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The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language
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Bibliographic Detail
Publisher
Gardners Books
Publication date
January 1, 2002
Pages
320
Binding
Hardcover
Book category
Adult Non-Fiction
ISBN-13
9780434007899
ISBN-10
0434007897
Availability§
Out of Print
Published in
Great Britain
Original list price
$33.40
§As reported by publisher
Summaries and Reviews
Summary
This text provides a guided tour of languages, aiming to be at once both thought-provoking and entertaining. Examining such things as the way in which Yiddish has been influenced by the grammar of Polish, and how English absorbed French at two stages of its history.
Amazon.com description: Product Description: In this work, the author shares his expertise as a linguist to introduce us to Russonorsk, a creole of Russian and Norwegian once spoken by trading fur trappers in the summer, the ways in which Yiddish, a dialect of German, has been influenced by the grammar of Polish and a dialect of an Australian aboriginal language which only has three verbs. Along the way we learn how English absorbed French at two stages of its history, giving us Norman French warranty and the standard French guarantee, while Japanese has been infused with Chinese vocabulary at four distinct periods, and that Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are best regarded as three dialects of Scandinavian.
Editions
Hardcover
1 edition from W H Freeman & Co (January 1, 2002)
9780716744733 | details & prices | 327 pages | 6.50 × 9.75 × 1.25 in. | 1.35 lbs | List price $26.00
About: Chronicles the evolution of language from the appearance of the first language about 150,000 years ago in East Africa to the approximately six thousand language varieties of today.
About: Chronicles the evolution of language from the appearance of the first language about 150,000 years ago in East Africa to the approximately six thousand language varieties of today.
The price comparison is for this edition
from Gardners Books (January 1, 2002)
9780434007899 | details & prices | 320 pages | List price $33.40
About: This text provides a guided tour of languages, aiming to be at once both thought-provoking and entertaining.
About: This text provides a guided tour of languages, aiming to be at once both thought-provoking and entertaining.
Paperback
Reprint edition from Perennial (January 1, 2003)
9780060520854 | details & prices | 336 pages | 5.25 × 8.00 × 1.00 in. | 0.55 lbs | List price $13.99
About: Chronicles the origins and evolution of language from the appearance of the first language about 150,000 years ago in East Africa to the approximately six thousand language varieties of today.
About: Chronicles the origins and evolution of language from the appearance of the first language about 150,000 years ago in East Africa to the approximately six thousand language varieties of today.
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