The Atlas of Languages: The Origin and Development of Languages Throughout the World [Hardcover]

Bernard Comrie (Author), Maria Polinsky (Author), Stephen Matthews (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is recommended for the shelves of any college-level or public librar y with a strong interest in world languages and cultures: a series of excellent color maps charts the origin and development of languages throughout the world, revealing both the linguistic histories o f particular cultures and the ideas and cultures represented within the language's structure. A fine bl end of maps and color photos adds excitement and leisure interest. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: Facts on File (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816033889
• ISBN-13: 978-0816033881
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 9.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #561,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice maps, some factual errors, useless pictures, June 3, 2000

By 

Ricardo de Hollanda - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Atlas of Languages: The Origin and Development of Languages Throughout the World (Hardcover)

Although this book makes interesting reading for almost anyone interested in languages and their interrelationships, I was upset by some errors I noticed. In the section devoted to South America one reads that countries of that part of the world are not linguistic homogeneous. Since more than 99.5 % of the inhabitants of Brazil (the most populous country of the region) have Portuguese as their native language, and more than 99 % of Argentineans (the second most populous country) speak Spanish, that statement is simply not true. It seems the authors simply looked at some South American countries and then generalized the findings to all others. In the section devoted to Africa one finds a picture that should portrait a classroom at a fundamental school in a French speaking country. The sentences on the blackboard are written in Portuguese! I could find these errors easily since I am Brazilian and speak Portuguese. I wonder how many more I simply accepted as truths. By the way, that picture could simply have been omitted since, like most of the other pictures of this book, it is non-informative and superfluous.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Written by linguists who failed semantics, July 31, 1998

By 

JR Drause ([e-mail]) (Little Rock, AR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Atlas of Languages: The Origin and Development of Languages Throughout the World (Hardcover)

I have often thought that such a language tool should be written; now I think it needs an editor. The book was a fine effort, but, nebulous linguistic boundaries aside, the book presented as fact statements that simply are not true. For example, the Irish "O", seen on so many surnames, does not mean "son of," as the book states, but rather "grandson of." Unfortunately, this is only one example of faulty research. The book is well researched in its presentation of grammar forms and linguistic boundaries (making for a good atlas), but the faulty research and questionable timelines ruin the finished product. Caveat: this book should only be used by linguists who will recognize errors when they come across them; a non-linguist might become seriously impaired in further linguistic research by this book.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An Elementary School Reference Book, March 4, 2001

By 

daniel Sebold (Pusan, South Korea) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Atlas of Languages: The Origin and Development of Languages Throughout the World (Hardcover)

I was really looking forward to seeing this book (my sister ordered it for me for Christmas as I have no credit card), but I was very disappointed in the cheesy kiddie graphics of the maps and in the irrelevant space-filling color photos, most of which have little to do with any serious consideration of the topic at hand. The text is also filled with grammatical errors--very disappointing considering its theme. I guess I will have to keep on referring to my old black and white photocopied maps and articles from the Brittanica which, though sometimes dated, are the best resource I have out here in rural Korea. I am very disappointed in Mister Comrie who I know is a very reputable scholar of language universals and linguistic typology.