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Chosen by Choice as an Outstanding Academic
Title, 2001!
Lawrence Looks at
Books – July 2002
American
Reference Books Annual 2002
Choice
Midwest
Book Review, March 2002
Review
from: Lawrence Looks at Books
- July 2002
Editor Jane Garry, linguist Carl Rubino and
nearly 200 experts have combined to produce an excellent survey of the
linguistic diversity still pervading the world. From Sumatra's Acehnese to
the African Zulu, their guide features 191 of the more than 6,000
languages spoken in the world today. Coverage includes all living
languages with more than two million speakers and languages of major
literary and historic significance, such as Latin and Sanskrit. Separate
entries distinguish classical Chinese, ancient Greek and biblical Hebrew
from their modern descendants. Coverage also includes selected dead
languages like ancient Sumerian, Egyptian, Hittite and Etruscan.
Each chapter begins with a text box that
provides the name of the language in English and its native tongue, the
locations in which the language is spoken, its place in the family of
languages, related sister tongues, dialects and the number of speakers.
The bulk of each entry summarizes the salient characteristics of the
language, including basic orthography, phonology, morphology and syntax of
each language with examples of common words, sample sentences and tables
of vowels and consonants. This approach is not unique, but the editors
distinguish their work from their forerunners with extra attention to the
cultural context of language. They provide more detail on origins,
history, linguistic interchange and the often nationalistic efforts to
preserve and protect languages. The bibliographies for each language are
well-selected, up-to-date and would serve as selection tools for those
building collections on particular languages. A glossary assists students
and explains the frequently technical terminology. Special indexes provide
lists of languages and alternate names, as well as group languages by
family and country. Highly recommended for academic and large public
libraries. --JL
Review
from: American
Reference Books Annual 2002
This is a survey of some 200 languages of the world.
The selection is truly representative. There are the major languages of
antiquity (i.e., Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, and Classical Chinese), the most
important contemporary languages (i.e., English, French, Spanish, Russian,
Arabic, and Japanese), and contemporary minor languages (both European and
from other continents). There are also surveys of some lesser-known
languages, such as Acehnese, Bugis, Yi, and others.
The articles are ordered in alphabetic sequence
according to the names of the languages, but their genetic relations, if
known, are mentioned in the text. All the articles have the same
structure, making comparison easy. The main divisions of each article are
by the name of the language (in that language aptly called the autonym);
there is more variation in these names than one would think. For instance,
Min, one of the languages of China, has a variant Miin and autonyms
Min, Hokkien, Hoklo, and others. Following this
information is the location (sometimes accompanied by map sketches), the
linguistic family and related languages, and the dialects of the language.
The bulk of each article deals with the origin and
history of the language, its orthography, and its basic phonology (the
phonological analysis and description remaining, if possible, on the level
necessary for comprehension of the orthography). The basic morphology and
syntax can offer only the most elementary structural features, but readers
can grasp an idea of what the language looks like, particularly because
there also are subdivisions that exemplify some common words and
sentences--the latter with morphemic analysis and translation (with
“smooth” translation). It is not clear why the division discussing
contact with other languages is inserted between the divisions on basic
morphology plus syntax and those on common words and example sentences. It
would seem that it should follow the syntax and precede the last division
that deals with the efforts to preserve, protect, and promote the
language. This last division is the most original one; it serves as a
counterpart to the discussion on the history of the language.
It is quite seldom that there is some variation
modifying this scheme. The outstanding exception is that the articles on
some languages do offer specimens of the respective script. It would be
good to bring in consistency in a future edition. There are minor
omissions (e.g., the Latvian entry lacks the indication of its autonym and
the location of Armenian does not tell the reader about the strong
diaspora of the West Armenian dialect in New York City). Each article ends
with a short selected bibliography. Since every article is written by an
expert in the respective language, both the texts and the bibliographic
selections are very good.
Review
from: CHOICE
Date reviewed: December 2001
Reviewed by: S.
L. Nesbeitt, Bridgewater State College
The subtitle of this impressive
reference work describes the content more exactly than the title. The
encyclopedia includes descriptions of most languages with two million or
more current speakers, as well as several ancient languages. Each of its
191 articles, written by a recognized authority, follows a similar format:
language name, family, number of speakers, and narrative descriptions of
its history, orthography, phonology, morphology, syntax, contact with
other languages, and sample words and sentences. Refreshingly, the
contributors do not neglect to mention social and political factors that
have influenced linguistic change. Because it is hard for any work of
linguistics to avoid technical jargon, those without prior knowledge will
need to consult the glossary. In terms of scope and content, this work
falls between The World's Major Languages, ed. by Bernard Comrie (CH,
Feb'88), which surveys 40 world languages, and George Campbell's
Compendium of the World's Languages (2nd ed., 2v., CH, Feb'01), which
covers five times as many languages as Garry and Rubino but with much less
detail. Highly recommended for all academic libraries, including those
owning Comrie or Campbell.
Review from:
Midwest
Book Review, March 2002
Facts About The World's Languages by
Greenwood Publishing Group Senior Editor Jane Garry and grammarian,
morphologist, and linguistics expert Carl Rubino is an immense,
comprehensive, scholarly reference tome, offering a capsule summary of
hard linguistic data about a vast array of living and a few dead
languages. From Afrikaans and eight dialects of Chinese to Ancient
Egyptian, Polynesian languages and Zulu, a globe-spanning array of human
tongues are presented with hard data concerning their origin and history,
orthography and basic phonology, basic morphology, basic syntax, history
of contact with other languages, examples of words and sentences, and a
brief accounting of efforts to preserve and protect the language. A
fascinating, first-rate reference for anyone involved in linguistic
studies, or who needs to quickly look up information about dozens of the
most famous or widely known languages in the modern world, Facts About The
World's Languages is an invaluable and strongly recommended, core title
addition to any professional, academic, and community library Language
Studies reference collection.
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