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Linguaphile

A Life of Language Love
Brief Description
A celebration of the beauty and mystery of language and how it shapes our lives, our loves, and our world. If there is one feature that defines the human condition, it is language: written, spoken, signed, understood, and misunderstood, in all its infinite glory. In this... Read More
Format: Hardback
$5499
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A celebration of the beauty and mystery of language and how it shapes our lives, our loves, and our world.

A celebration of the beauty and mystery of language and how it shapes our lives, our loves, and our world.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
A celebration of the beauty and mystery of language and how it shapes our lives, our loves, and our world. If there is one feature that defines the human condition, it is language: written, spoken, signed, understood, and misunderstood, in all its infinite glory. In this ingenious, lyrical exploration, Julie Sedivy draws on years of experience in the lab and a lifetime of linguistic love to bring the discoveries of linguistics home, to the place language itself lives: within the yearnings of the human heart and amid the complex social bonds that it makes possible. Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love follows the path that language takes through a human life-from an infant's first attempts at sense-making to the vulnerabilities and losses that accompany aging. As Sedivy shows, however, language and life are inextricable, and here she offers them together: a childish misunderstanding of her mother's meaning reveals the difficulty of relating to other minds; frustration with "professional" communication styles exposes the labyrinth of standards that define success; the first signs of hearing loss lead to a meditation on society's discomfort with physical and mental limitations. Part memoir, part scientific exploration, and part cultural commentary, this book epitomizes the thrills of a life steeped in the aesthetic delights of language and the joys of its scientific scrutiny.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780374601836

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 15 October 2024

Country: United States

Imprint: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 27.0mm

Width: 143.0mm

Height: 215.0mm

Weight: 424g

Pages: 336

About the Author

Julie Sedivy has taught linguistics and psychology at Brown University and the University of Calgary. She is the author of Memory Speaks: On Losing and Reclaiming Language and Self, Language in Mind: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics and coauthor of Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says about You. She lives in Calgary, Canada.

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  • Memory Speaks
    β€œAt once an eloquent memoir, a wide-ranging commentary on cultural diversity, and an expert distillation of the research on language learning, loss, and recovery.” -The Economist β€œInsightful and informative. Sedivy examines what happens to memory, dreams, and even the sense of self when you enter another language.” -Eva Hoffman, author of Lost in Translation β€œEngagingly describes the disorienting and sometimes...
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  • Linguaphile
    If there is one feature that defines the human condition, it is language: written, spoken, signed, understood and misunderstood, in all its infinite glory. In this ingenious, lyrical exploration, Julie Sedivy draws on years of experience in the lab and a lifetime of linguistic love to bring the discoveries of the field home, to the place where language itself lives:...
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