Facts about the World's Languages: An Encyclopedia of the World's Major Languages, past and Present, Vol. 2

Book Info


enlarge picture	*Facts about the World's Languages: An Encyclopedia of the World's Major Languages, past and Present, Vol. 2*
	Author:	Jane Garry (Editor)
	ISBN:	0824209702
	Format:	Handover
	Publish Date:	June, 2005




Book Review


*Book Description* An authoritative source of rich, structured data for both the general public and linguistic experts. Each of the 191 chapters is written by an expert and devoted to a single language. Three indexes are included for cross reference: Language by Country, Language by Family, Language by Alternate Names. Entry Headings include: Language Name, Location, Family, Related Languages, Dialects, Number of Speakers, Origin and History, Orthography and Basic Phonology, Basic Morphology, Basic Syntax, Contact with Other Languages, Common Words, Selected Bibliography, and Efforts to Preserve, Protect, and Promote the Language. Facts About the World’s Languages has been honored by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title of 2001 *From the Publisher* Latest addition to the Wilson 'Facts About Series'. All are handy references for speedy access to facts and statistics, as well as being fascinating casual reading. 'Facts About the World's Languages' is 896 pages. Facts about the World's Languages: An Encyclopedia of the World's Major Languages, past and Present, Vol. 2 SYNOPSIS Nearly 200 international linguistics scholars contributed to this reference text for both the general public and specialists in linguistics. The text includes nearly all languages currently spoken by two million or more people, several noteworthy ancient languages, and several languages spoken by smaller populations but representative of some less frequently described language families. Each of the 191 entries includes basic outlines of the phonetic, phonological, morphological, and syntactic systems; the history of the ethnolinguistic group; sociolinguistic contact information; political factors affecting the development of the language and the identity of the group; and a bibliography for further research. The entries use standard orthography, instead of IPA representation. Includes a glossary of linguistic terminology, and is indexed by country, family, and languages and alternative names. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)