Showing titles in Linguistics

A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar. Why do we say "I am reading a catalog" instead of "I read a catalog"? Why do we say "do" at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history.

Some writers of science fiction turn out to be reasonably accurate prognosticators of the future. In Mack Reynolds’ Mercenary, the elite 1 percent control the wealth of the nation and thus the nation. War as we know it has been eliminated, and disputes between nations, unions, and corporations are settled on a battlefield by mercenary soldiers with pre-1900 weapons. These battles are televised, and the combatants become heroes, not unlike NFL players. Meet Joe Mauser, one of the best of the best; a tactician and gun for hire.

Unfortunately, there was only one thing he could bring back from the wonderful future… and though he didn't want to…nevertheless he did...

Noam Chomsky is widely known and deeply admired for being the founder of modern linguistics, one of the founders of the field of cognitive science, and perhaps the most avidly read political theorist and commentator of our time. In these lectures, he presents a lifetime of philosophical reflection on all three of these areas of research to which he has contributed for over half a century.

This collection consists of eight short stories and nine poems and was first published in 1910. The opening story is an examination of a quaint legal custom in New South Wales whereby a defendant could be sentenced to a period of imprisonment that was to end when the court hearing finished.

A comic short story told in the first person by the first woman in the biblical creation story, Eve. Written in diary-entry style from creation to burial, the story was first published in the 1905 Christmas edition of Harper's Bazaar. Many believe it may have been written as a posthumous love-letter to Mark Twain's wife, Olivia Langdon Clemens, or Livy, who died in June 1904, just before the story was written.

In this warm and fanciful story of a Connecticut farmer, Marion Zimmer Bradley has caught some of the glory that is man's love for man - no matter who he is nor whence he's from.

"Manalive" (1912) is a book by G. K. Chesterton detailing a popular theme both in his own philosophy, and in Christianity, of the "holy fool", such as in Dostoevsky's "The Idiot" and Cervantes' "Don Quixote".

Passion and intrigue among the upper classes form the basis of Lady Windermere's Fan, Oscar Wilde's first successful play, which displays his trademark wit and wisdom. Beautiful and innocent Lady Windermere finds out that her husband has been keeping company with the scandalous and mysterious Mrs. Erlynne. Her discovery unleashes a host of tensions at her 21st birthday party, where London's elite have gathered to gossip.

A classic since its first publication in 1863, The Water-Babies is the story of a little chimney sweep named Tom and his magical adventures beneath the waves. The ill-treated Tom flees his dangerous toil and his cruel master, Grimes. When he jumps into a cool stream to clean the soot off himself, he becomes a water-baby, cleaner and happier than he has ever been, in a hidden fairy world. There, Tom meets haughty dragonflies, makes friends with a slow-witted lobster, and dodges hungry otters.

A missing national treasure. A dancer who might be a spy. A double agent. An old actor. A murder. How are they all interconnected? Desmond Okewood, new to the British Secret Service, must impersonate a German agent, infiltrate a band of traitors, and discover the connections.

Socrates questions Ion, an actor who just won a major prize, about his ability to interpret the epic poetry of Homer. How does an actor, a poet, or any other artist create? Is it by knowing? Is it by inspiration? As the dialogue proceeds, the nature of human creativity emerges as a mysterious process and an unsolved puzzle.

"Lord Arthur Savile's Crime" is a masterpiece of polished cynicism in which poison, explosive clocks, and finally murder forerun married bliss. Also included are: "The Canterville Ghost", "The Model Millionaire", "The Young King", "The Fisherman and His Soul", "The Happy Prince", "The Devoted Friend", and "The Portrait of Mr. W. H." These eight stories were produced in the heyday of Wilde's career.

Laches, a general in the Athenian army, saw Socrates fight bravely in the battle of Delium. When he and Nicias, another general, are asked to explain the idea of courage, they are at a loss, and words fail them. How does courage differ from thoughtless and reckless audacity? Can a lion be said to be courageous? What about small children who have little idea of the dangers they face? Should we call people courageous who do not know whether their bravery will produce good or bad consequences?

After two hellish years on the rim of the Arctic, Philip Weyman stumbles back toward civilization, half-starved and half-crazy. He stumbles onto Josephine Adare, a beautiful woman living alone in the wilderness. She asks for his help, “I need you to pose as my husband to help me save my home from a band of outlaws and cutthroats.” She persuades him to stay and fight for her. But he has no idea he will be joining a battle with the silent strength of the Cree Nation as his ally. Nor does he realize, the final battle will require every ounce of his strength and will...

This delightful sequel to Webster's Daddy Long-Legs centers on socialite Sallie McBride, who reluctantly agrees to become director of an orphan asylum. The asylum's benefactors, her friends Judy and Jervis Pendleton, insist she is just the person to institute the sweeping reforms the institution needs. The exuberant Sallie soon begins ruffling feathers of the staff, filling the children's lives with hope and love, and locking horns with the new Scotch doctor, the Dear Enemy of the title.

Spoon River has 244 accounts of the lives of people in the town that explain its goings on over a couple of centuries. Each free form verse is presented as an epitaph of one of the citizens delivered themselves, often criticizing the words said about them on their tombstone or the monument or stone left above them. The stories build on one another as well as reference various family members and others mentioned in other stories.

"Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie" is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of the expulsion of the Acadians. The idea for the poem came from Longfellow's friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Longfellow used dactylic hexameter, imitated from Greek and Latin classics, though the choice was criticized.

A gun is an interesting weapon; it can be hired, of course, and naturally doesn't care who hires it. Something much the same can be said of the gunman, too....

Richard Burton reads Shakespeare's narrative poem about the legendary Lucretia (or 'Lucrece'). The poem tells the story of the Roman leader Tarquin's rape of Lucrece and her subsequent suicide.