Lingo

a language spotters' guide to Europe

304 pages

English language

Published Nov. 13, 2014 by Profile Books.

ISBN:
978-1-78125-416-5
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OCLC Number:
894201709

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2 stars (2 reviews)

Welcome to Europe as you've never known it before, seen through the peculiarities of its languages and dialects. Combining linguistics and cultural history, Gaston Dorren takes us on an intriguing tour of the continent, from Proto-Indo-European (the common ancestor of most European languages) to the rise and rise of English, via the complexities of Welsh plurals and Czech pronunciation. Along the way we learn why Esperanto will never catch on, how the language of William the Conqueror survives in the Channel Islands and why Finnish is the easiest European language. Surprising, witty and full of extraordinary facts, this book will change the way you think about the languages around you.--

5 editions

Something for everyone, plenty for none

3 stars

As a survey of trivia on Europe's languages, this has morsels to whet most any appetite. But the bites are quite small, and it's hard to imagine anyone being interested in everything on offer. Such is the nature of a survey with dozens of short chapters, many of which are necessarily on more obscure topics.

Generally entertaining, but I skipped through a fair bit of it. It did bring to mind the obscure things I'd always wondered about, such as Romansh (did I even spell that right?).

Subjects

  • Languages
  • Languages in contact
  • Language and languages

Places

  • Europe