Language Library

Political Correctness is now an everyday phrase and part of the modern mindset. Everyone thinks they know what it means, but its own meaning constantly shifts. Its surprising origins have led to it becoming integrated into contemporary culture in ways that are both idealistic and ridiculous. Originally grounded in respect for difference and sensitivity to suffering, it has often become a distraction and even a silencer of genuine issues, provoking satire and parody. In this carefully researched, thought-provoking book, Geoffrey Hughes examines the trajectory of political correctness and its impact on public life. Exploring the origins, progress, content, and style of PC, Hughes' journey leads us through authors as diverse as Chaucer, Shakespeare and Swift; Philip Larkin, David Mamet, and J.M. Coetzee; from nursery rhymes to Spike Lee films. Focusing on the historical, semantic, and cultural aspects of political correctness, this outstanding and unique work will intrigue anyone interested in this ongoing debate.

In 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. The Writing Revolution picks apart the development of this communication tool to show how it has conquered the world. • Explores how writing has liberated the world, making possible everything from complex bureaucracy, literature, and science, to instruction manuals and love letters • 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 • 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 • Traces the origins of each of the world's major written traditions, along with their applications, adaptations, and cultural influences.

The History of English Spelling Few languages are riddled with as many spelling inconsistencies and irregularities as English. Why is there such dissonance between the sounds of English and the spelling used to represent them? The answer lies in the history of the language itself. The History of English Spelling reveals the rich and complex history of Modern English spelling, tracing its origins and development from Old English up to the present day. The book provides a highly detailed, letter-by-letter analysis of the Old English basis of Modern English spelling, followed by in-depth coverage of the contributions from French, Latin, Greek and the many other languages that have contributed to current orthography. Upward and Davidson also explore events in the socio-political history of England as the setting for developments in spelling, along with the works of a number of lexicographers (especially Johnson and Webster), and various proposals for spelling reform. The History of English Spelling reveals the richness of the complex and often frustrating alphabetic spelling system used in the English language.

Now in its second edition, The Writing Revolution takes readers on a journey through the origins, historical development, adaptations, linguistic properties, cultural context, and social impact of the world's major written traditions. Demonstrating how the creation of writing transcended the limitations of human memory and made the modern world possible, linguist Amalia E. Gnanadesikan offers an engaging, easy-to-read historical narrative of written language that covers everything from the earliest proto-cuneiform tablet to the latest AI-generated text. Concise chapters describe how different writing systems originated, how they evolved over time, and how they represent the thoughts and sounds expressed in spoken language. Throughout the book, Gnanadesikan interweaves ideas from cultural studies, archaeology, linguistics, literature, anthropology, and information science-complemented by illustrative examples of Egyptian hieroglyphs, Japanese syllabaries, Chinese characters, New World writing systems, the Roman alphabet, and many others. Featuring new and expanded coverage of the Digital Age, including Unicode, the internet, emojis, and generative AI, The Writing Revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet is essential reading for students of writing systems, linguistics, information science, and intellectual history, as well as general readers with an interest in the remarkable history of written language.