An unusual and authoritative 'natural history of languages' that
narrates the ways in which one language has superseded or outlasted
another at different times in history. The story of the world in
the last five thousand years is above all the story of its
languages. Some shared language is what binds any community
together, and makes possible both the living of a common history
and the telling of it. Yet the history of the world’s great
languages has rarely been examined. ‘Empires of the Word’ is
the first to bring together the tales in all their glorious
variety: the amazing innovations – in education, culture and
diplomacy – devised by speakers in the Middle East; the uncanny
resilience of Chinese throughout twenty centuries of invasions; the
progress of Sanskrit from north India to Java and Japan; the
struggle that gave birth to the languages of modern Europe; and the
global spread of English. Besides these epic achievements, language
failures are equally fascinating: why did Germany get left behind?
Why did Egyptian, which had survived foreign takeovers for three
millennia, succumb to Mohammed’s Arabic? Why is Dutch unknown in
modern Indonesia, given that the Netherlands had ruled the East
Indies for as long as the British ruled India? As this book
engagingly reveals, the language history of the world shows
eloquently the real characters of peoples; it also shows that the
language of the future will, like the languages of the past, be
full of surprises.
General
Imprint: |
HarperPerennial
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
September 2006 |
Authors: |
Nicholas Ostler
|
Dimensions: |
234 x 154 x 45mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
615 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-00-711871-7 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-00-711871-6 |
Barcode: |
9780007118717 |
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!