Sámuel Gyarmathi’s Affinitas linguae hungaricae cum linguis fennicae originis grammatice demonstrata (Göttingen 1799) was received as a distinguished work of scholarship in its own days, and its historical importance has been fully recognized ever since. This volume provides an English translation of the entire Latin text, including the Latin glosses of the original (with the exception of zoological and botanical terms, and a few passages where specific reference is made to Latin grammar). This translation includes two additions to the text of Affinitas as reprinted in the Indiana University series: Appendix III, a letter to Gyarmathi by A. L. von Schötzler, and a number of notes in the author’s own hand, found in his copy of the work (now held in the Library of the Lycée of Zalău). The translator’s Preface provides an introduction to the work and an overview of Gyarmathi’s life.

This is an extensive manual of the Finnish language. It is an ideal source of information when you wish to learn about some specific features of Finnish, such as pronunciation, word formation, notational conventions, or verb forms, even with minimal or no previous understanding of the language. It is intended primarily for people who study, learn, or use Finnish as a foreign language. It is particularly useful to advanced language learners, translators, and linguists. The book covers · all the major features of Finnish grammar, including both standard written language, common spoken language, and features of major dialects · treatises of key specialties of Finnish such as idiomatic uses of locational case forms · in-depth look at some topics largely ignored in Finnish grammars, such as compositive forms of words and “passive” forms of verbs · punctuation rules and rules for writing numbers and special notations · issues in writing and processing Finnish-language texts in the modern world, with computers The book is also useful to people with Finnish as their native or second language, because it gives them a different look at the language. The approach in the book partly deviates from the tradition of Finnish grammars, Finnish style guides, and teaching of Finnish at schools. It treats Finnish as a world to be explored, rather than something we know all too well, and it treats it like any other language, using international concepts and terms.

This second edition of Finnish: An Essential Grammar has undergone profound revisions. The chapter on basic sentence structure has been rewritten and syntax has been given more space. Sections have been added on phrase types, simple clause types, and types of complex sentences. A section on discourse particles has been added. The vocabulary of the copious example sentences has been updated to give it a touch of the twenty-first century. The section on modern colloquial Finnish has been considerably expanded. Internet addresses helpful for any learner of Finnish are provided which make is possible to automatically analyse the grammatical structure of any Finnish words and sentences. It gives not only a systematic account of the structures of the written language, but also features the characteristics of colloquial Finnish. No prior knowledge is assumed on the part of the reader and grammatical rules are clearly explained without jargon. Features include: pronunciation guide, including the tendencies in present-day colloquial Finnish thorough descriptions of morphology (word structure) and syntax (sentence structure) clear rules and an abundance of concrete examples inflection tables subject index internet addresses to online software for grammatical analysis of Finnish. This is the ideal reference source both for those studying Finnish independently and for students in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types.

An oversight of the Finnish language, explaining its key features. Useful to anyone who wants to just know something about Finnish. And if you wish to learn the language, this book gives you a good starting point and also helps to deal with the specialties of Finnish.

This Handbook represents the development of research and the current level of knowledge in the fields of syntactic theory and syntax analysis. Syntax can look back to a long tradition. Especially in the last 50 years, however, the interaction between syntactic theory and syntactic analysis has led to a rapid increase in analyses and theoretical suggestions. This second edition of the Handbook on Syntax adopts a unifying perspective and therefore does not place the division of syntactic theory into several schools to the fore, but the increase in knowledge resulting from the fruitful argumentations between syntactic analysis and syntactic theory. It uses selected phenomena of individual languages and their cross-linguistic realizations to explain what syntactic analyses can do and at the same time to show in what respects syntactic theories differ from each other. It investigates how syntax is related to neighbouring disciplines and investigate the role of the interfaces especially the relationship between syntax and phonology, morphology, compositional semantics, pragmatics, and the lexicon. The phenomena chosen bring together renowned experts in syntax, and represent the consensus reached as to what has to be considered as an important as well as illustrative syntactic phenomenon. The phenomena discuss do not only serve to show syntactic analyses, but also to compare theoretical approaches with each other.

Welcome to the illogical, idiosyncratic, outrageous linguistic phenomenon known as the English language. The story of how this ragtag collection of words evolved is a winding tale replete with intriguing accidents and bizarre twists of fate. In this eye-opening, fabulously entertaining book, James Essinger unlocks the mysteries that have confounded linguists and scholars for millennia. From the sophisticated writing systems of the ancient Sumerians through the tongue twisters of Middle English, the popular National Spelling Bee, and the mobile phone text-messaging of today, Spellbound chronicles the fascinating history of English spelling, including insights about the vast number of words English has borrowed from other languages (“orange,” “vanilla,” and “ketchup,” to name a few), and how their meanings differ from country to country. Featuring a lively cast of characters ranging from the fictional to the historically noteworthy (Chaucer, Samuel Johnson, Noah Webster, Shakespeare, Bill Gates), this affectionate tribute to English spelling shows why our whimsical, capricious common language continues to hold us spellbound.

"If you know someone who missed out on Latin at school and wants to live a happier life, you could do no better than give them Harry Mount's entertainingly educative Latin primer." Daily Mail "Amo, Amas, Amat is a diverting meander and Mount's love of Latin shines out on every page." The Spectator "Latin without the pain." Guardian "If you studied Latin at school this will bring back fond memories, but even newcomers will be captivated by this witty and entertaining book..." Yorkshire Evening Post Have you ever found yourself irritated when a sine qua non or a mea culpa is thrown into the conversation by a particularly annoying person? Or do distant memories of afternoons spent struggling to learn obscure verbs fill you with dread? Never fear! Or, as a Latin show-off might say, Nil desperandum! Those endless afternoons where you struggled to remember the third person singular present indicative of volo (vult) may be a long time ago. But, if you have the vaguest memory of the ablative absolute, the locative and the gerund, you mastery of Latin will spring back to life with Amo, amas, amat...and all that. In his trip through the world's most influential language, Harry Mount uncorks its magic, drawing on Latin lovers from Kingsley Amis to John Cleese, from Evelyn Waugh to Donna Tart. Read this book and you will know Latin. Know Latin and - mirabile dictu - you will know Wilfred Owen's misery, Catullus's aching heart and the comedy of a thousand bachelor schoolmasters.