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calciyumm's review against another edition
4.0
A great introduction to the diversity and origins of Europe's languages!!
andipants's review against another edition
2.0
I was expecting...something different. I knew from the cover description that this would not be an in-depth treatise, but I was still surprised at just how superficial most of the discussion in this book was. Just when I'd think the author was gearing up to dig into something juicy or interesting - nope! Chapter's over.
And some of the chapters just seemed kind of pointless. The entirety of the two pages on Danish could be summed up as, "Danish used to be spoken over a very large area. Then there were some wars and that area shrank. Then there were some other conflicts and it shrank again. Now its area is much smaller." ...okay? Cool? That really could have been explained in a short paragraph, and the rest of the chapter dedicated to discussion of the actual language.
The places where a lot of detail was given were often the ones I felt needed it least, e.g. over-long lists of word forms to illustrate a relatively minor point. I particularly noticed this in the chapter on Welsh, but it happened elsewhere, too.
I'm no professional linguist - my knowledge is mostly from two very basic linguistics classes I had in college - but I was still kind of disappointed. I didn't hate this, but it wasn't what I was hoping for.
And some of the chapters just seemed kind of pointless. The entirety of the two pages on Danish could be summed up as, "Danish used to be spoken over a very large area. Then there were some wars and that area shrank. Then there were some other conflicts and it shrank again. Now its area is much smaller." ...okay? Cool? That really could have been explained in a short paragraph, and the rest of the chapter dedicated to discussion of the actual language.
The places where a lot of detail was given were often the ones I felt needed it least, e.g. over-long lists of word forms to illustrate a relatively minor point. I particularly noticed this in the chapter on Welsh, but it happened elsewhere, too.
I'm no professional linguist - my knowledge is mostly from two very basic linguistics classes I had in college - but I was still kind of disappointed. I didn't hate this, but it wasn't what I was hoping for.
messylichwholivesfordrama's review against another edition
3.0
This was alright. The anecdotes vary. Some are very interesting. Others aren't.
mflores94's review against another edition
3.0
This was Dorren’s first book on languages, and I found that after first reading Babel, this was not quite as fun. Still, an enjoyable read particularly for anyone interested in the many idiosyncrasies of language!
karoleto's review against another edition
5.0
Disfruté mucho leer sobre otros idiomas y las características de cada uno. Es muy interesante y da una buena perspectiva para los que somos aficionados a los idiomas sobre nuevos territorios y formas de ver el mundo a través de la lengua. Me dieron ganas de aprender Maltés!
catsandbooks9's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely worth the read if you’re interested in languages, history, and a bit of technical stuff from the linguistics field.