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Showing posts with label Language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Language. Show all posts
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Book 12 (2013) The Story of English in 100 Words *** by David Crystal
Another book about words, and another by Crystal, but very good and original information.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Book 59 Indian English Language & Culture ** Lonely Planet
Really interesting little book, well written.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Book 57 History of the German Language** by John T. Waterman
My fascination with German is really a fascination with Low German or Plattdeutsch and its history. The book made me even more determined to really learn German to be able to understand the passages in German and all the variations thereof
What I didn't like:
- cover, font, and layout are old fashioned and offputting.
- I needed a primer on linguistics to understand a lot of the book.
What I liked:
- Waterman is very informative and there were numerous fascinating facts and discussions.
German has the ability to express the inexpressible, to deal with abstractions, which marks the genious of the language.
The development of compound complex sentences in the 15th century is fascinating, with comparisons of texts.
Lubeck was the centre of development of legal codes and statutes and copied by many other cities.
Yiddish dialect spoken in the US is from Central and Eastern Europe.
German syntax regarding verbs was imitated from Latin.
Financial and banking words were adopted from Italian.
Luther used a dialect that was more like Low German. His writing and translations are unsurpassed, as shown by comparisons of Bible versions.
In the 15th C. there was a custom of name calling among factions of opposing religionists, e.g. Hurenjaeger.
It was common from 1600 on, for North Germans to speak Plattdeutsch, but read High German (like the Mennonites) and thus they often spoke High German very well and Northern Germany has the reputation for purer pronunciation.
What I didn't like:
- cover, font, and layout are old fashioned and offputting.
- I needed a primer on linguistics to understand a lot of the book.
What I liked:
- Waterman is very informative and there were numerous fascinating facts and discussions.
German has the ability to express the inexpressible, to deal with abstractions, which marks the genious of the language.
The development of compound complex sentences in the 15th century is fascinating, with comparisons of texts.
Lubeck was the centre of development of legal codes and statutes and copied by many other cities.
Yiddish dialect spoken in the US is from Central and Eastern Europe.
German syntax regarding verbs was imitated from Latin.
Financial and banking words were adopted from Italian.
Luther used a dialect that was more like Low German. His writing and translations are unsurpassed, as shown by comparisons of Bible versions.
In the 15th C. there was a custom of name calling among factions of opposing religionists, e.g. Hurenjaeger.
It was common from 1600 on, for North Germans to speak Plattdeutsch, but read High German (like the Mennonites) and thus they often spoke High German very well and Northern Germany has the reputation for purer pronunciation.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Book 4 The Story of French by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow ****
This Canadian reporting couple wrote the definitive book on the French language and its relationship to history, economics, politics, and everything else.
I enjoyed a relaxing cruise in the slip stream of their excellent writing. They include occasional references to personal experiences which add to the enjoyment.
Their thesis is that French is far from yielding to English as a universal language, mainly because of the cultural mystique. French still is still the gate to all things wonderful in life.
I wanted to learn French properly before, and now I really really want to.
A must read for anyone interested in language.
I enjoyed a relaxing cruise in the slip stream of their excellent writing. They include occasional references to personal experiences which add to the enjoyment.
Their thesis is that French is far from yielding to English as a universal language, mainly because of the cultural mystique. French still is still the gate to all things wonderful in life.
I wanted to learn French properly before, and now I really really want to.
A must read for anyone interested in language.
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