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The 10 Best Linguistics Books list have been recommended not only by normal readers but also by experts.
You’ll also find that these are top-ranking books on the US Amazon Best Sellers book list for the Linguistics category of books.
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Let’s take a look at the list of 10 Best Linguistics Books.
10 Best Linguistics Books
Now, let’s dive right into the list of 10 Best Linguistics Books, where we’ll provide a quick outline for each book.
1. Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions (Series in Affective Science) by Jaak Panksepp Review Summary
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Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions (Series in Affective Science)
Some investigators have argued that emotions, especially animal emotions, are illusory concepts outside the realm of scientific inquiry. However, with advances in neurobiology and neuroscience, researchers are demonstrating that this position is wrong as they move closer to a lasting understanding of the biology and psychology of emotion. In Affective Neuroscience , Jaak Panksepp provides the most up to date information about the brain operating systems that organize the fundamental emotional tendencies of all mammals. Presenting complex material in a readable manner, the book offers a comprehensive summary of the fundamental neural sources of human and animal feelings, as well as a conceptual framework for studying emotional systems of the brain. Panksepp approaches emotions from the perspective of basic emotion theory but does not fail to address the complex issues raised by constructionist approaches. These issues include relations to human consciousness and the psychiatric implications of this knowledge. The book includes chapters on sleep and arousal, pleasure and fear systems, the sources of rage and anger, and the neural control of sexuality, as well as the more subtle emotions related to maternal care, social loss, and playfulness. Representing a synthetic integration of vast amounts of neurobehavioral knowledge, including relevant neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and neurochemistry, this book will be one of the most important contributions to understanding the biology of emotions since Darwins The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
2. Knickers in a Twist: A Dictionary of British Slang by Jonathan Bernstein Review Summary
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Knickers in a Twist: A Dictionary of British Slang
Brits and Americans dress the same, eat at the same chain restaurants, pass music back and forth across the Atlantic, and our national leaders are practically conjoined twins. But the second the Brits open their mouths, all bets are off. So don’t dream of visiting the UK, dating a Brit, or truly understanding what Jude Law is saying without this handy, hilarious, and informative guide to Britspeak. With the cheekiness of Austin Powers and the tidbit quotient of Schott ‘s Miscellany, screenwriter Jonathan Bernstein’s collection of Cockney rhyming slang, insults culled from British television shows of yore, and regional and “high British” favorites provides hours of educational, enlightening, even life saving hilarity. And if it doesn’t accomplish that, at least you’ll be aware that when a British citizen describes you as a “wally,” a “herbert,” a “spanner,” or a “bampot,” he’s not showering you with compliments. Knickers in a Twist is as indispensable as a London city guide, as spot-on funny as an episode of The Office , and as edifying as Born to Kvetch and Eats, Shoots and Leaves.
3. Signing Illustrated: The Complete Learning Guide by Mickey Flodin Review Summary
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Signing Illustrated: The Complete Learning Guide
Here is the complete learning guide that teaches American Sign Language by “category,” the most popular and preferred method of teaching and learning. This easy-to-use guide is updated and expanded to include new computer and technology signs and offers a fast and simple approach to learning. Includes: – Vocabulary reviews – Fingerspelling exercises – Sign matching and memory aids – A complete glossary and a comprehensive index – Clear instructive drawings
4. Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff Review Summary
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Metaphors We Live By
The now-classic Metaphors We Live By changed our understanding of metaphor and its role in language and the mind. Metaphor, the authors explain, is a fundamental mechanism of mind, one that allows us to use what we know about our physical and social experience to provide understanding of countless other subjects. Because such metaphors structure our most basic understandings of our experience, they are “metaphors we live by”–metaphors that can shape our perceptions and actions without our ever noticing them. In this updated edition of Lakoff and Johnson’s influential book, the authors supply an afterword surveying how their theory of metaphor has developed within the cognitive sciences to become central to the contemporary understanding of how we think and how we express our thoughts in language.
5. Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages by Guy Deutscher Review Summary
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Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages
A New York Times Editor’s Choice An Economist Best Book of 2010 A Financial Times Best Book of 2010 A Library Journal Best Book of 2010 The debate is ages old: Where does language come from? Is it an artifact of our culture or written in our very DNA? In recent years, the leading linguists have seemingly settled the issue: all languages are fundamentally the same and the particular language we speak does not shape our thinking in any significant way. Guy Deutscher says they’re wrong. From Homer to Darwin, from Yale to the Amazon, and through a strange and dazzling history of the color blue, Deutscher argues that our mother tongues do indeed shape our experiences of the world. Audacious, delightful, and provocative, Through the Language Glass is destined to become a classic of intellectual discovery.
6. In the Land of Invented Languages: Adventures in Linguistic Creativity, Madness, and Genius by Arika Okrent Review Summary
In the Land of Invented Languages: Adventures in Linguistic Creativity, Madness, and Genius
Here is the captivating story of humankind’s enduring quest to build a better language–and overcome the curse of Babel. Just about everyone has heard of Esperanto, which was nothing less than one man’s attempt to bring about world peace by means of linguistic solidarity. And every Star Trek fan knows about Klingon. But few people have heard of Babm, Blissymbolics, Loglan (not to be confused with Lojban), and the nearly nine hundred other invented languages that represent the hard work, high hopes, and full-blown delusions of so many misguided souls over the centuries. With intelligence and humor, Arika Okrent has written a truly original and enlightening book for all word freaks, grammar geeks, and plain old language lovers.
7. The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention by Guy Deutscher Review Summary
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The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention
Blending the spirit of Eats, Shoots & Leaves with the science of The Language Instinct , an original inquiry into the development of that most essential-and mysterious-of human creations: Language Language is mankind’s greatest invention-except, of course, that it was never invented.” So begins linguist Guy Deutscher’s enthralling investigation into the genesis and evolution of language. If we started off with rudimentary utterances on the level of “man throw spear,” how did we end up with sophisticated grammars, enormous vocabularies, and intricately nuanced degrees of meaning? Drawing on recent groundbreaking discoveries in modern linguistics, Deutscher exposes the elusive forces of creation at work in human communication, giving us fresh insight into how language emerges, evolves, and decays. He traces the evolution of linguistic complexity from an early “Me Tarzan” stage to such elaborate single-word constructions as the Turkish sehirlilestiremediklerimizdensiniz (“you are one of those whom we couldn’t turn into a town dweller”). Arguing that destruction and creation in language are intimately entwined, Deutscher shows how these processes are continuously in operation, generating new words, new structures, and new meanings. As entertaining as it is erudite, The Unfolding of Language moves nimbly from ancient Babylonian to American idiom, from the central role of metaphor to the staggering triumph of design that is the Semitic verb, to tell the dramatic story and explain the genius behind a uniquely human faculty.
8. Doublespeak (Rebel Reads) by William Lutz Review Summary
Doublespeak (Rebel Reads)
Doublespeak is the language of non-responsibility, carefully constructed to appear to communicate when it fact it doesn’t. In this lively and eye-opening expose, originally published in 1989, linguist William Lutz identifies the four most common types of doublespeak–euphemism, jargon, gobbledygook or “bureaucratese,” and inflated language–showing how each is used in business, advertising, medicine, government, and the military. In this seminal book, Lutz articulates that the goal of doublespeak is “to distort reality and corrupt thought.”
9. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology by C.T. Onions Review Summary
The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology
This comprehensive dictionary by one of our century’s greatest language scholars provides a clear and brief account of the origins, history, and sense-development of more than 38,000 words.
10. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy (4th Edition) by H. Douglas Brown Review Summary
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Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy (4th Edition)
Teaching by Principles is a widely acclaimed methodology test used in language teacher education programs around the world. In this fourth edition, Dr. H. Douglas Brown and Dr. Heekyeong Lee offer a comprehensive survey of practical language teaching options firmly anchored in current research on second language acquisition and pedagogy. Features of the Fourth Edition * A comprehensive update on current issues, new research findings, and innovative classroom teaching techniques, with additional and reworked chapters to reflect this information * A description and analysis of new foundational principles, including: agency, identity, languaculture, communities of practice, embodied cognition, and self-regulation * Pre-reading organizers at the beginning of each chapter * Frquent statistics and pedagogical “tips” in each chapter * Numerous “classroom connections” to stimulate practical applications of concepts and principles * End-of-chapter group activities, discussion topics, and suggested additional readings * A glossary of technical terminology