Languages of the World
An Introduction

Requiring no background in linguistics, this book, now in its fourth edition, introduces readers to the diversity of human languages.

Asya Pereltsvaig (Author)

9781009338653, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 7 December 2023

600 pages
24.5 x 17.1 x 2.5 cm, 0.98 kg

'Reading this book reminds me of why I became a linguist. Pereltsvaig provides a fascinating overview of human languages, exploring their diversity, commonalities, and history. This book is accessible to anyone who is curious about language but is also detailed and extensive enough to be a valuable resource for linguistic scholars, teachers, and students.' Diane Massam, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto

Are you curious to know what all languages have in common and how they differ? Do you want to find out how language can be used to trace different peoples and their past? Now in its fourth edition, this fascinating book guides beginners through the rich diversity of the world's languages. It presupposes no background in linguistics, and introduces key concepts with the help of problem sets, end-of-chapter exercises and an extensive bibliography. It is illustrated with detailed maps and charts of language families throughout, and engaging sidebars and 'food for thought' boxes contextualise and bring the languages to life with demographic, social, historical, and geographical facts. This edition has been extensively updated with a new section on the languages of the Caribbean, new problem sets, and an updated glossary and index. Supplementary online materials includes links to all websites mentioned, and answers to the exercises for instructors.

Prologue
1. Introduction
2. Languages of Europe
3. Languages of Iran and South Asia
4. Languages of Northern Eurasia
5. Languages of the Caucasus
6. Languages of the greater Middle East
7. Languages of sub-Saharan Africa
8. Languages of eastern Asia
9. Languages of the Pacific
10. Aboriginal languages of New Guinea and Australia
11. Indigenous languages of Canada and the US
12. Indigenous languages of Latin America
Epilogue
Glossary
Bibliography
Index of Languages
Index of Terms.

Subject Areas: Linguistics [CF]