An unusual and authoritative 'natural history of languages' that narrates the ways in which one language has superseded or outlasted another at different times in history.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 ...
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An unusual and authoritative 'natural history of languages' that narrates the ways in which one language has superseded or outlasted another at different times in history.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.
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Add this copy of Empires of the Word: a Language History of the World to cart. $3.90, good condition, Sold by Solr Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Skokie, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Harper Perennial.
Add this copy of Empires of the Word: a Language History of the World to cart. $4.88, good condition, Sold by GW Spokane Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Spokane, WA, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Harper Perennial.
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Condition: GOOD-Used with some wear from use. May include stickers on cover, missing or wear to dustcover, inside cover, spine, slight curled corners, stains, and wear to the fore edge. All orders ship via UPS Mail Innovations-can take up to 14 business days from first scan to be delivered. The cover has little markings, dings, and wear. The pages show little markings, dings and wear.
Add this copy of Empires of the Word: a Language History of the World to cart. $5.53, good condition, Sold by Archives Books, inc. rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Edmond, OK, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Harper Perennial.
Add this copy of Empires of the Word: a Language History of the World to cart. $5.84, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Movies rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Harper Perennial.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Empires of the Word: a Language History of the World to cart. $5.84, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Harper Perennial.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Empires of the Word: a Language History of the World to cart. $5.84, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Diamond rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Harper Perennial.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Empires of the Word: a Language History of the World to cart. $6.24, fair condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Harper Perennial.
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Fair. May contain writing notes highlighting bends or folds. Text is readable book is clean and pages and cover mostly intact. May show normal wear and tear. Item may be missing CD. May include library marks.
This is not light entertainment reading. As one interested in its subject matter - the history of languages and language on a world-wide basis - I find it best to look into a language I'm curious about and read the previous and following sections, learning something about new questions. 30- minutes or so seems to be my limit at any one sitting. It's more than I wanted to know, really, but isn't that better than less!?
Barzileel
Sep 25, 2008
Treasure
This book is a treasurehouse of fascinating information about the history of language and much else. You could read it from cover to cover or spend day many hours happily browsing through it.
