Beginning signers now can improve their recognition of the most commonly used signs with this easy-to-follow handbook based upon the revolutionary dictionary. The American Sign Language Handshape Starter illustrates 800 of the most frequently used signs, arranging them by the 40 standard handshapes used in American Sign Language (ASL). Carefully chosen for their common use, the signs also have been organized by day-to-day topics, including food, travel, family, sports, clothing, school terms, time, nature and animals, and many others from everyday conversation.

American Speech is concerned principally with the English language in the Western Hemisphere, although articles dealing with English in other parts of the world, the influence of other languages by or on English, and linguistic theory are also published. The journal is not committed to any particular theoretical framework, and issues often contain contributions that appeal to a readership wider than the linguistic-studies community.

Animals are disappearing, vanishing, and dying out--not just in the physical sense of becoming extinct, but in the sense of being erased from our consciousness. Increasingly, interactions with animals happen at a remove: mediated by nature programs, books, and cartoons; framed by the enclosures of zoos and aquariums; distanced by the museum cases that display lifeless bodies. In this thought-provoking book, Arran Stibbe takes us on a journey of discovery, revealing the many ways in which language affects our relationships with animals and the natural world. Animal-product industry manuals, school textbooks, ecological reports, media coverage of environmental issues, and animal-rights polemics all commonly portray animals as inanimate objects or passive victims. In his search for an alternative to these negative forms of discourse, Stibbe turns to the traditional culture of Japan. Within Zen philosophy, haiku poetry, and even contemporary children's animated films, animals appear as active agents, leading their own lives for their own purposes, and of value in themselves.

Anthropological Linguistics provides a forum for the full range of scholarly study of the languages and cultures of the peoples of the world, especially the native peoples of the Americas. Embracing the field of language and culture broadly defined, the journal includes articles and research reports addressing cultural, historical, and philological aspects of linguistic study, including analyses of texts and discourse; studies of semantic systems and cultural classifications; onomastic studies; ethnohistorical papers that draw significantly on linguistic data; studies of linguistic prehistory and genetic classification, both methodological and substantive; discussions and interpretations of archival material; edited historical documents; and contributions to the history of the field.

We live in an era marked by an accelerating rate of species death, but since the early days of the discipline, anthropology has contemplated the death of languages, cultural groups, and ways of life. The essays in this collection examine processes of—and our understanding of—extinction across various domains. The contributors argue that extinction events can be catalysts for new cultural, social, environmental, and technological developments—that extinction processes can, paradoxically, be productive as well as destructive. The essays consider a number of widely publicized cases: island species in the Galápagos and Madagascar; the death of Native American languages; ethnic minorities under pressure to assimilate in China; cloning as a form of species regeneration; and the tiny hominid Homo floresiensis fossils ("hobbits') recently identified in Indonesia. The Anthropology of Extinction offers compelling explorations of issues of widespread concern.

Arabic, one of the official languages of the United Nations, is spoken by more than half a billion people around the world and is of increasing importance in today's political and economic spheres. The study of the Arabic language has a long and rich history: earliest grammatical accounts date from the 8th century and include full syntactic, morphological, and phonological analyses of the vernaculars and of Classical Arabic. In recent years the academic study of Arabic has become increasingly sophisticated and broad. This state-of-the-art volume presents the most recent research in Arabic linguistics from a theoretical point of view, including computational linguistics, syntax, semantics, and historical linguistics. It also covers sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and discourse analysis by looking at issues such as gender, urbanization, and language ideology. Underlying themes include the changing and evolving attitudes of speakers of Arabic and theoretical approaches to linguistic variation in the Middle East.

This intermediate workbook, like the other materials in the Norsk, nordmenn og Norge series, regards communication as the primary goal of language learning.  Experience has shown that  students need to pass through a period of meaningful structural practice as they develop their communication skills.  The workbook aims to provide that practice in psychologically realistic and useful ways, combining entertaining activities with more traditional exercises.

Toward these ends, the workbook features:
•an extensive overview of the basics of Norwegian grammar, providing a ready reference throughout the course
•a thorough review of elementary Norwegian vocabulary and grammar, allowing students whose preparation in the language differs to share a common knowledge base
 •Hvem er du? sections that encourage the learner to personalize the material 
 •Litt av hvert sections that provide short summaries of the anthology’s reading passages (lesestykker) while reviewing common problems with vocabulary and grammar
 •crossword puzzles and cartoons.

Norsk, nordmenn og Norge: Arbeidsbok  (Workbook) is a companion to the Norsk, nordmenn og Norge: Antologi (Anthology) and Lærerveiledning (Teacher’s Manual).

A radically new approach to argument structure in the minimalist program.

Peter Ramus, a 16th-century Parisian college instructor and one of the most influential and controversial writers of early modern times, published a number of books attacking and attempting to refute foundational texts in philosophy and rhetoric. This volume offers original text and translation of a pivotal work and includes a detailed introduction and bibliography by the editor.