What Language Is
by John McWhorter
Publisher: Gotham
Publication Date: August 4, 2011
ISBN: 9781592406258
240 Pages
Nonfiction: Linguistics
Publisher’s Description:
An eye-opening tour for all language lovers, What Language Is offers a fascinating new perspective on the way humans communicate. From vanishing languages spoken by a few hundred people to major tongues like Chinese, with copious revelations about the hodgepodge nature of English, John McWhorter shows readers how to see and hear languages as a linguist does. Packed with Big Ideas about language alongside wonderful trivia, What Language Is explains how languages across the globe (the Queen’s English and Surinam creoles alike) originate, evolve, multiply, and divide. Raising provocative questions about what qualifies as a language (so-called slang does have structured grammar), McWhorter also takes readers on a marvelous journey through time and place-from Persian to the languages of Sri Lanka. . .
My Opinion:
The title of John McWhorter’s book sums up the contents very well: What Language Is (and What it Isn’t and What it Could Be).
He jumps right into meaty topics, like how languages differ, and explains why they work the way they do. Some languages have rules that are streamlined and their rules and construction are easy to understand. He explains how this usually happens especially with languages that are used often by many non-native speakers (as in international trade, etc.).
On the opposite end of the spectrum, languages that are isolated and not used by very many people become more and more complex over time. Layers of meaning get added on and complex constructions (such as prefixes, suffixes and case markers) end up giving extra detail. These complexities are easy for youngsters to learn, and since there aren’t a lot of foreign speakers trying to communicate in the language it doesn’t get streamlined.
I found a lot of my old favorite language facts in this book along with some new ones. For example, did you know that,
“Apron started as napron – a napron sounded like an apron, and after a while, apron it was.”
Page 86
I learned about the word apron/napron in college and it has stuck with me. I may not remember the quadratic equation, but every time I put on my apron to clean the kitchen I think “napron” and it makes me smile. Which I guess also makes me a major nerd.
Among the various language topics the author addresses is his view that there are similarities between Black and Standard English and Modern and Biblical Hebrew. I thought it was an interesting comparison to make – looking again at how language is simplified when first used by foreign speakers.
For the non-linguist reader I think that some of his explanations might be a little heavy on the foreign language word examples. Particularly in the beginning of the book there are a lot of verb charts. Many times they were used to show examples of irregular and difficult to decipher word forms. The good news is that most were used to show how difficult they were to understand, which means you don’t have to understand them.
There’s so much interesting information to be found in this book. Although I had to keep reminding myself that I didn’t have to memorize the key points and verb irregularities; that I didn’t have to read it and study it as if I were still in school.
This book is a good introduction to the field of linguistics for the non-linguist. Normal introductory books have a very textbook breakdown of the subject (phonetics, phonology, morphology, historical linguistics, etc.). Instead this book explains a lot of the same topics, but it does it in a conversational way that answers the question of what language is.
If you like words, word games, word origins and language trivia then you will probably enjoy this book.
Rating: 4/5
Giveaway:
One copy of What Language Is has been provided as a part of the TLC Book Tours for this giveaway.
The giveaway is open to entries from those in the US and Canada. Following is always appreciated but not required for entry. The deadline for entry is September 4th.
Giveaway closed.
© 2011, At Home With Books. All rights reserved.
I read McWhorter’s The Power of Babel : A Natural History of Language recently, and it was also a very good look at how languages got to the diversity they have today – perhaps there were a few too many pop culture references, but the ones I got helped a lot with understanding some of the concepts. It’s about 10 years old now, but if you’re interested in learning more about language or enjoyed What Language Is, I’d recommend picking up The Power of Babel as well.
This sounds interesting! I love books like this with facts I can drive people crazy with.
I cannot enter but I am going to look out for a copy as it sounds fascinating.
I’m pretty sure anyone who reads this book is probably a big nerd … in the best of ways!
I’m looking forward to reading this. I’ve missed my college linguistic classes, and I’d like to brush up a little bit! Thanks for the chance to win a copy!
I am rather curious about this book. I hopefully will get a copy at some point.
Pingback: John McWhorter, author of What Language Is, on tour August 2011 | TLC Book Tours
“Which I guess also makes me a major nerd.” Which also, I guess, is why we get along so well – it sounds totally like something I’d do! LOL
I’m glad you enjoyed this one Alyce. Thanks for being a part of the tour!
Pingback: West Of Mars — Win A Book! » Blog Archive » What Language Is by John McWhorter
I did really get bogged down with the beginning of this book. I completely understand having a lot of foreign languages involved; that’s how we’re able to see the language developing in different ways. But I just felt like I was slogging along through the explanations. Glad you enjoyed it more!
I loved McWhorter’s Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue, though at times it did get a bit heavy, but I’ve been tempted to pick this title up. McWhorter’s Teaching Company series on the Story of Human Language is also a wonderful resource.