Zusammenfassung: This book examines the names by which we refer to the letters of the English alphabet, arguing that these letter names provide unrivalled insights into the phonological structure of English, present and past, as well as the many peculiarities of English pronunciation and spelling. Classified either as contronyms, ambinyms or tautonyms, the modern phonological profiles of our ancient Semitic letter names reveal what is unique to English, what is fundamental to language and how letter names emerge as the semiotic product of interchanging languages combined with intralanguage change. This volume promises a much more extensive and deeper linguistic treatment of English letter names than has previously been attempted. It will be of particular interest to students and scholars of historical linguistics, phonology and orthography, the history of English, semiotics, and language and literacy teaching.

Shares facts about the iconic rock star, including his influence on fashion, his collaborations with other artists, and his lasting legacy.

The recent past has seen an increasing interest in iconicity especially among linguists. This collection puts the interdisciplinary study of iconic dimensions (comprising what has been termed ‘imagic iconicity’, as well as ‘diagrammatic iconicity’, i.e. iconicity of a more abstract and less semiotic type) on the map, paying special attention to the use of iconicity in literary texts. The studies presented here explore iconicity from two different angles. A first group of authors brings into focus how far the primary code, the code of grammar is influenced by iconic motivation (with contributions on rules involved in discourse; rules in word formation; and phonological rules), and how originally iconic models have become conventionalized. Others go one step further in exploring how, for instance, the presence of iconicity can tell us more about the structure of human cognition, or how the “iconicist desire for symmetry” can be related to the symmetry of the human body. A second group of contributors is more interested in the presence of iconicity as part of the secondary code, i.e. in how speakers and writers remotivate or play with the primary code; how they concretise what has become conventional or how they use form to add to meaning in literary texts, commercial language and in the new electronic use of texts.

'Christopher Hall's book is the best new introduction to linguistics that I have seen in decades. It is engagingly written without talking down to the reader and it covers all the subparts of the field in a comprehensive and even-handed manner. I plan to use it the next time that I teach an introductory course at Washington.' Professor Frederick J. Newmeyer, University of Washington 'With apt examples from novels and newspapers, courtroom trials and telephone conversations, the lowly and the mighty, his book repeatedly startles as it casts light on language. This is a bright, humorous, and completely accessible tour of 21st-century linguistics.' Professor Edward Finegan, University of Southern California This book introduces the fundamentals of human language from a linguistic point of view, using examples drawn from everyday life to aid comprehension, and encouraging critical thinking throughout. Besides presenting the fundamental building blocks of language and explaining how these function, the book also introduces other key elements of the discipline of linguistics, including language acquisition, applied linguistics, psycholinguistics and discourse analysis. Packed full of examples, this is the ideal introduction to language for those who are interested in studying linguistics, have already started a course, or just want to study at home.

The Routledge Handbook of the English Writing System provides a comprehensive account of the English writing system, both in its current iteration and highlighting the developing trends that will influence its future. Twenty-nine chapters written by specialists from around the world cover core linguistic and psychological aspects, and also include areas from other disciplines such as typography and computer-mediated communication. Divided into five parts, the volume encompasses a wide range of approaches and addresses issues in the following areas: theory and the English writing system, discussing the effects of etymology and phonology; the history of the English writing system from its earliest development, including spelling, pronunciation and typography; the acquisition and teaching of writing, with discussions of literacy issues and dyslexia; English writing in use around the world, both in the UK and America, and also across Europe and Japan; computer-mediated communication and developments in writing online and on social media. The Routledge Handbook of the English Writing System is essential reading for researchers and postgraduate students working in this area.

Alien visitation and abduction is an obsession for many people. Many writers feed this obsession with stories about aliens who are malevolent beings whose sole objective is to annihilate and dominate the human race. If aliens do indeed visit our world, I envision them to be benevolent and non-interfering observers. My purpose in writing this book is to show them as beings who care about all sentients in the greater universe as we humans care about all the creatures on our world. Beings whose technology is far superior to ours and allows them to travel throughout the greater universe without consideration of the vast distances between galaxies. Beings that have evolved over many millennia compared with Homo sapiens mere 3,000 years.

Enigma in Rus and Medieval Slavic Cultures is a thematic essay volume to investigate the history and function of enigma in Orthodox Slavic cultures with a special focus on the cultural history of Rus and Muscovy. Its seventeen case studies across disciplinary boundaries analyze Slavic biblical and patristic translations, liturgical commentaries, occult divinatory texts, and dream interpretations. Slavic riddles inscribed on walls and compilations of riddles in question-and-answer format are all subjects of this volume. Not only written, but also pictorial enigmas are examined, together with their relationships to texts suggesting novel methodologies for their deciphering. This kaleidoscopic survey of Enigma in Rus and Medieval Slavic Cultures by an international group of scholars demonstrates the historiographical challenges that medieval enigmatic thought poses for researchers and offers new approaches to the interpretation of medieval sources, both verbal and visual.