Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... The languages of the world (original 1977; edition 1975)by Kenneth KatznerA nice book as a quick guide of all the modern languages of the world - I especially liked that it included the standard scripts used for writing each language, as well as a passage written in that language with a handy English translation with which to compare the two. As mentioned in the previous review, however, each essay was rather short and left little room for anything more than a cursory analysis. This particular edition (1995) is also quite out of date, and thus if you're looking for up-to-date, accurate information on where many of these languages stand, there are better books out there. Still, for those who want an easy lead into the subject, this is well worth giving a go. A series of very short essays on language groups, followed by one-page snapshots of 200 languages. That doesn't leave much room for analysis: the individual language write ups have a paragraph in the language (in the appropriate script), a translation of the paragraph, and a one or two paragraph sketch of who speaks the language, what is its history, and how it is related to other languages. Not much, but fun for the enthusiast. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... RatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
Need to know what Nakhi looks like? Urdu? Is it Swedish or Danish?
It's in here... ( )