The Languages of the World

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 400 pages
• Published by: Routledge
• Edition: 3rd Edition May 10, 2002
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0415250048
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0415250047
• Book Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Weighs: 1.3 pounds

Product Review
'A wholly fascinating mini-kaleidoscope indicating the largely diverse variety of the world's main languages and their scripts and of their cultures.' The Good Book Guide

Praise for the Second Edition:`The Languages of the World offers great aid not only to linguists, to whom its importance is obvious, but also to anyone interested in international affairs or curious about other inhabitants of the planet.' - Charles Berlitz

Praise for the Second Edition:`The Languages of the World offers great aid not only to linguists, to whom its importance is obvious, but also to anyone interested in international affairs or curious about other inhabitants of the planet.' - Charles Berlitz

`A reference tool for all linguists as well as a collector's item for those in allied fields, enabling even an amateur to identify foreign scripts with ease and satisfaction.to be recommended.' Modern Language Review

'A wholly fascinating mini-kaleidoscope indicating the largely diverse variety of the world's main languages and their scripts and of their cultures.' The Good Book Guide

`A reference tool for all linguists as well as a collector's item for those in allied fields, enabling even an amateur to identify foreign scripts with ease and satisfaction.to be recommended.' Modern Language Review

Product Description
Written with the non-specialist in mind, this third edition of Kenneth Katzner's best-selling guide's attractive style and layout, delightful original passages and exotic scripts will continue to fascinate all language scholars and linguists. This new edition has been thoroughly revised to include more languages, more countries and current data on populations. This indispensable resource contains information on nearly 600 languages-individual descriptions of 200 languages with sample passages and English translations; concise notes on where each language is spoken and its history, alphabet and pronunciation; coverage of every country in the world and its main language and speaker numbers; English borrowings from other languages; an introduction to language families. This will be your passport to the speech of the world.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Languages of the World (Paperback) This is a well-written handbook to find out what language is spoken where and the history of its speakers. There are snippets of approximately 200 carefully chosen passages of representative literature shown both in their native alphabets and in English translation. A fun read, great reference, and very relevant to current events. The book is divided into three parts: an introduction to language families of the world, a listing of the individual languages themselves grouped in geographic order, and an alphabetically-arranged country-by-country survey of the languages spoken in each country. The section on language families describes relationships among language groups, a bit on the history of the people who speak them, and the geographical distribution of each family. The bulk of the book is in the second section on the individual languages. Each language is (usually) given a two-page description consisting of passages in their native script, along with an English translation, followed by a brief history of the language, its speakers, and the regions where the language is spoken. Examples of words that have found their way into English usage are also provided. The country survey consists of paragraph-long descriptions of the languages spoken in each country along with the number of speakers for each language. Katzner's book is geared for the general reader who may be more interested on how languages relate to the countries where they are spoken rather than the morphology and syntax of a particular language. Those who prefer a more linguistic-oriented approach should try Concise Compendium of the Worlds Languages by George L. Campbell. It is as well written as Katzner's book but contains more detail on phonology and grammar. Both have excellent depictions of native alphabets with Katzner using examples from classic literature (e.g. Flaubert in French, Iqbal in Urdu, and Tagore in Bengali) whereas Campbell uses a passage from the Gospel of St John to illustrate the written form of the language. If your interest includes knowing what consonants are affricates, fricatives, or semi-vowels then look into Campbell's book. But if you want to know a little something about who speaks Pashto or about what are the dominant languages in India or other similar sorts of information then Katzner's book is for you.