Languages and their speakers / [edited by] Timothy Shopen.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Shopen, Timothy.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Language and languages.

Language and culture.

Physical Description:

xi, 300 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 1987.

Summary:

Languages and Their Speakers provides an introduction both to languages themselves and to their social functions. Written especially for non-linguistic majors, the book gives insight into the meaning, value, and function of language within a culture and into the ways in which language behavior varies and changes.

Each chapter of the book discusses what it means to be a speaker of a particular language, and puts the language in context among the languages of the world.

Technical terms are explained as they are introduced.

Languages and Their Speakers explores how people know their languages--know them as grammatical systems and know them as part of a cultural fabric. Colette Grinevald Craig, Charles Bird, Timothy Shopen, Edward Louis Keenan, Elinor Ochs, Hohn B. Haviland, and Kyoko Inoue discuss the ways in which a speaker, as opposed to a linguist, views a language. They consider what one must know in order to be a good speaker of a particular language; the constraints placed on communication by the culture in which it takes place; how social relationships influence language; and how the use of language can, in turn, influence social relationships.

Languages and Their Speakers will be of interest to students of linguistics, anthropology, and those concerned about the use of language in its cultural context.

Contents:

I Jacaltec: Field Work in Guatemala / Colette Grinevald Craig 3

Field Methods 4

The Jacaltec Language 29

The Linguistic Horizons of Jacaltec Speakers 51

II Maninka / Charles Bird, Timothy Shopen 59

Introduction: Maninka Language and Society 59

Maninka Grammar 61

The Use of Language in Maninka Culture 88

III Becoming a Competent Speaker of Malagasy / Edward Louis Keenan, Elinor Ochs 113

Forming Sentences in Malagasy 117

Malagasy Subjects and Complex Structures 127

Conditions on the Use of Speech 138

Behavioral Norms and Speech Usage 147

IV How to Talk to Your Brother-in-Law in Guugu Yimidhirr / John B. Haviland 161

Embedded Speech 161

The Language of Cooktown 164

The Guugu Yimidhirr Language 171

The Social Context of Speech in Traditional Guugu Yimidhirr Society 209

Language in the Modern Guugu Yimidhirr Community 228

V Japanese: A Story of Language and People / Kyoko Inoue 241

A History of Japan 243

The Structure of Japanese 255

Japanese and Its Relation to the Environment 278.

Notes:

Reprint. Originally published: Cambridge, Mass. : Winthrop Publishers, c1979.

Includes bibliographies.

ISBN:

0812212509

OCLC:

15489005