Language Matters: A Guide to Everyday Questions About Language

by Donna Jo Napoli, Vera Lee-Schoenfeld

Is Ebonics really a dialect or simply bad English? Do women and men speak differently? Will computers ever really learn human language? Does offensive language harm children? These are only a few of the issues surrounding language that crop up every day. Most of us have very definite opinions on these questions one way or another. Yet as linguists Donna Jo Napoli and Vera Lee-Schoenfeld point out in this short and thoroughly readable volume, many of our most deeply held ideas about the nature of language and its role in our lives are either misconceived or influenced by myths and stereotypes.

Language Matters provides a highly informative tour of the world of language, examining these and other vexing and controversial language-related questions. Throughout, Napoli and Lee-Schoenfeld encourage and lead the reader to use common-sense and everyday experience rather than preconceived notions or technical linguistic expertise. Both their questions and their conclusions are surprising, sometimes provocative, and always entertaining.

This thoroughly revised second edition updates the book with a new co-author, and includes new chapters on language and power, language extinction, and what it is linguists actually do. Language Matters is sure to engage both general readers and students of language and linguistics at any level.

Genres: Linguistics, Language, Nonfiction, School, Philosophy

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 27, 2003

About the author

Donna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's and YA fiction. She loves to garden and bake bread, and even dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist.

At various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, "Taxi!" to make the neighbors wonder. But dear dear Taxi died in 2009.

She has five children, seven grandchildren, and currently lives outside Philadelphia. She received her BA in mathematics in 1970 and her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1973, both from Harvard University, then did a postdoctoral year in Linguistics at MIT. She has since taught linguistics at Smith College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Swarthmore College. It was at UM that she earned tenure (in 1981) and became a full professor (in 1984). She has held visiting positions at the University of Queensland (Australia), the University of Geneva (Switzerland), Capital Normal University of Beijing (China), the University of Newcastle (UK), the University of Venice at Ca' Foscari (Italy), and the Siena School for the Liberal Arts (Italy) as well as lectured at the University of Sydney (Australia), Macquarie University (Australia), the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), and the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and held a fellowship at Trinity College Dublin. In the area of linguistics she has authored, coauthored, edited, or coedited 17 books, ranging from theoretical linguistics to practical matters in language structure and use, including matters of interest to d/Deaf people. She has held grants and fellowships from numerous sources, including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, the Sloan Foundation.

Reviews

[mohsen pourramezani · Rating 4 out of 5]

این کتاب یکی از درسنامه‌های کمک آموزشی آمریکا در حوزه‌ی زبان‌شناسی است که برای دانشجویان دوره‌ی کارشناسی رشته‌های جز علوم انسانی فراهم آمده است. دو نویسنده‌ی این کتاب که به تدریس زبان‌شناسی اشتغال دازند، هرفصل کتاب را با پرسشی آغاز کرده و یافتن پاسخی به هر پرسش به پایان برده‌اند. (از یادداشت مترجم - ص 13)
به نظرم کتاب خیلی خوبی بود،‌ به خصوص برای کسانی که رشته‌ تخصصی‌شان زبان شناسی نیست و می‌خواهند اطلاعات عمومی دربار‌ه‌ی آن پیدا کنند. کتاب به زبانی ساده مفاهیم مهم زبانشناسی را توضیح می‌دهد. برخی از بخش‌های کتاب مربوط به امریکا و زبان انگلیسی است اما چون بحث کلی درباره‌ی زبان است می‌توان آنها را به زبان‌های دیگر هم تعمیم داد. از خواندن این کتاب لذت بردم.
http://choobalef.blog.ir/1394/07/26/%...

[Mehrdad Assil]

کتاب برخلاف جلد عبوس و رسمی‌اش برای خوانندهٔ غیرمتخصص نوشته شده. نویسندگان پانزده سؤال دربارهٔ زیان مطرح می‌کنند که هر آدمی ممکن است بهش فکر کرده باشه و به خاطر پیچیدگی دانش زبانشناسی واردش نشده باشه. نکته این که در نهایت چیزی بیش از این پانزده سؤال گیر خواننده می‌آید؛ بینش روشنی دربارهٔ زبان و مسائل آن.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a compelling and clever look at a dozen or so questions regarding language's function and importance. I'll be coming back to this one, for sure.

[Jace Ellis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Somewhat interesting to learn these things about language that I never thought about.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who reads a fair amount of material concerning the practical implications for linguistics [1], even if I am generally far more interested in the written language than the spoken one in my general life, this is the sort of book I am not surprised I came across.  If this was a disappointing read, it was not so much for the questions that the authors dealt with but rather with their answers.  Clearly, the authors and I are on opposite sides of a serious political and philosophical divide, and in our contemporary divided society I am simply not inclined to think highly of those on the other side of the line, nor to greatly value what they have to say.  A lot of the social commentary of this book is simply rubbish and I lack the interest in viewing it any other way.  That is not to say that this book is useless or without value, as there is always value in seeing how other people think, even when they are mistaken, but this book was not an enjoyable read and it certainly added nothing to the discussion, except for another voice on the side of descriptivist linguistics, with a sense of reverse snobbery for those who desire to maintain standards of decency within the discourse of the English language.

This mercifully short book of a little more than two hundred pages is organized in a set of socratic discussions based on fifteen questions divided into two parts.  The first part deals with the human ability for language based on theorizing and studies and answers questions on language acquisition, what linguistics is, why is translation and learning a new language so difficult, the lack of one-to-one correspondence between language and thought, the legitimacy of sign languages as real languages, the limitations of language ability among animals, and the question of whether computers can learn language.  The second part of the book deals with questions of language in society, looking at whether one person's speech can be better than another's, the differences between dialects and creoles from standard languages, the difference in speech between men and women and between people of different power relationships, the problems of spelling reforms as a way of improving literacy, the question of whether English should be the official language of the United States, the power that language has over us, the supposed lack of harm of offensive language to children, and what is lost when a language dies.  The authors ask some good questions, although their answers are not particularly good.

Indeed, this book and others like it demonstrate the way that like the biblical plague of frogs political concerns enter into every facet of life, including linguistics.  The authors, lacking a sound moral worldview, cannot help but parrot bogus views on language and its relationship to society because their defective worldview cannot provide them with any better ground on which to argue.  One of the few creditworthy aspects of this book is the way the book speaks on behalf of the Deaf culture and its struggles with access to the knowledge and culture of the wider society.  As someone with at least one Deaf friend at church who has at least a few people to talk to enthusiastically via American Sign Language, I am perhaps a bit unusual in being more interested in the deaf culture than most people would be.  The authors' thoughts on this culture are about the only worthwhile contribution they make to the question of linguistics, evidence that politics and especially the stridency of left-wing thinkers has poisoned our discourse on just about every area of discourse under the sun.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...

[Dima · Rating 1 out of 5]

If this book was seriously edited or peer reviewed, academia is a joke. That was a dumpster fire that got progressively worse every chapter. 2 different slurs in consecutive chapters must be some kind of world record? Some topics were genuinely interesting but she just kept telling us about her personal life, opinions, family, etc. We do not care! It’s hard to believe that someone so pretentious and snobby referred exclusively to surface level, very very very well known studies; personal anecdotes, and embedded links (in a paperback book). Yikes overall

[Clio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and easy to read. The chapters are each her well supported answer to a yes-or-no question in linguistics that she thinks will be interesting to the layperson and some interesting citations for further reading on the topics. I think everyone should read the last chapter on censorship for children.

[S.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few chapters that give a pleasant introduction to some interesting topics in linguistics.

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, read for school

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this was not a book I chose to read on my own, I am glad it was assigned. Even though I havent read the book in its entirety I have some most of the chapters and my favoite one is chapter 5 called "Do Animals Have Language?" This chapter first talks about what communication is, and if it can indeed be defined. The author asks 3 people what it is and gets 3 different answers. I find this interesting because I never really thought about what communication really is. I am not sure I can even formulate a definition now.

The article goes on to talk about the title, animals and their language. The author talks about how bees communicate with each other. She gives the example of them giving directions through body language. I find it facsniating that bees use body language much like humans do.

Unfortunetly the rest of the book is not to exciting and very acdemic. But if you can get past some of the psycobabble and read it for what it is, an interesting book about language then it might not be so bad.

[Kelli Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise of Napoli’s book Language Matters: A Guide to Everyday Questions about Language is simple: in it, she answers twelve questions of interest about language. What is unique is this collection of inquiries into language studies that she has compiled that manages to answer everything from the philosophical to the practical, like, Does language equal thought? and Does exposure to and use of offensive language harm children?. The book’s straightforward answers and jargon-free diction make it accessible to both the curious and those studying or working in the field of language arts; the book is recommended for the casual browser and scholar alike.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book of essays about linguistics and language. I thought most of the chapters were relevant and anybody could pick it up and read it without knowing a lot about linguistics and still understand the concepts. This was one of my textbooks for my linguistic course. There were a couple of chapters that I didn't agree with, but those were more along the lines of moral issues than linguistic issues.

*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2010...

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best textbooks I’ve ever read even though it maybe isn’t one. Nuanced when it needs to be and not so much when the author is disinclined. Napoli let’s it all out on dual-immersion bilingual education (she’s very strongly for it) and censorship, especially censorship of words words words (whether spoken or written) when it comes to children (she’s very much against any and all forms of censorship and gives her reasons).

[Kostina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the book. It is a nicely popularized discussion of general linguistic issues. I disagree with some of Donna's opinions but I am with her on the majority of the issues she is tackling in the volume. It did seem to me that the material was sometimes watered down more than it should have. Nonetheless, it's a good start for a rooky interested in discussing linguistic matters.

[Amelia Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The personal and professional insights of two linguists who provide an introduction for anyone to current issues in their field. I read the 2nd edition.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short and sweet look at language and popular questions that surround it.
Does language equal though?
Can computers learn language?
Do men and women speak differently?
Does offensive language harm children?

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book. I feel like the authors are a bit too skeptical about artificial intelligence, but the book has very good information about how language is not equivalent to thought and how language relates to all the facets of humanity.

[Evan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Anecdotal evidence, thy name is Napoli. It's linguistics! Do some research!

[Mohammad Saeid Miri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best books that introduce linguistics and refers to new researches in it. Easy-to-read!