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Dictionary of Languages
 
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Dictionary of Languages (Paperback)

by Andrew Dalby (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 734 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; New edition edition (19 Aug 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747531188
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747531180
  • Product Dimensions: 23.5 x 15.9 x 5.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,591,578 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

Includes dead as well as living languages, language groups and families as well as individual languages, all the large ones and many small ones of special interest. The entries give the estimated number of each language's speakers, a map of where it is spoken, a brief history and other general information, but nothing about grammar, sentence structure and such. A sprinkling of curious facts (Estonian has four different lengths of vowels and consonants; the first written Sami was a spell saying 'Come to me') add browse appeal. The book also looks nice. (Kirkus UK)


Product Description

An A-Z guide to the languages of the world, detailing over 400 languages. This volume covers the political, social and historical background, offering insight into human culture and communication. The text is highlighted by maps, charts of scripts, proverbs, anecdotes and quotations.

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A dip into the ocean of The Languages of the World, 24 Nov 2000
By A Customer
If you have an interest in languages, then this may well be the book for you. It deals with over 400 languages in greater or lesser detail, often giving intriguing insights into the language or people discussed. It is not a great reference work, it is not an educational text, you won't even learn any useful phrases (although you may learn to count to ten in hundreds of tongues!). But this is an excellent introduction to the variety of languages and alphabets in the world today (along with important extinct languages), and their geographical distribution. Taken for what it is, the only real criticisms of the book are the maps, which are not as clearly defined as they might be (perhaps in the interest of cost?), and the physical dimensions of the book. The hardback version is about 9 inches tall, and 5 inches thick. You need a table to read this for any length of time. Alphabetically ordered, this book is suitable for dipping in and out of as necessary, and you will find some golden nuggets of information. I bet I know of a Western European Language spoken by over 10 million people that you don't!!!
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Good for browsing, and for reference, 4 Mar 2000
This review is from: Dictionary of Languages (Hardcover)
While this book serves its function as a reference work admirably, providing quick access to useful information on pretty-much any language or dialect in the world, it is equally fascinating as a book to browse. The information is certainly extensive, and seems to be reliable and unbiased.

Sadly, the book is not without its faults. The typography is very poor in places - tables of correspondence between other scripts and the Roman alphabet are often misaligned so that considerable effort is required to work out what's what. The maps are extremely crude, though functional. Informative and useful though it is, this book is not a thing of beauty.

Also, the book explicitly excludes languages other than naturally-evolved spoken and written languages. This means it contains nothing on sign languages, nor on synthetic languages such as Esperanto and Lojban - omissions that are a minor shame.

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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!, 13 Dec 1999
By mackaignan@aol.com (Limassol, Cyprus) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Reference to More Than 400 Languages (Hardcover)
An accessible and totally fascinating overview of a vital subject. An insidious and delightfully dangerous book, because you will go to it for a quick reference and still be entranced by something completely different an hour later.
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