Speak: A Short History of Languages (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "From Genesis, the first book of the Bible, the reader may infer that Adam was able to speak as soon as he had been created,..." (more)
Key Phrases: new written languages, small languages, large languages, United States, Roman Empire, South Africa (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Accomplishes its task in a very elegant and living way . Amazing ability to put together historical data and illuminating comments about languages."--Linguist

Product Description

How does a language come into being and when does it disappear? What actually happened to Latin? When was English created? Will all people on Earth speak English or Chinese in 200 years? These are a few of the fascinating questions discussed in A Short History of Languages. It is about how historical conditions shape languages and how languages influence the course of history.
The book starts with a discussion of the period of hunters and gatherers, when there was a huge number of languages. It moves on to Greek and Latin, to French and Italian, and naturally a full discussion of English. Many other languages are treated, from Setswana in southern Africa to the Creole language of Nevis in the West Indies. Hanson presents languages and cultures in a lively way, with concrete examples and, often, small samples from literary works. Although no knowledge of foreign languages is required, the book provides astonishing insights into many cultures and their languages. At the same time, it identifies long terms trends in history that may allow us to make predictions about the future.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 316 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1St Edition edition (April 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198299788
• ISBN-13: 978-0198299783
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,989,481 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I thought it would be, November 4, 2004

By	C. Goss (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Speak: A Short History of Languages (Paperback)

Don't get me wrong -- the book has merits (probably the biggest of which is limited competition) but on the whole I don't think this is a book I'll be rereading.

Janson gives a 200 page overview of the history of (selected!) languages. For an academ, the writing is pretty unimpressive and some of the generalizations vague and seemingly contradictory in places. Often times he will insert a philosohical discussion of language (what IS a language?) in the middle of a historical analysis, which strikes me as odd and ineffective.

That said, the book has a couple of interesting ideas in addition to a very generous section on suggestions for further reading.

If you are interested in an introductory overview of the history of languages this book, for the time being, seems to be the only opition out there. I just wish there were a better one.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good overview of the history of some languages, February 3, 2006

By	A. Courie "Treb" (Freedom's Fortress) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Speak: A Short History of Languages (Paperback)

Tore Janson's "Speak" is a succinct, readable overview of the history of languages, focusing primarily on English and Western languages. This is a well-written, informative book.

Janson starts by giving a brief overview of the development of languages, including mentioning one of his major themes of the book - a language is only a language if its speakers recognize it as such. He then traces the history of the Mesopotamian languages, Greek, Latin, and then the modern European languages, finally devoting a chapter to English's current dominance in the world. Finally, Janson concludes with a short chapter on the possible future development of languages.

John McWhorter's "Power of Babel" is the only comparable book that I have read. McWhorter is a little more entertaining and explains the actual dynamics of language change better, but Janson's story is more structured, linear and complete.

This book is a good overview of the history of language for a layman.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Suffers from bad writing, May 14, 2006

By	Richard Webner (Evanston, IL, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In "Speak," Tore Janson presents the history of some of the world's most influential languages, such as English, French, Greek and Latin. Contrasting these examples with other less successful languages, he explains what makes or breaks a language. Power, culture, and writing, Janson says, shape language development.

He also discusses how languages are created and destroyed. He devotes a particularly interesting chapter to the formation of pidgin and creole tongues, and another to "language death." He explains why English is replacing languages such as those of Native Americans, and what implications this has.

Janson has many interesting things to say about the relationship between languages and nations. His theories help explain the state of the world's languages today.

Unfortunately, this book suffers from bad writing, or perhaps a bad translation. Janson uses cliches like "at this point" and "in summary" too often, and sometimes generalizes by saying "everyone knows" or the like. It often seems as if his words were translated literally, with no regard to typical English sentence structure or diction. This makes for some awkward sentences and word choices. For example, the words "thirdly" and "fourthly" are used on the page before me.

Also, as another reviewer mentioned, he sometimes wanders and repeats himself.

This is unfortunate, because Janson is clearly very knowledgeable and has many fascinating things to say. If "Speak" were better written I would give it five stars. Still, it is good for getting some basic linguistic knowledge.