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Language and Society is a broad introduction to the interaction of language and society, intended for undergraduate students majoring in any academic discipline. The book discusses the complex socio-political roles played by large, dominant languages around the world and how the growth of major national and official languages is threatening the continued existence of smaller, minority languages. As individuals adopt new ways of speaking, many languages are disappearing, others are evolving into hybrid languages with distinctive new forms, and even long-established languages are experiencing significant change, with young speakers creating novel expressions and innovative pronunciations. Making use of a wide range of case studies selected from the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa, Andrew Simpson describes and explains key factors causing language variation and change which relate to societal structures and the expression of group and personal identity. The volume also examines how speakers' knowledge of language acts as an important force controlling access to education, advances in employment and the development of social status. Additional topics discussed in the volume focus on the global growth of English, gendered patterns of language use, and the influence of language on perception.

Andrew Kirwan's 1864 work describes the history, customs, and mores of entertaining through dinner parties.

This volume comprises refereed papers and abstracts of the 8th International Conference on the Evolution of Language (EVOLANG8), held in Utrecht on 1417 April 2010. As the leading international conference in the field, the biennial EVOLANG meeting is characterized by an invigorating, multidisciplinary approach to the origins and evolution of human language, and brings together researchers from many subject areas, including anthropology, archaeology, biology, cognitive science, computer science, genetics, linguistics, neuroscience, palaeontology, primatology and psychology. The latest theoretical, experimental and modelling research on language evolution is presented in this collection, including contributions from many leading scientists in the field.

Based on a distinguished 35-year career in the RAF as an Air Commodore, Andrew R. Curtis highlights what is wrong with the way defence is managed today, and presents evidence-based proposals to fix it. Defence is failing to deliver. From the ability of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to develop defence policy, to the single service's - Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force (RAF) - ability to acquire and maintain military capability, and undertake military operations. This is not a new problem; indeed, ever since the creation of the MoD in 1964, there have been tensions between the department of state and the armed forces over allocations of responsibility, authority and accountability. Concerned with political oversight; the allocation of responsibility, authority, and accountability; administration of people; organisational structures; and policies and processes, Curtis compellingly demonstrates the critical need to reform the management of Defence for the UK's armed forces to fight and win in the future.

Design Against Crime will aid the design profession to meet the challenges presented by the competing needs and complex systems around crime and security. It proposes that designers should use their creative talents to develop innovative solutions to security problems that contribute to the ongoing fight against crime. The authors first explain the design against crime approach to security and security. They go on to provide practical advice on addressing crime and insecurity within the design process and offer practical examples of design being applied to security and safety. They also examine crime victimisation from a global perspective, highlighting the benefits worldwide of reducing opportunities for crime, including issues of national security, such as terrorism and natural disasters. A design-led, human-centred approach provides a way forward that is both aspirational and practical. The book is aimed primarily at design professionals, educators and students interested in safety and security, from all design disciplines, including product design, architecture, service design and communication design. The book should also be read by crime prevention experts, planners, local authorities, managers of urban environments and policymakers.