Placeholder text

Go to cart

The Power of Babel

By John Mcwhorter

Product Image: The Power of Babel

The Power of Babel

- Used - very good
Description
"An essay in origins ... as theoretical as Hawking and Gorst in trying to see into the deep past. McWhorter is a clear and witty writer."-- Harper's In the first book written for the layperson about the natural history of language, linguistic professor John McWhorter ranges across linguistic theory, geography, history, and pop culture to tell the fascinating story of how thousands of very different languages have evolved from a single, original source in a natural process similar to biological evolution. 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.
Product details
Binding:
Paperback
Edition:
1
Number of Pages:
352
Release Date:
2003-01-07
Publication Date:
2003-01-07
Publisher:
Harper Perennial
Languages:
Original: English
ISBN10:
006052085X
ISBN13:
9780060520854
GPSR Manufacturer Reference:
[email protected]
Weight:
444 g
Height:
133 cm
Width:
203 cm
Thickness:
21 cm
Buy on Amazon
Currently sold out