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Languages Are Good for Us
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Format: Paperback / softback
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A celebration of the huge linguistic diversity that is open to all of us at birth, and that has inspired and fascinated humans since the invention of speech.
A celebration of the huge linguistic diversity that is open to all of us at birth, and that has inspired and fascinated humans since the invention of speech.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
This is a book about languages and the people who love them.
Languages Are Good for Us by Sophie Hardach guides us through the strange and wonderful ways that humans have used languages throughout history. She takes us from the earliest Mesopotamian clay tablets and the 'book cemeteries' of medieval synagogues to the first sounds a child hears in their mother's womb and their incredible capacity for language learning.
Along the way, Hardach explores the role of trade in transmitting words across cultures and untangles riddles of hieroglyphics, cuneiform, and the ancient scripts of Crete and Cyprus. This is a book about languages, the people who love them, and the linguistic threads that connect us all.
'Impeccably researched and engagingly presented... Sophie Hardach tells wonderful stories about words that have travelled vast distances in space and time to make English what it is.' β David Bellos, author of Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Languages Are Good for Us by Sophie Hardach is described as an impeccably researched and engaging book that explores the journey of words and their influence on the English language. It examines how languages form, evolve, and interact, making a compelling case for the value of learning new languages. The book is lauded for its storytelling and its ability to make linguistic history both informative and captivating.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781789543995
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 02 September 2021
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Apollo
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 24.0mm
Width: 128.0mm
Height: 196.0mm
Weight: 260g
Pages: 368
About the Author
Sophie Hardach is the author of three novels, The Registrar's Manual for Detecting Forced Marriages, about Kurdish refugees, Of Love and Other Wars, about pacifists during World War Two, and Confession with Blue Horses, about the repercussions of the division of Germany on the lives of individuals. Also a journalist, she worked as a correspondent for Reuters news agency in Tokyo, Paris and Milan and and has written for a number of publications including the Guardian, BBC Future and The Economist.
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