By Asya Pereltsvaig - Languages of the World: An Introduction (2012-04-10) [Hardcover]

by Asya Pereltsvaig

What do all human languages have in common and in what ways are they different? How can language be used to trace different peoples and their past? Assuming no prior knowledge of linguistics, the new edition of this engaging textbook introduces readers to the rich diversity of human languages, familiarizing students with the variety and typology of languages around the world. Linguistic terms and concepts are explained, in the text and in the glossary, and illustrated with simple, accessible examples. Numerous language family charts enable students to place a language geographically or genealogically. Updated and revised throughout, the second edition includes two new chapters and new pedagogical features, such as 'Advanced' sections, textboxes and 'Did you know?' boxes. Important websites are integrated into the text, and each chapter includes a 'Do it yourself' section, comprising assignments, questions and problem sets. Supplementary online resources include illustrations, key term flashcards and useful links. This introduction is an essential resource for undergraduate courses on language typology, historical linguistics and general linguistics.

Genres: Linguistics, Language, Nonfiction, Reference, 21st Century, Textbooks

Unknown Binding

First published December 15, 2011

Reviews

[dini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been looking for a book like this for a while to satiate my curiosity about the diversity of language without resorting to Wikipedia. (There is nothing wrong with Wikipedia but I just prefer holding a book in my hands.) I didn't even realize it was a textbook until I was halfway through.

No prior knowledge of linguistics is assumed but it certainly is helpful if you don't want to use the glossary or look words up occasionally. The first chapter introduces general concepts used throughout the book, which should be adequate for most readers. Examples in English make it easy to understand the grammatical complexities of languages from various families. In fact, if you are thinking of learning a new language on your own, this book is worth a skim as you may learn useful bits of info about how your chosen language is structured, making your future studies a bit easier. I, for one, accidentally discovered why no one in my family knows the "correct" form of my mother tongue (Tamil).

[Sarah Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish this book had an index of the phonetic symbology and the linguistic conventions used in the examples. Without it, my deeper comprehension was stunted and I didn’t get as much insight into foreign and non-Indo-European languages as I hoped for. But, this is a textbook and those for whom it is written have probably taken a foundational class on linguistic and grammatical nomenclature. I’m just a lingo-tourist.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who only took a single core class on Linguistics during her first year of university, I've never been all too into the field — but the idea of getting a glimpse into the insanely huge number of languages that are spoken across the globe had always interested me, so I decided to give this book a shot when my sister rec'd it to me (she's basically a pre-Linguistics major, so the girl does know what she's talking about). And my, this has been fun! I'd never read a book this informative and engaging on a subject that I had such little information on — my knowledge of phonetics, morphology, syntax and so on from a theoretical point of view is slightly limited, but even though the book does focus on the more technical aspects of each language family it never seemed to drag or bore me even if I didn't really understand what was going on 100% of the time. It was all really engaging and interesting, to be honest — and I learned plenty of funfacts to pester my friends with, which is also really cool!

P. S.: Support your local languages! They're pretty and fascinating and unique!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has taught me that linguistics students are sado-masochists. The textbook exercises here make me want to cry. Who wants to spend hours determining that the Polish word for "bearded" developed slightly earlier than the Ukrainian version?

BUT, this book also proves that we should praise linguists with great glory. This is because their meticulous work uncovers so many "wowsers!" insights about the world in which we live.

Here are a few of my favorite examples:

p.170 - The Semitic languages' use of template form. This is the coolest thing. For each word, you start with a consonantal root to describe a concept, and then add in a vowel template to shape the concept into a specific word.

Pereltsvaig offers this example: "in Hebrew, the template (C1)a(C2)e(C3)et denotes the name of a disease, as in sakeret 'diabetes' from sukar 'sugar'... One of the cutest novel words in Modern Hebrew is also formed by applying this template: from neyar 'paper' we get nayeret 'paperwork' - or 'paper-disease'!"

p. 238 - There's a "language clock" that shows how languages progress from agglutinative (discrete elements stuck together in a word) to fusional (boundaries between the elements get blurred) to isolating (only one element per word) back to agglutinative again.

p. 247 - Techniques of Polynesian navigators - not just stars and swells of the ocean, but also twigs, taste of the ocean water, and birds.

p.271 - Mystery of Malagasy - if Malagasy speakers came from Borneo, when might they have made that voyage? And was it one voyage or many? Probably through multiple independent settlements.

P. 280 - All the reasons Papua New Guinea has such language density: "difficult terrain, tribal societies, and a long time in which to accumulate differences in forms of speech."

The entire book - Ok, Prof Pereltsvaig, why do so many of your examples involve hitting? From Hindi to Quechua, we're in trouble here. Always the man hits the pig, the girl hits the donkey and it dies, etc etc. I understand this is a reliable way to show the ergative and accusative cases, but it makes us humans all seem so violent...

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

"When dating Malagasy migration from Borneo to Madagascar, Malagasy has a few loanwords from Sanskrit, and based on this, emigration took place at the beginning of Indian influence there, rather than later, when a stronger influence of Sanskrit would be expected" (Pereltsvaig: 317).

This book describes the different language families and provides details about them, such as number of speakers or where they are spoken. The book also wants to reject the idea that some languages are primitive (although this is done briefly in chapter 10), and it explores how sign languages are natural languages.

The author ensures there is a new linguistic fact for you to know in every chapter, which is great. Some of the linguistic facts are: initial clusters of 8 consonants, non-concatenative morphology, inalienable possession, lack of fronting of wh-words in questions, relative clauses placed before the noun it modifies, or reduplication to form plurals.

The book emphasises how and why languages develop or spread, providing many examples, which are different every time, and this is great. It also emphasises how important linguistics is for the reconstruction of the past. The book even makes different recalls of information previously given and this is much appreciated, as there is a lot of information to digest here.

What I didn't like was the length for the book, which I think it should be reconsidered, specially for a book that wants to be an introduction. Certain parts could be placed in an appendix, or even omitted, like the section where the author explores proposals for linking various languge families. I wonder if a book by University of Cambridge should spread theories that remain doubtful among so many scholars.

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A challenging read for someone with only an introductory understanding of linguistics gleaned from independent study; I found this book to be comprehensive and rewarding. It is a textbook, an important fact to bear in mind as it's sprinkled with technical jargon throughout, but it reads well. Admittedly, I glossed over some of the more in-depth explanations of syntax and construction and focused more on the history of different linguistic theory. The chapter on macro families was exciting, as well as the chapter on the languages of Papua New Guinea. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a more comprehensive look into languages.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a complete overview of the main language families. It is a bit dry sometimes (and more than a bit in a few special parts), however it is well researched with lots of information. I felt my lack on knowledge about IPA, I know a bit but all the glottic sounds and double stops were really hard for me to understand.

I really enjoyed the section on Caucasian languages and I missed more information about American ones, but overall it was a great book.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The textbook itself was hard to read and kind of jumpy. I would have been lost if I didn't go to class.

[Jeff G · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid read and basic introduction to linguistics. Definitely geared towards lingo nerds who want to understand the languages of the world and their origins, relationships and basic structures.

[Sien · Rating 1 out of 5]

Flinke beuker deze

[Don Hendrickson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dom1@hawaii.rr.com

I found Languages of the World very difficult to read and enjoy. The author begins one family group and drags in other families and references authorities. There was too much cross referencing.