Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic [Paperback]

Can a bump on the head cause someone to speak with a different accent? Can animals, aliens, and objects talk? Can we communicate with gods, demons, and the dead? Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic is a curio shop full of colourful superstitions, folklore, and legends about language.PART I: MAGICAL LANGUAGE  1. Curses, Charms and Taboos 2. Divination 3. Prediction 4. Prayer 5. Chain Letters PART II: POSSESSED LANGUAGE 6. Foreign Accent Syndrome 7. Xenoglossia 8. Speaking in Tongues 9. Psychic Mediums and Channelers 10. Automatic Writing PART III: HIDDEN LANGUAGE 11. Voices of the Dead 12. Backmasking 13. Reverse Speech 14. The Bible Code 15. Secret Symbols PART IV; INHUMAN LANGUAGE 16. Talking Animals 17. Pet Psychics and Psychic Pets 18. Monster Language 19. Alien Language 20. Talking Objects PART V: THERAPUTIC LANGUAGE 21. Graphology 22. Speech and Sound Therapies 23. Neuro-Linguistic Programming 24. Hypnosis 25 Body Language

'Language, with its uncanny ability to transmit ideas from mind to mind, has always seemed to have magical powers. Karen Stollznow ably and engagingly debunks the nonsense and superstitions, and in doing so enhances, rather than diminishes, our appreciation of this wondrous human ability.' - Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, US, and author of The Language Instinct and The Sense of Style

'Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic could not be more timely. Here the accomplished linguist, Karen Stollznow, persuasively and forcefully dramatizes how language has many real world powers that might seem mysterious, as when a brain injury causes someone to switch from one language to another. But readers will soon grasp that while language does have power, it isn't particularly magical or mysterious. This engaging, one-of a kind, book deserves very wide readership.' - Elizabeth Loftus, University of California, US

'Stollznow is an author with a mission, and that missionlCÜ