linguistics

Book Reviews

David W. Anthony: The Horse, The Wheel, and Language*
How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
J. Keith Atkinson: A Primer of Romance Philology
A beginner's guide to the Romance languages of medieval France and Spain
Robert F. Barsky: Noam Chomsky
A Life of Dissent
Laurie Bauer, Peter Trudgill: Language Myths
- 21 common misconceptions about language corrected
Simeon D. Baumel: Sacred Speakers
Language and Culture among the Haredim in Israel
Isabel L. Beck, et al.: Bringing Words to Life
Robust Vocabulary Instruction
Florian Coulmas: Writing Systems
An introduction to their linguistic analysis
Terry Crowley: An Introduction to Historical Linguistics
- a straightforward text
David Crystal: English as a Global Language
- its use, history, and culture
David Crystal: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
- a broad survey aimed at a popular audience
David Crystal: Language Death
- threats to languages and approaches to revitalization
David Crystal: Language and the Internet
- a linguist on Netspeak: email, chat, virtual worlds, and the Web
David Crystal: Language Play
- by adults and children
David Crystal: Spell It Out
The Singular Story of English Spelling
R.M.W. Dixon: The Rise and Fall of Languages
- an overview of linguistics by a prominent but idiosyncratic linguist
Gaston Dorren: Babel
Around the World in Twenty Languages
Gaston Dorren: Lingo
A Language Spotter's Guide to Europe
Sarah M.B. Fagan: German: A Linguistic Introduction
- language structure, history, and contemporary use
Irving Finkel, Jonathan Taylor: Cuneiform
- writing and literacy in ancient Mesopotamia
Carol Genetti: How Languages Work*
An Introduction to Language and Linguistics
Coulter H. George: How Dead Languages Work
- a linguistic, historical + literary potpourri covering six languages
Peter Gilliver, et al.: The Ring of Words
Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary
Marc D. Hauser: The Evolution of Communication*
- neurobiological, ontogenetic, adaptive, and psychological approaches
Richard Hogg, David Denison: A History of the English Language
- "pitched at senior undergraduates in the main"
Richard Hogg: An Introduction to Old English
- a historical account, setting the language in context
John Holm: An Introduction to Pidgins and Creoles*
- a text for linguistics students, but reasonably accessible
Rodney Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum: A Student's Introduction to English Grammar*
- using the latest linguistic research
Dovid Katz: Words on Fire
The Unfinished Story of Yiddish
Kenneth Katzner: The Languages of the World
- sample texts, translations and background for 200 languages
Dov-Ber Kerler: The Politics of Yiddish
Studies in Language, Literature and Society
Cecilia Lindqvist: China, Empire of the Written Symbol**
- Chinese history and culture through written characters
Tom McArthur: The English Languages
Maryon McDonald: We are not French!
Language, Culture and Identity in Brittany
Salikoko S. Mufwene: The Ecology of Language Evolution*
- creoles, biological parallels, and socioeconomic history
Jean-Benoît Nadeau, Julie Barlow: The Story of French
From Charlemagne to The Cirque du Soleil
Nicholas Ostler: Empires of the Word
A Language History of the World
Aniruddh D. Patel: Music, Language, and the Brain*
- links in rhythm, melody, syntax, meaning, evolution
Asya Pereltsvaig, Martin W. Lewis: The Indo-European Controversy
Facts and Fallacies in Historical Linguistics
Steven Pinker: The Language Instinct
The New Science of Language and Mind
Geoffrey K. Pullum: The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax
And Other Irreverent Essays on the Study of Language
S. Robert Ramsey: The Languages of China**
- social, cultural, and historical background as well as linguistics
Orrin W. Robinson: Old English and its Closest Relatives*
A Survey of the Earliest Germanic Languages
Tom Roeper: The Prism of Grammar
How Child Language Illuminates Humanism
Joseph Salmons: A History of German
What the Past Reveals About Today's Language
James N Sneddon: The Indonesian Language
Its History and Role in Modern Society
Insup Taylor, M. Martin Taylor: Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese
- their scripts and how they are learned and used
John Edward Terrell: Archaeology, Language, and History
Essays on Culture and Ethnicity
J. Marshall Unger: Ideogram
Chinese Characters and the Myth of Disembodied Meaning
Nils L. Wallin, et al.: The Origins of Music
- towards an evolutionary musicology
A. Zee: Swallowing Clouds*
A Playful Journey through Chinese Culture, Language, and Cuisine