Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages
by Abley, Mark
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Fine/Fine
- ISBN 10
- 0679311017
- ISBN 13
- 9780679311010
- Seller
-
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
In Spoken Here, Mark Abley journeys around the world seeking out languages in peril -- Manx, Mohawk, Boro, Yiddish, and many more. Along the way he reveals delicious linguistic oddities and shows us what is lost when one of the world's six thousand tongues dies -- an irreplaceable worldview and a wealth of practical knowledge. He also examines the forces, from pop culture to creoles to global politics, that threaten to wipe out 90 percent of languages by this century's end. Abley encounters one of the last two speakers of an Australian language, whose tribal taboos forbid them to talk to each other. He spotlights those who believe that violence is the only way to save their tongue. He meets a Yiddish novelist who writes for an audience she knows doesn't exist. He pays tribute to such strange tongues as the Amazonian language last spoken by a parrot, the Caucasian language with no vowels, and the South Asian language whose innumerable verbs include gobray (to fall in a well unknowingly) and onsra (to love for the last time). Each of the languages Abley spotlights, from the familiar to the foreign, exemplifies the various threats that endanger languages worldwide. But many also prove their resilience, thanks to the efforts of their determined speakers and such unlikely tools as soap operas and pop music. Abley meets the crusaders as well as the uncaring, all of whom offer surprising insight into this centuries-old debate. Spoken Here is a singular travelogue, a compelling case for linguistic diversity, and a treasure trove for anyone who loves any language.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Montreal Books (CA)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 004370
- Title
- Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages
- Author
- Abley, Mark
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Edition
- First edition, First Printing
- ISBN 10
- 0679311017
- ISBN 13
- 9780679311010
- Publisher
- Random House Canada
- Place of Publication
- Toronto
- Date Published
- 2003
- Keywords
- LANGUAGE ARTS DISCIPLINES GENERAL TRAVEL
- Bookseller catalogs
- Sociology;
Terms of Sale
Montreal Books
About the Seller
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...