Speak : a short history of languages
著者
書誌事項
Speak : a short history of languages
Oxford University Press, 2002
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注記
Includes bibliographical references (p. [283]-290) and index
内容説明・目次
内容説明
This book is a history of human speech from prehistory to the present. It charts the rise of some languages and the fall of others, explaining why some survive and others die. It shows how languages change their sounds and meanings, and how the history of languages is closely linked to the history of peoples. Writing in a lively, readable style, distinguished Swedish scholar Tore Janson makes no assumptions about previous knowledge. He takes the reader on a voyage of exploration through the changing patterns of the world's languages, from ancient China to ancient Egypt, imperial Rome to imperial Britain, Sappho's Lesbos to contemporary Africa. He discovers the links between the histories of societies and their languages; he shows how language evolved from primitive calls; he considers the question of whether one language can be more advanced than another. The author describes the history of writing and looks at the impact of changing technology. He ends by assessing the prospects for English world domination and predicting the languages of the distant future. Five historical maps illustrate this fascinating history of our defining characteristic and most valuable asset.
目次
- 1. Languages before History
- 2. The Large Language Groups
- 3. Writing and the Egyptians
- 4. Greek and the Greeks
- 5. Latin and the Romans
- 6. Did Dante Write in Italian?
- 7. From Germanic to Modern English
- 8. The Era of National Languages
- 9. Languages of Europe and of the World
- 10. How Languages are Born--or Made
- 11. How Languages Disappear
- 12. The Heyday of English
- 13. And Then?
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