Reference | Words, Language & Grammar

The Power of Babel : A Natural History of Language

by John McWhorter

2020-08-24 05:52:14

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There are approximately six thousand languages on Earth today, each a descendant of the tongue first spoken by Homo sapiens some 150,000 years ago. While laying out how languages mix and mutate over time, linguistics professor John McWhorter reminds... Read more

There are approximately six thousand languages on Earth today, each a descendant of the tongue first spoken by Homo sapiens some 150,000 years ago. While laying out how languages mix and mutate over time, linguistics professor John McWhorter reminds us of the variety within the species that speaks them, and argues that, contrary to popular perception, language is not immutable and hidebound, but a living, dynamic entity that adapts itself to an ever-changing human environment.

Full of humor and imaginative insight, The Power of Babel draws its illustrative examples from languages around the world, including pidgins, Creoles, and nonstandard dialects.

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Book Details

File size8.02x5.3x0.9inches
Print pages352
PublisherHarper Perennial
Publication date January 1, 2003
LanguageEnglish
ISBN9780060520854
autor-image
John McWhorter
Author
John McWhorter is Associate Professor of Linguistics at UC Berkeley....

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