Dictionary of Languages - The Definitive Reference to More Than 400 Languages
Andrew Dalby
Binding: Soft cover
Book Condition: Good condition though the pages have browned a little
Edition: 1999
Pages: 734
More than 400 living and extinct languages are detailed in this information-packed reference. Each article covers the political, social, and historical background of the language by stating the number of speakers; the countries where it is spoken; how many dialects it spawned; its origins, characteristics, and examples of both words and the alphabet; and pronunciations. Anecdotes, literary quotations, and charts of script and numerals appear in sidebars to illustrate the cultures connected to the languages. This is an essential guide to the languages of the world."----"Outstanding reference sources 2000", American Libraries, May 2000. Comp. by the Reference Sources Committee, RUSA, ALA.
Andrew Dalby had the needs and interests of general readers in mind when he compiled this comprehensive reference workmost other language guides are written for scholars, and many include little or none of the absorbing social, cultural, geographic, and historical details that are brought together here.
In the Dictionary of Languages, readers will find:
A selection of four hundred languages and language groups, arranged alphabetically, with rich, detailed descriptions of the genesis, development, and current status of each; More than two hundred maps displaying where the languages are spoken today;; Sidebars showing alphabets, numerals, and other enriching facts; A comprehensive index listing additional languages, guiding readers to the nearest language groups with full writeups and maps; Charts breaking down large language groupssuch as Bantu or Austroasiatic languagesby geographic region and approximate number of speakers.
In a world where geopolitical boundaries often explain little about the people that live within them, where we may read about Kurd and Khmer in the same newspaper and be expected to be conversant about eachif not conversant in eachDalby's single, information-packed volume helps us make sense of the rich mosaic of world languages.
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