The Language-Makers 0801413176, 9780801413179

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I THE Language MAKERS ROY HARRIS C'

Duckworth

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Roy Harris became Oxford’s first Professor of General Linguistics in 1978. This new book develops one of the main themes of his Inaugural Lecture on ‘Communications and Language’. Professor Harris argues that our understanding of what a language is depends on prevailing cultural pat¬ terns which determine the social values associated with certain types of communicational skill. These values change in the course of social evolution, and are reflected in the development of linguistic theorising, which is itself part of a broader intellectual endeavour to construct a cultural identity for the individual and the community. In the course of a wide-ranging discussion, which extends from the pre-Classical period of Greek anti¬ quity down to the present day, the key factors which have shaped the concept of a language are examined and situated in the historical context of Western civilisation as a whole.

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THE LANGUAGE-MAKERS

ROY HARRIS Professor of General Linguistics in the University of Oxford

DUCKWORTH

First published in 1980 by Gerald Duckworth & Company Ltd. 43 Gloucester Crescent, London NW i © 1980 by Roy Harris All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanic^, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN o 7156 1430 4

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Harris, Roy, b. igji The language-makers. I. Sociolinguistics I. Title 301.2'! P40

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Printed in Great Britain by Ebcnczer Baylis and Son Limited The Trinity Press, Worcester, and London

. . . lest even Knowledge should obstruct its own growth, and perform in some measure the part of ignorance and barbarity . . .

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