language

Lawrence Weiner is a conceptual artist who has used language as his primary medium since 1968, when he concluded that viewers could experience the same effect from reading a verbal description of his work as they could from viewing the work itself. Since that point, he has been best-known for his word sculptures—short poems and witticisms applied to walls in plain lettering, always translated into the language of the country in which they are shown. In 1995, the Middelheim Museum in Antwerp commissioned Weiner to create a work for its permanent collection.

This book was written by Egyptologist Henri Brugsch in 1855. It was the first European attempt to study Demotic—the written and spoken language of the ancient Egyptian people. Brugsch’s project was recognized and supported by Frederick William IV, King of Prussia. He sponsored Brugsch’s visits to various European museums to view objects and monuments containing the Demotic language, in order to complete his knowledge of the subject. Brugsch then documented what he had learned in Grammaire Démotique. The book examines this dialect's grammar, syntax, and phonetics.

Arctic Memories is an overview of Inuit life written for young people. The stories and illustrations are full of beauty and relay so much about life and culture in the Arctic. Author and illustrator Normee Ekoomiak was one of the the most prolific Inuit artists of the 20th century whose life, as a victim of the residential school system and homelessness, shows both the injustices suffered by Canada’s indigenous peoples and their remarkable resilience against that injustice.

Inuktitut is not just the name for the language of the indigenous peoples of the Eastern Arctic. It also means “like one of the Inuit” in that language, reflecting not only how one speaks, but also the culture, attitudes, lifestyle, and behaviors of Inuit peoples: Inuktitut is a way of life.

This fascinating biography of celebrated linguist, Dr. Lorenzo Dow Turner (1890-1972), appropriately written by a linguistics professor, features eight plates of black and white photos of Dr. Turner and his family from different stages of his life. The author, Dr. Margaret Wade-Lewis, was Director of the Linguistics Program at SUNY New Paltz and was the first African American woman to earn a PhD in linguistics from NYU. Dr. Turner’s widow, Lois Turner Williams, contributed the introduction to the book. A Harvard graduate, Dr.