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Acknowledgements
This book, of course, owes its existence to those I met along the way. Some of you appear in the book (and, except in one instance to protect his safety, I haven’t changed your names), many others don’t appear directly, though your voices and thoughts resonate on every page. You told me your stories and answered with delight the many questions I had about your languages and cultures. I thank you and hope you are all well.
I would like to thank the professors I had while doing my graduate work. You fostered well the philosophical turns I took and always pointed me toward the right books and theories. Equally, I would like to thank my students and fellow teachers at the Calgary Board of Education. Many of my students came from war-torn countries, and they told me much about places to which even I dared not go.
For my family, especially my parents, I’m indebted beyond repayment for their endless support and encouragement (“Where’s he off to now?”).
For my editor at Dundurn Press, Michael Carroll, who saw the promise of the book proposal and continued to support and advise me through the long process of publication, I’m also thankful.
Finally, I thank my friends for their love of adventure and intelligent conversation, with special thanks to Dr. Charlene Elliott for her editorial comments on every one of the several hundred drafts of this book that I managed to fumble my way through.
Index
The page numbers in this index refer to the print edition of this book.
Aboriginal Languages,
171, 277–78, 280,
305
Aboriginal Peoples,
277–78
Achuar, 216–19, 221–39
Achuar Language, 216,
223, 226, 227
Acropolis, 49–51
Aesop’s Fables, 135,
143, 237
Afghanistan, 86, 325–26
Africa, 214, 246, 316
Agglutinating, 85, 171,
197
Alaska, 270, 273, 283,
286, 299–300
Alberta, 134, 305, 322
Alexander the Great,
47–48
Algonquian, 278, 300,
306, 312
Alhambra, 70
Alighieri, Dante 57
Altaic, 80
Amazon Jungle and
River, 72, 193,
197, 215–39
Ambergris Caye, 243
Andalusia, 69
Angkor Thom, 138
Angkor Wat, 126–31,
139
Antarctic, 174
Anthropologist, 188,
201, 224, 229, 235,
275, 300, 307
Anthropology, 217, 272
Arabic, 16–19, 25, 28,
<
br /> 30, 32, 42, 45, 80,
155, 262, 312, 317,
326, 333
Aramaic, 19, 28
Arctic, 121, 303, 313
Argentina, 196
Aristotle, 47
Arizona, 303, 306,
314–17
Armenian, 19
Asia, 37, 47, 79, 85–86,
100–01, 109, 124,
137, 140, 146, 262,
317
Asia Minor, 35, 79
Astronomy, 252
Atatürk, Mustafa
Kemal, 80
Athens, 30–31, 39,
47–51
Atomic Bomb, 164–65,
320–21
Auckland, 181–83
Australia, 152, 154, 179,
190, 205, 212, 243
Austronesian, 171
Avatar, 130
Aymara, 211–14
Azerbaijani, 85
Babylon, 17
Bali, 152–63
Balkans, 80
Ball Court, 251, 256, 267
Bangkok, 145–46, 148
Bantu, 214
Barkhor, 120
Bas Reliefs, 124, 129,
139
Basque, 64–65, 74
Bayon, 138–39
Bedouin, 26
Beijing, 86, 89, 117
Belize, 90, 243–53
Belize City, 243, 252
Bengali, 37
Bering Strait, 300
Bible, 17, 19, 46, 259
Blackfoot, 19, 278, 305,
306, 310, 312, 313
Blue Jesus, 132–33, 185
Blue Mosque, 79, 81
Boas, Franz, 300, 307
Bolivia, 212
Bora Bora, 174–75
Bosphorus, 79, 86
Brazil, 216, 235
British Empire, 47–48,
72
Buddha, 37, 100, 103,
105, 139, 146
Buddhism, 103, 105,
110, 137, 138, 144
Buffalo, 100, 134, 141,
303–05, 312–16,
319, 322
Bullfight, 66–69
Byzantium, 80
Caesar, Julius, 55
Calgary, 305, 325, 332
Cambodia, 124–44, 329
Campbell, Joseph, 131,
261, 268, 274
Cannibals, 27, 186, 219
Cappadocia, 86, 90
Caste System, 161
Catalan, 61
Catholic, 48, 67, 69, 70,
130, 204, 205
Chile, 196
China, 86, 103, 114,
117, 122, 126, 326
Chinese Language, 19,
40, 86, 90, 102,
113, 115, 119, 137,
247, 257, 307, 323
Cho Oyu, 108
Chomolungma, 109
Chomsky, Noam, 65–
66, 81, 247, 256,
260, 261, 318
Christ, Jesus, 14, 15,
20, 22, 26, 27, 28,
62, 69, 132–33,
185, 247
Christianity, 19, 27, 80,
85, 87, 105, 185
Christmas, 296, 331
Churning of the Sea of
Milk, 130–32, 138
Codes, 44, 226, 256,
257, 320–21, 322
Codex, 257
Cognates, 32–33,
36–37, 48, 313
Colombia, 71–72, 196,
212
Colorado, 317
Colosseum, 54–55
Colour, 307–09
Columbus, Christopher,
70, 75
Condor, 200, 202, 208
Connotations, 17, 105,
116, 244, 322, 323
Conquistadors, 198, 201,
203, 210, 211, 257
Constantine the Great,
80
Constantinople, 80–81,
85, 86
Cook, James, 179–80
Cook Islands, 172,
181–86
Copacabana, 212–13
Corinth, Gulf of, 31, 33
Corinth Canal, 51
Creation Stories, 130,
235, 250, 258, 259,
260, 276, 316
Cree, 278, 282, 283,
284, 285, 306, 310,
311, 312, 313
Cremation, 158–60
Creole, 246–47, 260
Crete, 43, 44, 46
Croatia, 212
Croesus, King, 35
Crusaders, 26, 27, 79
Cultural Revolution,
106, 112, 118, 126
Cuzco, 196–200, 202–
04, 207–11
Cycladic Islands, 46
Da Vinci, Leonardo, 57
Dalai Lama, 111–15,
118, 121, 122
Dani, 308–09
Dead Sea Scrolls, 25–26
Deconstructionism, 276
Delphi, 31, 35
Dene (see also Northern
Dene), 286, 302–
03, 305–07, 313,
315, 316, 319
Deng Xiaoping, 122
Denotations, 105, 116
Descartes, René, 281
Descola, Philippe, 224,
239
Destruction, 129, 165,
250–52, 256, 258,
261, 265
Dharamsala, 115
Dinka, 326
Directness, 148
Divine Comedy, 57
Dome of the Rock,
14, 20
Donostia, 64
Dreams, 44, 217–18,
223, 234–36, 277,
336
Dubrovnik, 212
Dung Gate, 23
Dutch, 19, 150
Ecuador, 196, 215–16
Egypt, 44, 206, 312
Empires, 35, 47–48,
55–56, 70–72, 76,
79, 85, 126, 154,
196–98, 200, 201,
203, 215
English: Borrowings,
278; Cognates, 32,
37; Colour Terms,
308–09; Dominant
Language, 47,
56, 115, 289, 314,
321; Grammar,
82; Language
Change, 61;
Metaphors, 15–16,
128; Old English,
32, 37; Pidgin,
246–47; Position
in the Mouth,
33; Pragmatics,
147–48, 156,
162–63; Swearing,
94; Teaching, 325,
328, 330; Tense,
213; Translations,
7, 104–05, 120,
137, 227, 273, 323;
Words, 30, 48, 85,
155, 156, 170, 180,
231, 267, 307, 313,
332
Eskimo, 300
Estonian, 40
Ethiopian, 27, 333
Europe, 36, 37, 48, 64,
70, 72, 73, 74, 76,
79, 80, 85, 118,
126, 141, 143, 171,
173, 176, 185, 249,
266, 273, 278, 279,
305, 311, 317
Euskara, 64–65
Everest, Mount, 98,
100, 108–09
Farsi, 326
Fiji, 186, 187, 190–92
Finnish, 19, 40, 85
First World War, 80, 311
Fitzgerald, Robert, 41
Flood Myths, 204, 235,
259–60
Florence, 57–59, 64
Franco, Generalissimo
Francisco, 65
French, 26, 31, 33–34,
36, 43, 48, 61, 93,
141, 147, 156,
172–73, 176, 194,
277, 281, 282,
290, 300,
Frye, Northrop, 131
Full Moon Party, 149–50
Future Tense, 213
Galilei, Galileo, 57
Gamelan, 157–59
Ganges River, 100, 110
Ganxiid Haida (see also
&
nbsp; Red Cod People),
273
Garifuna, 246
German, 24, 33, 36, 37,
8, 74, 93, 221,
309, 320
German Shepherd, 62–
63, 90, 91, 95–96
Gibraltar, 72–74
Glyphs, 45, 250, 252,
257–58
God(s), 16–18, 27, 36,
108, 109, 117, 124,
126, 127, 130,
131–33, 138, 146,
153, 155, 158, 160,
185, 196, 204,
210, 251–52, 256,
259–61
Graduate School, 12,
49, 66, 177, 308
Granada, 69–70
Great Barrier Reef, 243
Great Bear Lake, 302
Great Inuit Snow Hoax,
299–301
Greek, 19, 31, 32, 37,
41–48, 50, 56, 75,
80, 309
Greenberg, Joseph,
32–33, 36
Guatemala, 253
Guevara, Che, 283
Hagia Sophia, 79–81
Haida, 270–94
Haida Gwaii (see also
Queen Charlotte
Islands), 270, 274,
276, 279, 283, 287,
288, 289
Han Chinese, 113, 117
Headhunters, 218
Head-Smashed-In
Buffalo Jump,
311–12
Heaven, 14, 22, 111,
202, 276
Hebrew, 18, 19, 22,
23–25, 28, 29, 30,
32, 42, 313
Hemingway, Ernest,
67–68
Hendrix, Jimi, 44, 45
Hero Twins, 252, 256
Hezekial’s Tunnel,
20–23
Hieroglyphics, 44–45,
201, 257
Hillary, Sir Edmund, 98
Himalaya, 98, 101, 106,
108, 331
Hindi, 37
Hindu, 37, 99, 100,
102, 110, 124, 127,
130–33, 136, 138,
143, 144, 153,
154–55, 160, 161
Hip Hop, 163
Hiroshima, 164–66, 321
Ho Chi Minh, 141
Hockey, 163, 271, 280,
332
Holocaust, 24, 29
Homer, 41–43
Homo Erectus, 154
Hong Kong, 73
Hopi, 319
House of Being, 15, 49,
278, 309
Howler Monkeys, 264
Hu Jintao, 122
Humpback Whales, 269
Hungarian, 40, 85, 86,
171
Icelandic, 33
Iliad, The, 41–42
Inca, 193–212, 215
India, 36, 37, 44, 99, 103,
106, 114, 115, 137,
154, 326, 327, 332
Indirectness, 156
Indo-European, 37, 40,
65, 147
Indonesia, 137, 151,
153, 154, 156, 171
Inuit, 155, 278, 299–
300, 302, 307, 311
Inuktitut, 278, 300–02,
313
Irish, 163