Through the language glass : why the world looks different in other languages / Guy Deutscher.
Material type: TextPublication 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 :
- Why the world looks different in other languages
Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book | Main Library | NonFiction | 410 D486 | Available | 33111006425850 |
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.