☰

Humor & Entertainment

Puzzles & Games

What Language Is: And What It Isn't and What It Could Be

Sold Out / Out of Stock

What Language Is: And What It Isn't and What It Could Be

A love letter to languages, celebrating their curiosities and smashing assumptions about correct grammar

An eye-opening tour for all language lovers, What Language Is offers a fascinating new perspective on the way humans communicate. from vanishing languages spoken by a few hundred people to major tongues like Chinese, and with copious revelations about the hodgepodge nature of English, John McWhorter shows readers how to see and hear languages as a linguist does.
Packed with big ideas about language alongside wonderful trivia, What Language Is explains how languages across the globe (the Queen's English and Suriname creoles alike) originate, evolve, multiply, and divide. Raising provocative questions about what qualifies as a language (so-called slang does have structured grammar), McWhorter takes readers on a marvelous journey through time and placeâ€”from Persia to the languages of Sri Lankaâ€”to deliver a feast of facts about the wonders of human linguistic expression.
Country USA
Brand Avery
Manufacturer Penguin Publishing Group
Binding Paperback
Color Blue
ReleaseDate 2012-08-07
UnitCount 1
Format Illustrated
EANs 9781592407200

You might also like...

The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language (P.S.)

The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language (P.S.)

The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language

The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language

Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English

Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English

Words on the Move: Why English Won't - and Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally)

Words on the Move: Why English Won't - and Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally)

The Language Hoax

The Language Hoax

What Is Sociolinguistics?

What Is Sociolinguistics?

Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages

Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages

Women, Fire and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind

Women, Fire and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind

The Study of Language 6th Edition

The Study of Language 6th Edition