Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Reference to More Than 400 Languages

Andrew Dalby et Liz Calder

ISBN 10: 0747531188 / ISBN 13: 9780747531180

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 1999

About this Item

Traces d'usure sur la couverture. Petite(s) trace(s) de pliure sur la couverture. Salissures sur la tranche. Edition 1999. Ammareal reverse jusqu'à 15% du prix net de cet article à des organisations caritatives. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Book Condition: Used, Good. Signs of wear on the cover. Slightly creased cover. Stains on the edge. Edition 1999. Ammareal gives back up to 15% of this item's net price to charity organizations. Seller Inventory # D-102-941

Bibliographic Details

Title: Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive ...

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Publication Date: 1999

Binding: Softcover

Condition: Bon

About this title

Synopsis:

Covering the political, social and historical background of each language, Dictionary of Languages offers a unique insight into human culture and communication. Every language that has official status is included, as well as all those that have a written literature and 175 'minor' languages with special historical or anthropological interest. Both living and dead languages are covered and we see how, with the rapidly increasing uniformity of our culture as media's influence spreads, more languages have become extinct or are under threat of extinction. The text is highlighted by maps and charts of scripts, while proverbs, anecdotes and quotations reveal the features that make a language unique.

Review:

This new tome of tongues is one of the most remarkable general reference works of the century. From Abkhaz and Abaza (300,000 speakers in Georgia, Turkey, and Russia) to Zulu (8,800,000 speakers in South Africa and Lesotho), Dalby comprehensively details more than 400 languages (living and dead), arranged A-to-Z for easy access, and delving into the political, social, and historical background of each. In addition, more than 200 maps indicate where the languages are spoken today, while sidebars show alphabets, numerals, and anecdotes.

If you've got even a passing interest in linguistics, this work of erudition is addictively browsable. In the entry on Greek is an insert on the dialect of Tsakonian. Spoken only in an inaccessible mountain district in the Peloponnese, it's a direct descendant of the ancient Greek Doric dialect. And Fulani is spoken by some 15,000,000 individuals in West Africa, thanks to the migrant, pastoral lifestyle of the Fulani people, which spread the language across the Western Sudan such that it is now a national language in Guinea, Niger, and Mali. The section on Australian languages notes that when Europeans first began to explore the continent, there were about 300 languages spoken by the people who lived there, with up to 12 existing on the island of Tasmania alone. In addition, Dalby explains "mother-in-law languages," separate speech registers that most Australian tongues have, with different vocabulary and sometimes even different sound patterns, for use in the presence of a taboo relative, such as a man's mother-in-law.

Honorary Librarian at the Institute of Linguists and a regular contributor to their journal The Linguist, Andrew Dalby makes it both easy and inviting to learn about the languages of the world. --Stephanie Gold