{"title":"Series: The Language Library","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Language Library\u003c\/em\u003e offers a diverse journey through ideas and stories, blending genres from philosophy and psychology to finance, technology, and beyond. Readers will find insightful explorations of complex concepts alongside captivating narratives, each title contributing a unique voice to the conversation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhether delving into business strategy, historical accounts, children’s adventures, or technical guides, this collection invites curiosity and discovery across disciplines. The books encourage reflection and learning, making it a rewarding selection for those eager to expand their understanding of the world.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-writing-revolution-by-amalia-e-gnanadesikan-9781405154079","title":"The Writing Revolution","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a world of rapid technological advancements, it can be easy to forget that writing is the original Information Technology, created to transcend the limitations of human memory and to defy time and space. \u003ci\u003eThe Writing Revolution\u003c\/i\u003e picks apart the development of this communication tool to show how it has conquered the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Writing Revolution\u003c\/i\u003e explores how writing has liberated the world, making possible everything from complex bureaucracy, literature, and science, to instruction manuals and love letters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt draws on an engaging range of examples, from the first cuneiform clay tablet, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Japanese syllabaries, to the printing press and the text messaging.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe book weaves together ideas from a number of fields, including history, cultural studies and archaeology, as well as linguistics and literature, to create an interdisciplinary volume.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAdditionally, it traces the origins of each of the world's major written traditions, along with their applications, adaptations, and cultural influences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47384073011436,"sku":"9781405154079","price":78.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/f0e3adc4c6c0d51499b6d7ce1c9c80b1.jpg?v=1773436480"},{"product_id":"words-of-wonder-by-nicholas-evans-9781119758754","title":"Words of Wonder","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA gripping and moving text which explores the wealth of human language diversity, how deeply it matters, and how we can best turn the tide of language endangerment\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the new, thoroughly revised second edition of \u003cem\u003eWords of Wonder: Endangered Languages and What They Tell Us, Second Edition\u003c\/em\u003e (formerly called \u003cem\u003eDying Words: Endangered Languages and What They Have to Tell Us\u003c\/em\u003e), renowned scholar Nicholas Evans delivers an accessible and incisive text covering the impact of mass language endangerment. The distinguished author explores issues surrounding the preservation of indigenous languages, including the best and most effective ways to respond to the challenge of recording and documenting fragile oral traditions while they’re still with us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis latest edition offers an entirely new chapter on new developments in language revitalisation, including the impact of technology on language archiving, the use of social media, and autodocumentation by speakers. It also includes a number of new sections on how recent developments in language documentation give us a fuller picture of human linguistic diversity. Seeking to answer the question of why widespread linguistic diversity exists in the first place, the book weaves in portraits of individual “last speakers” and anecdotes about linguists and their discoveries. It provides access to a companion website with sound files and embedded video clips of various languages mentioned in the text. It also offers:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n    \u003cli\u003eA thorough introduction to the astonishing diversity of the world’s languages\u003c\/li\u003e\n    \u003cli\u003eComprehensive exploration of how the study of living languages can help us understand deep human history, including the decipherment of unknown texts in ancient languages\u003c\/li\u003e\n    \u003cli\u003eDiscussions of the intertwining of language, culture and thought, including both fieldwork and experimental studies\u003c\/li\u003e\n    \u003cli\u003eAn introduction to the dazzling beauty and variety of oral literature across a range of endangered languages\u003c\/li\u003e\n    \u003cli\u003eIn-depth examinations of the transformative effect of new technology on language documentation and revitalisation\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePerfect for undergraduate and graduate students studying language endangerment and preservation and for any reader who wants to discover what the full diversity of the world’s languages has to teach us, \u003cem\u003eWords of Wonder: Endangered Languages and What They Tell Us, Second Edition\u003c\/em\u003e, will earn a place in the libraries of linguistics, anthropology, and sociology scholars with a professional or personal interest in endangered languages and in the full wealth of the world’s languages.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47455886409964,"sku":"9781119758754","price":80.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781119758754.jpg?v=1774863053"},{"product_id":"a-history-of-english-words-by-geoffrey-hughes-9780631188551","title":"A History of English Words","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhy does English have so many words? Where have they all come from? Why do we now have different vocabularies for various activities?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eA History of English Words\u003c\/i\u003e, Geoffrey Hughes answers these questions in a comprehensive study of the evolution of English vocabulary which covers words as diverse as anti-disestablishmentarianism to OK, and runagate to Monicagate. His arguments are supported and illuminated through the use of numerous maps, word-fields, and facsimiles of texts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis book traces the remarkable reconfigurations that the stock of English words has undergone in the past millennium. From its origins as a pure Germanic language, it acquired in the medieval period a double-layered structure as Norman-French became the 'upstairs' language of power and Anglo-Saxon that of the populace. Subsequent influxes from Latin and Greek in the Renaissance added a third layer, so that every semantic area of the language now has three terms from these sources, as in \u003cem\u003eask, question\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003einterrogate\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe vocabulary is studied as an indicator of social change and as a symbol reflecting different social dynamics between speech communities, on models of dominance, cohabitation, colonialism, and globalisation. Sections are devoted to the lexical interchange of imperialism, the effects of America's global dominance on the core groups of the words we use, and politically correct language.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47470032486636,"sku":"9780631188551","price":107.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780631188551-a-history-of-english-words.jpg?v=1775207981"},{"product_id":"the-writing-revolution-by-amalia-e-gnanadesikan-9781394218196","title":"The Writing Revolution","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn exploration of the original Information Technology – the writing systems of history\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Writing Revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet\u003c\/em\u003e explores the origins, historical development, adaptations, linguistic properties, cultural context, and social impact of one of humankind's greatest inventions: writing systems. Now in its second edition, this popular book traces the history of writing from the earliest proto-cuneiform tablet to the latest AI-generated text. Author Amalia E. Gnanadesikan offers an engaging, highly readable narrative account of how different writing systems originated, evolved over time, and how they have represented languages around the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eConcise, easy-to-digest chapters cover each of the world's major written traditions across time and space, including Egyptian hieroglyphs, Chinese characters, Bronze-Age Linear B, New World writing systems, the Roman alphabet, and many others. Updated throughout, \u003cem\u003eThe Writing Revolution\u003c\/em\u003e features new and expanded coverage of the Digital Age, including Unicode, the World Wide Web, emojis, generative AI, and more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInvestigating how the creation of writing made the modern world possible, \u003cem\u003eThe Writing Revolution\u003c\/em\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n    \u003cli\u003eCovers the world's major writing systems as well as a selection of lesser-known scripts\u003c\/li\u003e\n    \u003cli\u003eDiscusses papyrus, paper, the printing press, digital writing, and other associated technologies\u003c\/li\u003e\n    \u003cli\u003eFeatures engaging examples throughout, including Egyptian funerary texts, Maya calendars, Arabic calligraphy, Morse code, and modern text messaging\u003c\/li\u003e\n    \u003cli\u003eInterweaves ideas from cultural studies, archaeology, linguistics, literature, anthropology, and information science\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Writing Revolution\u003c\/em\u003e is a must-read for students of writing systems, linguistics, information science, and intellectual history, as well as general readers with an interest in the history of written language.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47487704891628,"sku":"9781394218196","price":95.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/d8c64640e26aa68cc84f18c513625115.jpg?v=1775770278"},{"product_id":"dying-words-by-nicholas-evans-9780631233060","title":"Dying Words","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe next century will see more than half of the world’s 6,000 languages become extinct, and most of these will disappear without being adequately recorded. Written by one of the leading figures in language documentation, this fascinating book explores what humanity stands to lose as a result.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDying Words\u003c\/em\u003e explores the unique philosophy, knowledge, and cultural assumptions of languages, and their impact on our collective intellectual heritage. It questions why such linguistic diversity exists in the first place and how we can best respond to the challenge of recording and documenting these fragile oral traditions while they are still with us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWritten by one of the leading figures in language documentation, the book draws on a wealth of vivid examples from the author's own field experience. It brings conceptual issues vividly to life by weaving in portraits of individual ‘last speakers’ and anecdotes about linguists and their discoveries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47596304531692,"sku":"9780631233060","price":169.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/382256685e5498530d01702d28b7475b.jpg?v=1777930394"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/series-the-language-library.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}