Product Description: In clear, congenial style Barry Blake explains how language works. He describes the make-up of words and how they're built from sounds and signs and put together in phrases and sentences. He examines the dynamics of conversation and the relations between the sound and meaning...read more

Humour permeates our lives. People tell jokes, make puns, and engage in witty banter. This book shows how every facet of language is exploited for humour. It covers the subject matter of humour and the part it plays in society.

Product Description: This is a selection of papers from the 15th International Conference on Historical Linguistics held in Melbourne 13-17 August 2001, hosted by the Linguistics Program at La Trobe University. The papers range from the general theoretical to the study of particular languages and embrace most areas of linguistics, particularly morpho-syntax...read more

Case is an introduction for students of linguistics to the ways relations between words in sentences are marked in languages. It describes the systems of suffixes familiar from languages like Latin and also the roles of prepositions, postpositions and the use of the pronominal elements on verbs. One of the most interesting features of case is the recurrence of apparently idiosyncratic patterns and devices in otherwise unrelated languages. This book picks out these recurring strategies and explores their significance. It provides the background against which the case marking of particular languages can be best understood. Case contains in addition a useful discussion of the theoretical problems in identifying cases and the basis for distinguishing case relations from cases. A final chapter looks at the origins and development of case marking devices. (view table of contents)

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Product Description: This book describes this theory's basic ideas, evaluates them and compares them with other approaches in other theories. This book should be of interest to advanced students and lecturers in linguistics.