Language is presented as a foundational invention that has enabled cooperation, making all other advancements possible. The author argues that its evolution has been as impactful as a meteorite, creating ripples that continue to expand. The discussion highlights the significance of speaking and writing in shaping human progress, suggesting that these forms of communication are central to our achievements throughout history.
The author explores how language shapes our thoughts and perceptions, suggesting that certain linguistic ideas can lead to conflict and war. By raising awareness of these influences, the book advocates for a shift towards peace. It critiques binary thinking and promotes a more nuanced understanding of concepts like size and power. Additionally, it delves into the philosophies of figures like Kant and Russell regarding peace, examines the roles of religion and women in conflict, and proposes music and sports as means to foster unity and mitigate aggression.
Eine Gruppe von Studentinnen und Studenten ist mit ihrem Dozenten zu Rad unterwegs, um Ortsnamen, Flussnamen und Dialekte in der Steiermark zu erforschen. Doch schon bald entwickelt sich die Radtour so, dass bei jedem Halt eine/r der Studierenden oder der Dozent eine anekdotische Geschichte über ein Thema der Sprachwissenschaft erzählt. Von "Sprache und Schach" über den "Ursprung der Sprache aus der Liebe" bis zur "Sprache als Quelle für Humor" kommt jedes Thema dran. So geht die Tour von Radkersburg nach Radstadt und endet mit einem gemeinsam gesungenen Lied.
Eighteen scholars from all corners of the world – from Hong Kong to Maribor, from Birmingham to Bad Sankt Leonhard, from Georgetown to Graz – pay tribute to a linguist whose personal and scholarly qualities are extolled on the completion of his sixtieth year. The man's research interests such as corpus analysis, neologisms and the language of politics and religion are given due consideration as is his sense of humour concerning all things linguistic and life in general. Thus the volume contains, among other familiar linguistic topics, a translation of Transnubistani poetry, a modest proposal of a reversion of Wordsworth's „Daffodils“, and binding thoughts on people different from themselves. Serious contributions on FUNctional linguistics, applying the Turing test to corpus analysis, and the marmalade war between Austria and the EU alternate with more light-hearted topics such as Chomsky, deixis in field work, and the consequences of globalisation on English. The title of the book is a corruption – in both senses of the word – of the motto of a semi-scholarly society of which the editors and the Festschriftee are prominent members: 'Linguists only talk about it'. The contributions prove that there is more to linguists than meets the eye.
The papers collected in this volume thematise the relation between language and ecology. In the first part of the book, the focus is on the «ecological» aspects of different languages, with special reference to language maintenance, language loss and the influence languages have on each other. In the second part, the representation of environmental topics in the media is studied from a discourse critical point of view. What is the role of language in the development of the ecological crisis and in the attempts to master it? How are environmentally sensitive topics dealt with in the press, in TV programmes and on the radio? The volume also contains papers in which the theory of ecolinguistics is put on firm ground. Die Beiträge dieses Bandes befassen sich mit der Verbindung von Sprache und Ökologie. Im ersten Teil wird auf die «ökologischen» Beziehungen zwischen einzelnen Sprachen eingegangen, bei denen Prozesse der Verdrängung, Mischung und gegenseitigen Beeinflussung ablaufen. Im zweiten Teil wird die Darstellung von Umwelt-Themen in den Medien diskurskritisch beleuchtet. Wie wird mit diesen Themen in der Presse, in Radio- und Fernsehprogrammen umgegangen? Welche Rolle spielt die Sprache ganz allgemein bei der Entstehung und Bewältigung ökologischer Krisen? Der Band enthält auch programmatische Aufsätze, in denen das Paradigma der Ökolinguistik theoretisch begründet wird.