The study of comparative syntax in closely related languages has yielded valuable insights into syntactic phenomena - for example in the study of the Romance languages - yet little comparative work has been done on English dialects. This is the first comparison of the syntax of Belfast English and Standard English, using Chomsky's "Principles and Parameters"/Minimalist framework.

Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" is not simply a critique of colonialism in the Congo, but it is an examination of the human tendency toward self-endangering corruptibility. In this updated collection of critical essays, master literary scholar Harold Bloom suggests that this resonant work has taken on the power of myth. This study guide to "Heart of Darkness" also features an annotated bibliography and a listing of other works by the author.

If you are a would-be or a weekend scientist, this book is a good place to begin your study. Though the core of the book is biology, you are will be introduced to anatomy, zoology, ecology, microbiology, chemistry and biochemistry, ornithology (the study of birds), and herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians).

The lexicon is becoming an increasingly popular area of investigation within linguistics and language studies. Language is popularly conceived of in terms of words, and words are also integral to the way in which linguists have traditionally approached language as an object of study. This volume is the first to provide a comprehensive yet accessible overview of lexicology and will prove invaluable to the growing number of students of lexicology who need an interdisciplinary approach to the study of language.

Modals and Quasi-modals in English reports the findings of a corpus-based study of the modals and a set of semantically-related 'quasi-modals' in English. The study is the largest and most comprehensive to date in this area, and is informed by recent developments in the study of modality, including grammaticalization and recent diachronic change. The selection of the parallel corpora used, representing British, American and Australian English, was designed to facilitate the exploration of both regional and stylistic variation.