Languages In The World How History, Culture, and Politics Shape Language [Hardcover]

This innovative introduction outlines the structure and distribution of the world’s languages, charting their evolution over the past 200,000 years.

• Balances linguistic analysis with socio-historical and political context, offering a cohesive picture of the relationship between language and society
• Provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the study of language by drawing not only on the diverse fields of linguistics (structural, linguist anthropology, historical, sociolinguistics), but also on history, biology, genetics, sociology, and more
• Includes nine detailed language profiles on Kurdish, Arabic, Tibetan, Hawaiian, Vietnamese, Tamil, !Xóõ (Taa), Mongolian, and Quiché
• A companion website offers a host of supplementary materials including, sound files, further exercises, and detailed introductory information for students new to linguistics

Map 0.1 World map with language families xi

Figure 0.1 IPA consonants xii

Figure 0.2 IPA vowels xii

About the Website xiii

List of Maps and Figures xv

Preface xvii

Part I Linguistic Preliminaries: Approach and Theory

Introductory Note: On Language 1

1 All Languages Were Once Spanglish 3

The Mexican State of Coahuila y Tejas 3

What Is Language? 4

How Many Languages Are There? 6

How and When Did Language Get Started? 9

The Structure of Spanglish 13

Final Note: The Encounter of Spanish and English on Television in the United States 17

Exercises 18

Discussion Questions 20

Notes 20

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