780226922638

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Speaking into the Air by John Durham Peters Pdf

Communication plays a vital and unique role in society-often blamed for problems when it breaks down and at the same time heralded as a panacea for human relations. A sweeping history of communication, Speaking Into the Air illuminates our expectations of communication as both historically specific and a fundamental knot in Western thought. "This is a most interesting and thought-provoking book. . . . Peters maintains that communication is ultimately unthinkable apart from the task of establishing a kingdom in which people can live together peacefully. Given our condition as mortals, communication remains not primarily a problem of technology, but of power, ethics and art." —Antony Anderson, New Scientist "Guaranteed to alter your thinking about communication. . . . Original, erudite, and beautifully written, this book is a gem." —Kirkus Reviews "Peters writes to reclaim the notion of authenticity in a media-saturated world. It's this ultimate concern that renders his book a brave, colorful exploration of the hydra-headed problems presented by a rapid-fire popular culture." —Publishers Weekly What we have here is a failure-to-communicate book. Funny thing is, it communicates beautifully. . . . Speaking Into the Air delivers what superb serious books always do-hours of intellectual challenge as one absorbs the gradually unfolding vision of an erudite, creative author." —Carlin Romano, Philadelphia Inquirer

Speaking Up

Author : Marcel Martel,Martin P?quet
Publisher : Between the Lines(CA)
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : History
ISBN : 1926662938

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Speaking Up by Marcel Martel,Martin P?quet Pdf

A fresh look at one of the great issues of our time

The Seeds of Speech

Author : Jean Aitchison
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2000-05-04
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 0521785715

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The Seeds of Speech by Jean Aitchison Pdf

Clear and non-technical overview of the history of language development by popular author. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Speaking American

Author : Richard W. Bailey
Publisher : OUP USA
Page : 226 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2012-01-23
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780195179347

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Speaking American by Richard W. Bailey Pdf

Investigates the history and continuing evolution of American English, from the 16th century to the present, to celebrate the endless variety and remarkable inventiveness that have always been at the heart of our language. By the author of Images of English: A Cultural History of the Language.

Empires of the Word

Author : Nicholas Ostler
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 541 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2011-03-22
Category : Travel
ISBN : 9780062047359

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Empires of the Word by Nicholas Ostler Pdf

Nicholas Ostler's Empires of the Word is the first history of the world's great tongues, gloriously celebrating the wonder of words that binds communities together and makes possible both the living of a common history and the telling of it. From the uncanny resilience of Chinese through twenty centuries of invasions to the engaging self-regard of Greek and to the struggles that gave birth to the languages of modern Europe, these epic achievements and more are brilliantly explored, as are the fascinating failures of once "universal" languages. A splendid, authoritative, and remarkable work, it demonstrates how the language history of the world eloquently reveals the real character of our planet's diverse peoples and prepares us for a linguistic future full of surprises.

How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention

Author : Daniel L. Everett
Publisher : Liveright Publishing
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2017-11-07
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780871404770

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How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention by Daniel L. Everett Pdf

How Language Began revolutionizes our understanding of the one tool that has allowed us to become the "lords of the planet." Mankind has a distinct advantage over other terrestrial species: we talk to one another. But how did we acquire the most advanced form of communication on Earth? Daniel L. Everett, a “bombshell” linguist and “instant folk hero” (Tom Wolfe, Harper’s), provides in this sweeping history a comprehensive examination of the evolutionary story of language, from the earliest speaking attempts by hominids to the more than seven thousand languages that exist today. Although fossil hunters and linguists have brought us closer to unearthing the true origins of language, Daniel Everett’s discoveries have upended the contemporary linguistic world, reverberating far beyond academic circles. While conducting field research in the Amazonian rainforest, Everett came across an age-old language nestled amongst a tribe of hunter-gatherers. Challenging long-standing principles in the field, Everett now builds on the theory that language was not intrinsic to our species. In order to truly understand its origins, a more interdisciplinary approach is needed—one that accounts as much for our propensity for culture as it does our biological makeup. Language began, Everett theorizes, with Homo Erectus, who catalyzed words through culturally invented symbols. Early humans, as their brains grew larger, incorporated gestures and voice intonations to communicate, all of which built on each other for 60,000 generations. Tracing crucial shifts and developments across the ages, Everett breaks down every component of speech, from harnessing control of more than a hundred respiratory muscles in the larynx and diaphragm, to mastering the use of the tongue. Moving on from biology to execution, Everett explores why elements such as grammar and storytelling are not nearly as critical to language as one might suspect. In the book’s final section, Cultural Evolution of Language, Everett takes the ever-debated “language gap” to task, delving into the chasm that separates “us” from “the animals.” He approaches the subject from various disciplines, including anthropology, neuroscience, and archaeology, to reveal that it was social complexity, as well as cultural, physiological, and neurological superiority, that allowed humans—with our clawless hands, breakable bones, and soft skin—to become the apex predator. How Language Began ultimately explains what we know, what we’d like to know, and what we likely never will know about how humans went from mere communication to language. Based on nearly forty years of fieldwork, Everett debunks long-held theories by some of history’s greatest thinkers, from Plato to Chomsky. The result is an invaluable study of what makes us human.

Speaking with Vampires

Author : Luise White
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 374 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2023-04-28
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780520922297

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Speaking with Vampires by Luise White Pdf

During the colonial period, Africans told each other terrifying rumors that Africans who worked for white colonists captured unwary residents and took their blood. In colonial Tanganyika, for example, Africans were said to be captured by these agents of colonialism and hung upside down, their throats cut so their blood drained into huge buckets. In Kampala, the police were said to abduct Africans and keep them in pits, where their blood was sucked. Luise White presents and interprets vampire stories from East and Central Africa as a way of understanding the world as the storytellers did. Using gossip and rumor as historical sources in their own right, she assesses the place of such evidence, oral and written, in historical reconstruction. White conducted more than 130 interviews for this book and did research in Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia. In addition to presenting powerful, vivid stories that Africans told to describe colonial power, the book presents an original epistemological inquiry into the nature of historical truth and memory, and into their relationship to the writing of history.

Let the Students Speak!

Author : David L. Hudson
Publisher : Beacon Press
Page : 209 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2011-08-16
Category : Education
ISBN : 9780807044582

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Let the Students Speak! by David L. Hudson Pdf

From a trusted scholar and powerful story teller, an accessible and lively history of free speech, for and about students. Let the Students Speak! details the rich history and growth of the First Amendment in public schools, from the early nineteenth-century's failed student free-expression claims to the development of protection for students by the U.S. Supreme Court. David Hudson brings this history vividly alive by drawing from interviews with key student litigants in famous cases, including John Tinker of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District and Joe Frederick of the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case, Morse v. Frederick. He goes on to discuss the raging free-speech controversies in public schools today, including dress codes and uniforms, cyberbullying, and the regulation of any violent-themed expression in a post-Columbine and Virginia Tech environment. This book should be required reading for students, teachers, and school administrators alike.

In a Manner of Speaking

Author : Charlie Haylock
Publisher : Amberley Publishing Limited
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2017-03-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9781445663838

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In a Manner of Speaking by Charlie Haylock Pdf

Discover the many twists and turns through history that led to the language, accents and turns of phrase which make up modern English

The Origin of Speech

Author : Peter F. MacNeilage
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 402 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780199581580

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The Origin of Speech by Peter F. MacNeilage Pdf

This book explores the origin and evolution of speech. The human speech system is in a league of its own in the animal kingdom and its possession dwarfs most other evolutionary achievements. During every second of speech we unconsciously use about 225 distinct muscle actions. To investigate the evolutionary origins of this prodigious ability, Peter MacNeilage draws on work in linguistics, cognitive science, evolutionary biology, and animal behavior. He puts forward a neo-Darwinian account of speech as a process of descent in which ancestral vocal capabilities became modified in response to natural selection pressures for more efficient communication. His proposals include the crucial observation that present-day infants learning to produce speech reveal constraints that were acting on our ancestors as they invented new words long ago. This important and original investigation integrates the latest research on modern speech capabilities, their acquisition, and their neurobiology, including the issues surrounding the cerebral hemispheric specialization for speech. Written in a clear style with minimal recourse to jargon the book will interest a wide range of readers in cognitive, neuro-, and evolutionary science, as well as all those seeking to understand the nature and evolution of speech and human communication.

Speaking with Substance

Author : Kathryn M. de Luna,Jeffrey B. Fleisher
Publisher : Springer
Page : 172 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2018-06-27
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9783319910369

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Speaking with Substance by Kathryn M. de Luna,Jeffrey B. Fleisher Pdf

This volume proposes a supplemental approach to interdisciplinary historical reconstructions that draw on archaeological and linguistic data. The introduction lays out the supplemental approach, situating it in the broader context of similar interdisciplinary research methods in other world regions. Reflecting the arguments of the volume and its goal to document the process rather than the outcome of interdisciplinary collaboration, the volume is organized into two two-chapter case studies. Within each case study, the non-specialist develops an historical interpretation using their own research findings and published data from the other discipline.This chapter is followed by critical commentary from the specialist, a dialogue clarifying the commentary and specialists’ methods, and a second short historical interpretation that deploys insights from the supplemental approach. The conclusion reflects on the challenges of disciplinary conventions to interdisciplinary research and the contribution of the supplemental approach to efforts to know the history of oral societies in Africa and beyond