Another great one by McWhorter. Very funny and eye-opening. ( )

An accessible exploration of liguistic change over time. Fascinating. ( )

After having listened to McWhorter lecture (on audiocassette) on language, it was nice to have an actual book to read and see what he's talking about. I liked the fact that it wasn't a dry tome, but rather included some real life. A good book for a newcomer to the topic; I do agree that the chapters are long, but they're broken into 1-4 page subsections for those who can't sit and read for an extended period of time. ( )

Although the subject matter of this book is one of enormous and lifelong interest to me, I had only dipped into this before now and this was my first attempt to read through the whole book. This largely didn't work for me - the chapters are too long and rambling, and poorly structured, with excessive use of long-winded examples. The editor should really have taken a good look at this and produced a more tightly structured book of half or two thirds the length. For this UK reader, there were also too many slightly flippant and highly irritating and unnecessary contemporary or near contemporary American cultural references that spoiled the flow of the book. Could have been a good deal better. ( )

An accessible exploration of liguistic change over time. Fascinating. ( )

Excellent book: informative and a good read. My copy is heavily marked up. Finally, I found a source that explains why languages seem to be moving from the complex to the simple. It also substantiates my theory that the 'standard' languages are simpler for outsiders to learn as adults than are regional dialects and languages from areas with less economic/political/military clout. ( )

Historical linguistics

I thought this book was great! It provides an entertaining guide through some of linguistics most interesting terrotories (no CFGs here!). I am particularly interested in how languages change and this book provided many examples of that process. The only negative was that sometimes there were too many examples --- which can detract from getting the general picture. ( )

McWhorter does what the back-cover promises: he explains how and why languages transform all the time, and thus portrays the power of Babel. The book is a pleasant read, although at times the point he trying to make drowns in the tide of examples. ( )

In this highly accessible book McWhorter addresses topics such as the possibility of reconstructing humanity’s proto-language, the inevitability of language change and the probable diminution of the roughly 6000 languages extant today to around 500 a century from now. This is an informative and entertaining look at one of humanity’s essential traits.

Reviewed by: Jeff

Absorbing essay on the non-stop process of language development and change. ( )

A delightful and educational read. To pick just one gem out of hundreds, would you believe that "Good butter and good cheese is good English and good Fries" (p 99) is an actual sentence of Frisian?

http://www.epinions.com/content_23091... ( )

God, this book is amazing. It made me into more of a linguophile than I already was. Expect to read this book with your mouth gaping, and then to feel the urgent need to study several rare languages. ( )

An exceptional book. It changed my understanding of linguistics completely (every classics grad student picks up a bit, but it's often quite outdated). The discussion of creoles was particularly engaging. McWhorter is a gem. ( )