The present volume is a corpus-based study of the occurrence, variation, and change in the use of English adjective pairs in -ic and -ical over several centuries. The study involves the analysis of large, multi-million-word corpora representing the English language at various stages. It examines the nature of competition between the two affixes: what kind of rivalry existed, what kinds of words entered into competition, and in what ways the rivalry was resolved. The book presents close studies of six notably differentiated -ic/-ical adjective pairs, namely classic/classical, comic/comical, economic/economical, electric/electrical, historic/historical, and magic/magical, as well as commentaries on some 40 other -ic/-ical pairs, which manifest different types of shifts in use through history.
Routledge English Language Introductions cover core areas of language study and are one-stop resources for students. Assuming no prior knowledge, books in the series offer an accessible overview of the subject, with activities, study questions, sample analyses, commentaries and key readings - all in the same volume. The innovative and flexible 'two-dimensional' structure is built around four sections - introduction, development, exploration and extension - which offer self-contained stages for study. Each topic can be read across these sections, enabling the reader to build gradually on the knowledge gained.
Child Language: - provides a comprehensive overview of language acquisition in children - introduces students to key theories and concerns such as innateness, the role of input and the relation of language to other cognitive functions - teaches students the skills needed to analyze children's language - includes sections on the bilingual child and atypical language development - provides classic readings by key names in the field, such as Brian MacWhinney, Richard Cromer, Jean Aitchison and Eve Clark.
This book is simultaneously a theoretical study in morphosyntax and an in-depth empirical study of Hebrew. Based on Hebrew data, the book defends the status of the root as a lexical and phonological unit and argues that roots, rather than verbs or nouns, are the primitives of word formation. A central claim made throughout is the role of locality in word formation, teasing apart word formation from roots and word formation from existing words syntactically, semantically and phonologically.
What makes good language learners tick? What do they do that poor learners don't do? Could we help the poor learner by teaching them some of the good learners' tricks? To forestall disappointment, let it be said at the beginning that this study does not provide definite answers to these very legitimate questions. Nevertheless, we believe it has been worth undertaking. The nature of second language learning is extremely complex and a great deal of research is needed to improve our understanding of it. In spite of much theorizing, very little has been done to study its processes directly and empirically. This study constitutes a beginning.
How to get your Ph.D is an original study guide aimed at prospective and current postgraduate students, covering the process of accessing, undertaking and completing doctoral research in the social sciences and the humanities.
The content is unique in incorporating discussion of the less recognised personal, emotional and organisational demands of independent study. Drawing on a variety of student experiences, the authors apply a case study approach to examine the dilemmas and complexities of postgraduate study.
