Many languages, particularly those which have achieved literary status, have been studied and described in depth. Here, for the first time, is a general survey covering a wide spectrum of the world's languages - from all language families - is available in a single, scholarly source. The articles in the Compendium are arranged to encourage and allow comparative study - showing how each language has its own characteristic profile, and illustrating how it actually works.
Table of Contents:
Languages include: Abkhaz, Afrikaans, Akan, Amharic, Andamanese, Apache, Arabic, Arapaho, Aymara, Balinese, Bambara, Basque, Bengali, Breton, Buginese, Bulgarian, Burushaski, Carib, Catalan, Cebuano, Cherokee, Chinese Archaic/Classical/Modern Standard, Choctaw, Chukchi, Dardic, Dutch, Egyptian, Evenki, Faeroese, Gorontalo, Greek, Guarani, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hopi, Inuit, Japanese Classical/Modern Standard, Javanese, Juang, Ket, Khmer, Khung, Korean, Kurdish, Lezgi, Lithuanian, Macassarese, Manchu, Manx, Maori, Mapudungu, Marathi, Margi, Maya, Nahuatl, Nama, Navaho, Nenets, Nepali, Old Norse, Oriya, Panjabi, Quechua, Romany, Russian, Santali, Sinhalese, Sumerian, Swahili, Tangut, Thai, Tlingit, Tongan, Tupi, Udmurt, Urdu, Uzbek, Veps, Wolof, Wu, Yi, Yoruba, Zapotecan, Zhuang and Zuni.
About the Author :
George L. Campbell is a former BBC World Service Language Supervisor and Program Organizer in the Romanian, Portugese, Greek, Spanish and Turkish services.
Review :
`This book will be a lifelong delight.' - Anthony Burgess, The Observer
`This is a most notable achievement: it is particularly useful for the breadth of its coverage and the consistency of its treatment...it will be an invaluable addition to academic and larger general reference collections.' - Reference Reviews
`Anyone who dips with pleasure into Katzner's Languages of the World or Comries's World's Major Languages will be able to lose themselves in Campbell for days on end.' - Language International
`This remarkable work sets a new standard for single-source linguistic profiles ... Campbell's excellent survey will be an invaluable vade mecum for the linguist, as well as forming a valuable addition to larger collections.' - Library Association Record
`Compendium of the World's Languages benefits from the frequent use it makes of appropriate historical material, which gives many obscure languages a place in time and space. One might buy the book for the information it contains, but it gives much pleasure also.' - Times Literary Supplement
`Turning over the pages is like turning a kaleidoscope. The fascination is endless.' - Expresso
`It teaches an implicit lesson - not that all languages were before Babel one language, but that man is a language-constructing animal who, wherever he is, constructs in much the same way - through phonemic opposition, through counting his fingers, through noting that some things move while other things just are. To me this book will be a lifelong delight.' - Anthony Burgess, Observer
`Many readers will succumb to the temptation to read among the other netries of languages that they didn't realize existed.' - The Years Work in English Studies
