The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language - Couverture souple

McWhorter, John

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 006052085X ISBN 13 : 9780060520854

Editeur : Harper Perennial, 2003

Synopsis

Book by McWhorter John

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

There are approximately six thousand languages on Earth today, each a descendant of the tongue first spoken by Homo sapiens some 150,000 years ago. While laying out how languages mix and mutate over time, linguistics professor John McWhorter reminds us of the variety within the species that speaks them, and argues that, contrary to popular perception, language is not immutable and hidebound, but a living, dynamic entity that adapts itself to an ever-changing human environment.

Full of humor and imaginative insight, The Power of Babel draws its illustrative examples from languages around the world, including pidgins, Creoles, and nonstandard dialects.

Revue de presse :

"'McWhorter relishes the world of pidgins, Creoles, dialects and slang... His enthusiasm is infectious'" (Daily Telegraph)

"'A frisky observer of the linguistic scene'" (Keith Waterhouse in the Daily Mail)

"'The breathless tour of linguistic oddities from around the globe has its own empirical delight... McWhorter is a kind of linguistic David Attenborough... The fascination is in his detail, the sheer case-by-case weirdness of languages'" (Guardian)

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Harper Perennial
• Date d'édition: 2003
• ISBN 10: 006052085X
• ISBN 13: 9780060520854
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 352