Results by title

This book offers a unique historical perspective on linguistics by focusing exclusively on how people's evolving opinions, beliefs, and attitudes have shaped the English language over the centuries. Moving away from a standard timeline of grammar and vocabulary changes, Bailey draws on a rich collection of historical quotations to show how commentary about English has always reflected the social anxieties, national pride, and political biases of its time. By tracing these perceptions from the 16th century to the post-colonial world, the book deconstructs the myth of simple "English triumphalism" and reveals that contemporary debates—such as complaints over linguistic decline or calls for gender-neutral phrasing—are actually deeply rooted in centuries-old social dynamics. Ultimately, this foundational text illustrates how our ideas about language are a mirror to society itself, making it an indispensable resource for students and scholars of sociolinguistics, history, and cultural studies.

Imagining Iberia in English and Castilian Medieval Romance offers a broad disciplinary, linguistic, and national focus by analyzing the literary depiction of Iberia in two European vernaculars that have rarely been studied together. Emily Houlik-Ritchey employs an innovative comparative methodology that integrates the understudied Castilian literary tradition with English literature. Intentionally departing from the standard “influence and transmission” approach, Imagining Iberia challenges that standard discourse with modes drawn from Neighbor Theory to reveal and navigate the relationships among three selected medieval romance traditions. This welcome volume uncovers an overemphasis in prior scholarship on the relevance of “crusading” agendas in medieval romance, and highlights the shared investments of Christians and Muslims in Iberia’s political, creedal, cultural, and mercantile networks in the Mediterranean world.

    This is the first comprehensive textbook teaching English-speakers to read, write, and speak contemporary Bulgarian. The text is designed to be adaptable for students of varying skill levels and can be taught at a gradual or intensive pace. It is also a much-needed reference grammar of Bulgarian, incorporating the latest research and theories on Bulgarian grammar in accessible layman’s language.
    Volume 1 introduces the basic elements of Bulgarian grammar and contains Lessons 1–15, a Bulgarian-English glossary, an English-Bulgarian glossary for beginners, and an appendix of verbal forms. Like many popular language textbooks, the dialogues in Intensive Bulgarian form a continuing dramatic narrative that gradually introduces students to both language and culture. Throughout the text, Bulgarian constructions and phrases are compared with English ones to clarify grammar and idioms.

Lessons include:
o dialogues and sample sentences
o exercises and translation sentences
o basic and supplemental grammar sections
o reading selections
o a glossary for the lesson
o cultural notes.

    Together, Volumes 1 and 2 of Intensive Bulgarian provide all the materials necessary for teachers and students to learn lively, modern colloquial Bulgarian, to become familiar with Bulgarian cultural life, and to thoroughly understand Bulgarian grammar. Slavic scholars will also find in Volume 2 both a thorough presentation of the Bulgarian verb system, as traditionally conceived, and a new analysis of this system.