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Books on linguistics/language? Suggestions please!

Coriolanus · 2009-08-09 12:55:02

Tried to find a more appropriate forum so apologies mods if I missed the correct one. Basically I've been reading a fair few bits and pieces that have had a mention or three of linguistic studies in them and I'd like to read more. Collapse, Mapping Human History etc all make mention of stuff like the indo-european core…

09-08-2009 12:55pm

#1

Coriolanus

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Tried to find a more appropriate forum so apologies mods if I missed the correct one.

Basically I've been reading a fair few bits and pieces that have had a mention or three of linguistic studies in them and I'd like to read more. Collapse, Mapping Human History etc all make mention of stuff like the indo-european core languages etc.

So what I'm looking for is a bit of advice on a couple of books to maybe pick up, in a popular science vein rather than an academic vein. That said if anyone's ever studied it formally and knows of a 1st year type textbook that's particularly accessible, feel free to make mention of that too!

Thanks bunches.

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#2 09-08-2009 1:24pm

Manach

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I'm not an expert on lingustics, just did the odd language courses:but two books I'd recommend are

The Power of Babel by John McWhorther which is a good introduction into the subject.
Empires of the Word by Nicholas Ostler which goes into more details on the historical evolution of languages.

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#3 09-08-2009 1:44pm

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If you post here it might help you too.

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#4 09-08-2009 4:52pm

Coriolanus

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Thanks Manach, I'll be looking into them.

And thanks JD, I swear to God I looked! :pac:

Edit: And now I notice a accusing little tick beside a post over in Linguistics & Etymology indicating my having posted there before...

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