- Paperback: 1040 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Reprint edition (28 Jun 1990)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195065115
- ISBN-13: 978-0195065114
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.5 x 4.9 cm
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
877,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #21 in Books > Languages > By Language > French > By Publisher > Oxford University Press
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Review
'This excellent, thorough resource has an unsurpassed amount of detail for a single-volume survey.' --S. L. Johnson, Eastern Illinois University, Choice Reviews
'Highly recommended. Academic libraries supporting lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers.'--S. L. Johnson, Eastern Illinois University, Choice Reviews
'Originally published in 1987, the second edition of this major handbook contains considerable enough amount of revision and new material to warrant its purchase by those libraries which invested in the original edition' -- Reference Reviews
'The Volume is well constructed for reference access as well as for more in-depth consultation' -- Reference Reviews
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.Product Description
This volume features over 50 of the world's languages and language families. The featured languages have been chosen based on the number of speakers, their role as official languages and their cultural and historical importance. Each language is looked at in depth, and the chapters provide information on both grammatical features and on salient features of the language's history and cultural role.
This second edition has been updated and revised. Two new languages, Amharic and Javanese, have been included.
This accessible volume will appeal to anyone with an interest in linguistics.
Key features:
- Attention is paid to both grammatical and sociolinguistic features
- Attention is concentrated on the world's major languages
- Designed to be accessible to all readers with an interest in language.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
By term Indo-European we are referring to a family of languages which by about 1000 BC were spoken over a large part of Europe and parts of southwestern and southern Asia. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
By term Indo-European we are referring to a family of languages which by about 1000 BC were spoken over a large part of Europe and parts of southwestern and southern Asia. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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11 reviews
37 of 37 people found the following review helpful
An excellent 1-volume reference
31 Jan 2001
Format:Paperback
This is a wonderfully thick, dense, wide-ranging piece of work. If you love delving into the complexities and peculiarities of individual languages, you could get lost in this book for hours on end. I checked out every section on a language &/or family that I'm well informed about, and found the info solid and trustworthy throughout.
The contributors are mostly British and American academic linguists, each of whom wrote a section. While there are differences in style--some iron-gray academic, some a bit more lively and colloquial--each author makes sure that each language receives coverage on all its levels. An abundance of examples and explanations ensures that the descriptions, though highly technical and dense, do not lapse into obscurity. This is probably the best 1-volume work of its kind that I have seen. Its only drawback is that some of the world's most interesting languages (such as Basque and other isolates; pidgins & creoles; and some Native American and Australian languages) receive little space due to the avowed focus on languages with large numbers of speakers. A volume which included sections on minor languages / families would more accurately represent the great variety that exists in languages throughout the world.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Excellent reference for linguists of all levels
1 May 2000
Format:Paperback
Ever wondered how a particular language functions? Well, this book is the one to use! It includes grammatical sketches of languages with sizeable amounts of native speakers. Each section generally contains the some of the following about a language: brief historical background, phonology, morphology, syntax, and if it's not written in Roman letters, a chart for that particular alphabet/syllabary. One of the things I particular liked was giving word-for-word translations then giving a free one. This gives me an idea on how languages like German, Japanese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, etc. form their sentences (like SVO, VSO, SOV). And also for some languages, like Polish and Spanish, it lists the allophones for a phoneme. A word of advice, I highly recommend having at least some knowledge in linguistic terminology and in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), since this book uses them extensively. This is one reference work that you should definitely have.
39 of 43 people found the following review helpful
The Tower of Babel of Language Books
3 Jun 2000
Format:Paperback
One of the best books on languages, "The World's Major Languages," is a must have for all those who want to undertand the complexity and origins of many of the world's major languages. As the title reads, the book discusses the world's major languages in order by their origin groups (e.g. Teutonic/Germanic, Romance, Slavic, etc...) and Comrie in my opinion is the best author when it comes to distinguishing languages.
At 1,025 pages, this book gives an extensive history and study of most of the major languages. While one reviewer on this forum was upset that Native American languages weren't cover, I feel that Mr. Comrie did his best in discussing only those languages with over 10 million present-day speakers.
I feel it would be important for many interested in cultural politics where language places a major role in dividing a nation or region (e.g. Canada/Quebec, Flemish & Walloons in Belgium, Puerto Rico & U.S., Spain's central government and Catalans and Basques) to read this book. I feel that the only lanaguage that wasn;t covered but should have been was Catalan, seeing that over 13 million people speak it and it is the 7th most spoken in the European Union (although it is not officially recognized by the organization). Besides this omission, this is one of the nest books I have read in years! A must-read for anyone interested in languages and culture.
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