Folks make that stupid joke even if you’re not gay, andygirl.
Cold. Funny, but cold. Good work!
Monty
Well, I guess I would fall into definition two: I am discounting the smattering of French I learnt about a million years ago 
The two main areas of linguistics that intrigue me are Sociolinguistics and Language Pathology.
I speak fluent English, and enough Spanish to have a basic conversation. I prefer Spanish because it seems to flow better. It also doesn’t have as many weird rules.
Please define “weird.”
Does anyone have a recommendation for a book on linguistics for an amateur lacking any background in it?
PoignantSod: You could go with the text I had in Linguistics 1. It’s An Introduction to Language, by Victoria Fromkin and Robert Rodman, ISBN 0-03-018682-X.
carodin: An interesting book I just finished for the class I’m taking in Historical Linguistics is Language Change: Progress or Decay?, by Jean Aitchison, ISBN 0-521-79535-4. There’s a bit of a discussion in it about language death.
Poignant Sod
Following on from Monty’s suggestion, I would like to recommend the following: “The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language” by David Crystal. Don’t be put off by the “encyclopedia” part - it’s not perhaps what you might expect, but it is an excellent read.
Monty
thanks for the title. Have you read her “Articulate Mamal?” What attracted you to linguistics?
Sociolinguistics is an interesting area - covers a broad spectrum, which is what appeals to me.
For anyone that might want to take a peek at language pathology, another book recommendation is: “Introduction to Language Pathology” by David Crystal and Rosemary Varley: good stuff, although more of an academic text book I think, than aimed at the general reader?
No, I don’t work for him
As for your question about the Palm, do you know this resource?
there will most likely be someone there that can point you straight at what you need.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Monty *
**Steve:
Two questions for you:
[ul][li]Is the <c> in <linguisticist> pronounced [k] or [s]?[/li][li]I checked your profile and that’s moved me to ask: Are you involved in Computational Linguistics at all?[/ul] **[/li][/QUOTE]
[s], definitely. You get much more spittle that way.
I was sort of involved in Computational Linguistics, ten years ago when I was doing my doomed research project … these days, I’m out of academia and, sadly, working for a living, with a bunch of web developers and graphic designers who barely speak English, let alone anything else.
Poignant Sod, I heartily second carodin’s recommendation of David Crystal’s “The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language”. This was the first true linguistics text I ever got my hands on – yet it’s as useful to me now, after over a decade of study, as it was when I was a novice. If you stick with your interest in human language, you will be running back to Crystal’s book time and time again.
Here are some others I recommend:
"Introducing Linguistics" by R. L. (Larry) Trask–excellent overview of the subject given in layman’s terms. Introduces most every important academic concept that you’ll want to be familiar with for future linguistics study.
"Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language" by Steven Pinker–mostly academic in tone, but still very readable. Get into Crystal’s and Trask’s books first to build your foundation, then dig into Pinker.
"The Power of Babel" by John McWhorter–can be enjoyed without too much linguistic knowledge. Highly readable, not so academic – but certianly not dumbed down, either. Touches on a dizzying assortment of topics linguistic, and in this way serves as a solid intoductory text.
For a nice overview of the world’s languages (and a beautiful coffee table book) you might check out The Atlas of Languages by Comrie et al. It was my textbook for one of the first Ling classes I took (Languages of the World) and gives a very balanced look at world languages and the differences between 'em.
Definition by example:
“i before e, except after c, or sounding like ‘ay’ as in ‘neighbor’ or ‘weigh.’”
I always think of that rule whenever I see the movie title “Weird Science”…
Barry
That’s not a definnition. It’s an example of something you find weird.
Well, I did say it was a definition by example. Just to make you happy, though:
Barry
I’m a linguist by definition 1 only. I have never studied linguistics but have spent a good deal of time in philology. I can speak French with some proficiency and German with noticeably less so. I am rather stronger with ancient languages. Latin is my favorite due to its elegance, balance, and concision. I also enjoy reading ancient Greek, Old High German, Old English, Old French, and of the medieval languages, I especially love Occitan.
Maeglin: For some odd reason, academia in the US decided to go with only one definition of Philology (study of literature) and use another term (Linguistics) for the other definition. Given the content of your posting above, you appear to be a linguist by both definitions of that particular word.
godzilla: ALL language rules can be viewed as strange.
I don’t know about that. I have never read a single book on “language” or “linguistics,” as it were. I am only barely acquainted with theories of language acquisition, and my knowledge of language families is in serious disrepair. I have never studied languages as “systems,” I probably don’t know the first thing about phonology, and after a few beers I can explain the difference between a glottal and an aspirate.
There just happen to be a few languages I know relatively well. My training is the pursuit of the meaning of words in their social and literary contexts, and less so with respect to the structures of the languages themselves.
I have a significant interest in linguistics. Would have minored in it, had my university done minors. It’s proved useful recently in a computational linguistics manner. I’ve just finished implementing (well, it’s working) a medical narrative engine that takes medical findings and outputs English (“Bob Smith reports severe abdominal pain in the epigastric area.”…)
I work for a medical software company, and apparently this is one of the more valuable features of our product.
I’m kinda proud of it.
Why do most languages have voiceless stops? (PTK)
A semi-sort of-hijack:
I’m getting a dual major in Computer Science (blegh) and Humanities. I would like to go into Linguistics, maybe grad school (?). What do you need to study/take/know to get into a grad program in Linguistics?
Ease of articulation.
Produce airflow -> stop airflow -> release airflow.