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Through the language glass : why the world looks different in other languages / Guy Deutscher.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York : Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Co., 2010.Edition: 1st edDescription: 304 p., [8] p. of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 25 cmISBN:
  • 080508195X
  • 9780805081954 :
Other title:
  • Why the world looks different in other languages
Subject(s):
Contents:
Language, culture, and thought -- Naming the rainbow -- A long-wave herring -- The rude populations inhabiting foreign lands -- Those who said our things before us -- Plato and the Macedonian swineherd -- Crying whorf -- Where the sun doesn't rise in the East -- Sex and syntax -- Russian blues -- Forgive us our ignorances.
Summary: A masterpiece of linguistics scholarship, at once erudite and entertaining, confronts the thorny question of how--and whether--culture shapes language and language, culture.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 410 D486 Available 33111006425850
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A masterpiece of linguistics scholarship, at once erudite and entertaining, confronts the thorny question of how--and whether--culture shapes language and language, culture

Linguistics has long shied away from claiming any link between a language and the culture of its speakers: too much simplistic (even bigoted) chatter about the romance of Italian and the goose-stepping orderliness of German has made serious thinkers wary of the entire subject. But now, acclaimed linguist Guy Deutscher has dared to reopen the issue. Can culture influence language--and vice versa? Can different languages lead their speakers to different thoughts? Could our experience of the world depend on whether our language has a word for "blue"?

Challenging the consensus that the fundaments of language are hard-wired in our genes and thus universal, Deutscher argues that the answer to all these questions is--yes. In thrilling fashion, he takes us from Homer to Darwin, from Yale to the Amazon, from how to name the rainbow to why Russian water--a "she"--becomes a "he" once you dip a tea bag into her, demonstrating that language does in fact reflect culture in ways that are anything but trivial. Audacious, delightful, and field-changing, Through the Language Glass is a classic of intellectual discovery.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Language, culture, and thought -- Naming the rainbow -- A long-wave herring -- The rude populations inhabiting foreign lands -- Those who said our things before us -- Plato and the Macedonian swineherd -- Crying whorf -- Where the sun doesn't rise in the East -- Sex and syntax -- Russian blues -- Forgive us our ignorances.

A masterpiece of linguistics scholarship, at once erudite and entertaining, confronts the thorny question of how--and whether--culture shapes language and language, culture.

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