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It is not enough to merely locate objects and concepts (properties) at the level of reference. If these are not to be merely two different kinds of thing-in-itself, we also need to locate propositional combinations of objects and concepts at that level. It is argued that semantical and metaphysical considerations oblige us to take this step beyond Frege. We should recognize the existence of both true and false propositions at the level of reference, and identify the world with the level of reference, so understood. That yields a good sense in which the world ‘speaks its own language’, an idea McDowell mentions only to reject. The resulting linguistic idealism, provides the only safe context in which a genuinely minimal empiricism can thrive.

This chapter is a detailed analysis of Herodotus' famous tale of an experiment performed by the Egyptian king Psammetichus in order to determine the world’s earliest language. It compares the king’s assumptions and ‘scientific’ method to modern-day ideas on children’s acquisition of language. It discusses that Psammetichus' experiment was enormously influential over the centuries and this chapter examines its effect on later thinkers, particularly in the 18th century, who in the wake of Herodotus, devised scenarios involving two children learning to speak the world’s first language.

This chapter begins with a discussion of the purpose of the study, which is to outline a typology of subordination systems across the world's languages. It then discusses the functional-typological approach. An overview of the subsequent chapters is presented.

This chapter looks at the interplay of extra- and intra-territorial forces that shaped the evolution and sociolinguistic characteristics of four varieties of English spoken in the Atlantic Ocean: the Bermudas, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha and the Falkland Islands. It evaluates general and locally specific forces that operated in the formation of these varieties, with a focus on the nature of various co-existing dialects (ENL, ESL and EFL) in the early contact scenarios that straddle current dividing lines between social and ethnic communities in the respective communities. Some sort of historic ‘push and pull’ operated between extra- and intra-territorial forces in all four varieties. There are domains where the two types cannot be subdivided (attitudes to tourism and immigration) so that external factors (such as settlement policy) have provided the petri dish for the enactment of internal forces at a later stage. This is discussed with reference as to whether dialect contact conditions lend themselves to theorizing and how lesser-known varieties fit into current models of English as a world language.

This chapter considers the possibility of language/world relations. Criticisms from Chomsky are engaged, and a bite the bullet strategy is advocated in which there is a kind of language/world isomorphism. Alternatives to referential semantics are considered — including use-based and expressivist approaches to semantics. These alternatives are found thus far wanting.

This chapter discusses the world plans of Wilhelm Ostwald, a tenured professor of physical chemistry in University of Leipzig who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1909 for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibria, and reaction velocities. He became a member of the Délégation pour l’adoption d’une langue auxiliaire internationale that attempted to standardize an auxiliary language by developing a new code of language for trade, industry, and scientific communication through the program world auxiliary language. Ostwald also conceptualized the world currency system designed to remove money-changing practice and make international transit more accessible, and the world format system that aimed to unify the format of documents (world format) and avoid arbitrariness of writing.

Globalization and harmonization are dominant trends in international arbitration. As a result of the globalization of international trade, the number of international disputes submitted to arbitration has increased tremendously in recent decades, with actors from all continents speaking a multitude of languages. This chapter aims to show that, despite the growing use of English, translation continues to make a significant contribution, not only to the globalization, but also to the harmonization of international arbitration. This is important because, as arbitration experts say, the future of international arbitration lies in its harmonization. Though mostly behind the scenes, translation plays a vital role in numerous aspects of international arbitration, including the translation of legal documents for the proceedings, the translation of national arbitration laws into world languages, the translation of institutional procedural rules and standard arbitral clauses, the production of multilingual instruments of international arbitration law, and others.

This chapter identifies some general features that characterize a conception of language as phenomenological. Taking Heidegger’s nondualist view of ‘being-in-the-world’ as a model, it suggests that this involves conceiving language as ‘language-in-the-world’, as characterized by an antireductionist attitude and rejection of the ideas that language is a ‘formal’ system of signs and that it sustains an inside-outside opposition. It is then argued that critically assessing the significance of a phenomenology of language in relation to other philosophical conceptions of language requires a specific focus, and that this is provided by Heidegger’s emphasis (chapter 1) on the derivative nature of predication and the possibility of prepredicative language use. Hence the chapter also examines the idea of prepredicative foundation, arguing that this refers to factors that are functionally and structurally presupposed by propositional content.

This chapter considers how the practice of non-translation has implications for the development and critical practice of ‘world literature’, taking the ‘Eumaeus’ episode of Joyce’s Ulysses as its focal point. In particular, non-translation offers a route to re-read two related and important literary-historical models that have been influential in conceptualizing world literature: the idea of a ‘minor literature’, as elaborated initially by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, and that of a ‘dominant language’ within a ‘world history of literature’, elaborated by Pascale Casanova. It is important to do so because, remarkably enough, despite the obvious relevance of non-translation, neither model addresses the phenomenon of plurilingual, macaronic writing. The matter of non-translation offers an illuminating index through which to consider, and revise, these influential literary-historical models. The chapter also examines the contemporary context of language reform exemplified by the Society for Pure English.

This chapter focuses on reflective commonsensical reasoning and argues that reflective common sense leads the way toward a refined commonsense metaphysical realism, to be put in lieu of the naive version that is here referred to as simple realism. Austere realism is essentially dependent on the idea of truth is an indirect form of correspondence rather than being direct correspondence. This idea is further developed in this chapter, and is positioned within a more general approach to thought-world relations and language-world relations that is referred to here as contextual semantics. The discussion is initiated with methodological remarks regarding how to pursue a suitable refinement of simple realism. It is shown here that, in order to address the challenges presented in the previous chapter, it is necessary to apply commonsensical modes of reasoning.

Is language structure influenced by the organization of the physical world as observed by means of our senses? Or is it rather the opposite, namely the structure of language influences our perception and representation of the world. After some historical observation the notion of analogy and anomaly is explored by providing a clear empirical case constituted by those sentences which contain the verb “to be” as a main verb (copular sentences):

This chapter provides an overview of the role of typology in phonological theory. Implicational scales governing the range of cross-linguistic variation are introduced using the sonority hierarchy as a representative scalar property. The current work is situated relative to the linguistic typology research program as it relates to phonology. The book’s contribution to the study of frequency, an important component in typology, is discussed. The chapter concludes with a summary of the methodologies employed by the book to evaluate cross-linguistic and language-internal frequency: evaluation of patterns in existing databases, a survey of various phonological properties in the 100-language World Atlas of Language Structures sample, and studies of intralanguage frequency in 34 languages.

The chapter assesses the role of the English Language Teaching Department—its structure, management, profitability, and publications—and its impact on the Press as a whole. The extraordinary growth of Oxford’s ELT programme resulted in part from a global shift towards English-language learning in old markets and a rapid growth of new markets around the world to which OUP had good access through its branches and established international trade. New ELT courses were developed or adapted for use in Africa, Central and East Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and, most successfully, in Europe. Successful series titles included Crescent English Course, Access to English, Streamline, and Headway. Despite intense competition and some unprofitable partnerships, OUP became the world’s leading ELT publisher through developing reliable titles for children and adults and placing a strong emphasis on market strategy.

This chapter details the linguistic experience of Catherine II of Russia. She learned the dominant language of the multilingual empire she came to rule only as a young adult, when she left her native Prussia to be married to the Russian crown prince. Her experience with acquiring Russian as a foreign language and using it as the language of rule, as well as her policy of literacy education, is discussed in conjunction with her thoughts on the importance of learning foreign languages and her attempt to compile a catalogue of languages of the world.

The epilogue constructs a perspective of justice and injustice as a set of distinctions that are brought forth in language. The author follows the view that language not only describes the world but actually creates it through sets of distinctions. Similarly individuals create, or rather bring forth ideas of justice and injustice through language. The petitions (manauti) and rituals of divine embodiment (jāgars) are an example of how devotees of Goludev use spoken and written language to continuously (re)articulate and (re-)create what constitutes justice.