Are some languages better than others?

Are some languages better than others? / R.M.W. Dixon.

This study answers a question that many linguists have been hesitant to ask: are some languages better than others? Written in the author's usual accessible and engaging style, it outlines the essential and optional features of language, before concluding that the ideal language does not and pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dixon, Robert M. W., 1939- (Author)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2016.
Edition:1st ed.
Subjects:
Comparative linguistics.
Typology (Linguistics)
Grammar, Comparative and general.
Comparative linguistics
Grammar, Comparative and general
Online Access:Click for online access
Table of Contents:
  • Cover; Are Some Languages Better than Others?; Copyright; Contents; Preface; Chapter 1: Setting the scene; 1.1 The role of language; (a) Language assisting in the process of belonging; (b) Language enabling cooperative endeavour; c) Language reflecting social organisation; (d) Language used to display emotions; (e) Language used to convey information; (f) Language as a means for aesthetic expression; (g) Language as the vehicle for scholarly thought and argumentation; (h) Language as the conduit for proselytisation; 1.2 A primitive language; 1.3 What does 'better' mean?
  • 1.4 The truth about writing1.5 The science of linguistics; 1.6 History of 'evaluations'; Chapter 2: How languages work; 2.1 The make-up of a language; 2.2 Phonology and redundancy; 2.3 Tones; 2.4 Dividing things up; 2.5 Shifters; 2.6 Types of words; Chapter 3: What is necessary; 3.1 Speech acts; 3.2 Negation; 3.3 Possession; 3.4 Who is doing it to whom; 3.5 Saying what is what; 3.6 Succinctness; Chapter 4: What is desirable; 4.1 Gender and classifiers; 4.2 Articles; 4.3 Tense, modality, and aspect; 4.4 Evidentiality; 4.5 Comparative constructions; 4.6 Passives, reflexives, and reciprocals
  • 4.7 Causatives and applicativesChapter 5: What is not (really) needed; 5.1 Irregularities; 5.2 Suppletion; 5.3 Grammatical redundancy; 5.4 Semantic redundancy; 5.5 Repetition or no repetition; Chapter 6: How about complexity?; 6.1 Distinguishing suffixes; 6.2 Multiple auxiliaries; 6.3 Losing and gaining complexity; Chapter 7: How many words should there be?; 7.1 Specification; 7.2 Homonymy; 7.3 Synonymy; 7.4 Overlapping word classes; 7.5 How many words are needed?; Chapter 8: The limits of a language; 8.1 What must be said; 8.2 What can be said; 8.3 Putting it all together

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