Overview

Most people fight over something or other and language is usually at the very center of the conflict. Often the way we use language is the cause of the battle. There are many areas in which fighting about language can be observed but civil law cases offer the most fertile examples of this warfare over words. What did the contract actually say? Was there deception in the advertising? Was the warning label clear and effective? Did the company evidence race or age discrimination against employees or customers? Was one company's name too similar to that of another company? Did the corporation plagiarize the work of another? Did it fraudulently represent what its work? This book is about the ways linguistic analysis describes, exposes, and aids disputes in 18 civil cases where language framed the battleground. Roger Shuy, a well-known forensic linguist and consultant, shows how the skills of linguistic analysis can help resolve disputed meanings, while also showing how civil cases can prove to be fertile ground for linguistic scholarship. He does this by collecting and analyzing cases involving contracts, trademark disputes, advertisements, product liability, copyright infringement, discrimination, trademark disputes, and fraud controversies. In each case he employs all the tools of formal linguistics to show how it can be as helpful as other physical sciences in resolving legal disagreements. The work will be of interest primarily to linguists -- sociolinguists, forensic linguists, and scholars and students of law and society -- as well as lawyers and law students.

Full Product Details

Author:   Roger W. Shuy (Professor of Linguistics, Professor of Linguistics, Georgetown University (Emeritus))
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 23.60cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 15.50cm
Weight:   0.524kg
ISBN:  

9780195328837

ISBN 10:   0195328833
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   21 February 2008
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Foreword Section I: Business Contract Disputes: Introduction 1.: Peter Koehn v. Continental Casuality: Or in a Group Insurance Policy 2.: Matrixx v. New Strategies: Exclusive Marketing Services 3.: EMC v. Jeffrey Allen: Key Employee Agreement 4.: Nevada v. Professional Escorts: Interpreting State Code Section II: Deceptive Trade Practice: Introduction 5.: Dynamic Air v. Flexicon: Competing Conveying System advertisements 6.: 11 State Attorneys Generals v. Ciba-Geigy: Nicotine Patch advertisments 7.: Ackerman v. Royal Bank of PA: Certificates of Deposit advertisements Section III: Product Liability: Introduction 8.: Lassera v. Magniflux: Brain Damage From Cleaning Product 9.: Andrews v. Generac: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning 10.: Rinehart v. International Playtex: Toxic Shock from Tampons 11.: Proform v. Garrett: Toxic Gas in the Cockpit Section IV: Copyright Infringement: Introduction 12.: St. Martin's Press v. Vickers Oil: Book versus pamphlet Section V. Discrimination: Introduction 13.: HOME v. Havens Reality: Radical Steering in Real Estate 14.: Hanye v. General Electric: Age Discrimination 15.: Benekritis v. Darlington: Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Section VI: Trademarks: Introduction 16.: Woodroast Systems v. Restaurants Unlimited; and Palomino Euro-Metro Bistro: Ownership of the Word, Wood-roasted 17.: Warren Distribution v. Prestone Products Corp.: Battle over Antifreeze Section VII: Procurement Fraud: Introduction 18.: US v. Pratt Whitney: False Representation in a Government Contract Section VIII: How Linguists Can Help in Corporate Cases; Academic References

Reviews

Linguists will find the application of linguistic principles to civil disputes over language engaging and, at times, compelling. Shuy is conscious of the need to teach both the lawyer and the linguist some of the basics of the others field, and in this he excels. This is applied linguistics at its most practical, and Shuy, in Fighting Over Words and his other six books, models it comprehensively. --Language<br>

Author Information

Roger Shuy is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, Georgetown University. He is the author of Linguistics in the Courtroom: A Practical Guide and Creating Language Crimes: How Law Enforcement Uses (and Misuses) Language.

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