Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World Nicholas Ostler's Empires of the Word is the first history of the world's great tongues, gloriously celebrating the wonder of words that binds communities together and makes possible both the
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| Title | : | Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.54 (618 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0060935723 |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 640 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2006-06-27 |
| Genre | : |
Editorial : From Publishers Weekly Ostler's ambitious and accessible book is not a technical linguistic study—i.e., it's not concerned with language structure—but about the "growth, development and collapse of language communities" and their cultures. Chairman of the Foundation of Endangered Languages, Ostler's as fascinated by extinction as he is by survival. He thus traces the fortunes of Sumerian, Akkadian and Aramaic in the flux of ancient Middle Eastern military empires. Ancient Egyptian's three millennia of stability compares with the longevity of similarly pictographic Chinese—and provides a cautionary example: even a populous, well-defined linguistic community can vanish. In all cases, Ostler stresses the role of culture, commerce and conquest in the rise and fall of languages, whether Spanish, Portuguese and French in the Americas or Dutch in Asia and Africa. The rise of English to global status, Ostler argues, owes much to the economic prestige of the Industrial Revolut
Nicholas Ostler's Empires of the Word is the first history of the world's great tongues, gloriously celebrating the wonder of words that binds communities together and makes possible both the living of a common history and the telling of it. From the uncanny resilience of Chinese through twenty centuries of invasions to the engaging self-regard of Greek and to the struggles that gave birth to the languages of modern Europe, these epic achievements and more are brilliantly explored, as are the fascinating failures of once "universal" languages. A splendid, authoritative, and remarkable work, it demonstrates how the language history of the world eloquently reveals the real character of our planet's diverse peoples and prepares us for a linguistic future full of surprises.
And it is your money.
This 128-page book lists and explains over 700 deductions a business owner is legally entitled to. The text, however, is at times too technical for him and even for his 6 1/2 year old sister. Admittedly all these totals do include every washer, nut, and bolt. And it's a pleasure to read a computer book that isn't dry and humorless.. This is their story.
I was shocked when the story broke on Easter Sunday when one of my fellow book club members posted the article from the Sunday Independent. If you don't get it here are my two take aways. I would highly recommend this book it has been one of the books which I use all the time as I prepare messages for a verse by verse study of Colossians!. I cannot tell you have many times I have recommended Becky's book to clients and friends. Not to mention that Hearn seems to know what is so significant about the lorcith/heartstone alloy sword but he never says and no one ever asks.
****End Spoilers***
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