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The Book "Linguistic Empires": World History from a Linguistic Perspective

Báo Dân tríBáo Dân trí04/08/2023


Empires of Words - A History of the World from a Linguistic Perspective by Nicholas Ostler, will be published by Omega Plus and The Gioi Publishing House this August.

The 832-page book is one of the few works that discusses the comprehensive history of languages ​​in the world, helping readers visualize human history from the perspective of language.

The author has surveyed the major languages ​​of the world, which have the potential to spread strongly and have been used over large areas.

The work was first published in 2005 in the UK and received praise from prestigious newspapers such as The Independent, The Guardian, Kirkus review, Washington Post, Boston magazine, Chicago Tribune , and Los Angeles Times Book Review.

Sách Các đế chế ngôn từ: Lịch sử thế giới từ góc nhìn ngôn ngữ - 1

Cover of the book "Empires of Words" (Photo: Omega Plus).

The book consists of 4 parts, 14 chapters, with 2 main contents:

- Draw a map of the languages ​​spoken in the world, showing their origins and relationships.

- Talk about the "rise" and "fall" of common languages ​​(lingua francas), such as Greek and Latin, and the causes of those "rises and falls".

Nicholas Ostler argues that linguistic features do make a difference, aiming to explain what makes a language important, able to spread far and survive for a long time.

At the same time, he discusses the relationship between language and politics, religion, commerce, society, culture, etc. He compares languages ​​at a macro level based on historical aspects rather than going into details of the political issues of language such as grammar or phonology.

The book concludes with a survey of the top 20 languages, summarizing past, present, and potential future factors influencing the spread of languages.

Sách Các đế chế ngôn từ: Lịch sử thế giới từ góc nhìn ngôn ngữ - 2

The book was described by "The Guardian" as "fascinating and entertaining" (Photo: Omega Plus).

The interesting point of the work lies in its discussion of the history of human language from a comprehensive perspective, including the specific history of individual languages ​​and the relationship between languages ​​as well as the connection between language and human history.

The book is suitable for readers who want to have an overview of the history of development and ups and downs of the world's major languages, or want to know about the origin - "family" relationship of popular languages ​​such as English - Chinese - Spanish.

"Nicholas Ostler aims to open up a new path of historical analysis, where 'language dynamics' become a tool for social research," commented The Independent .

The Guardian said that the book Word Empires tells the story through the rise and fall of language.

"It's a fascinating book, one of the most interesting I've read in a long time. After reading it, you'll never think about language in the same way again, and you'll probably think about the world, and its future, in quite a different way," according to The Guardian .

Nicholas Ostler, born 1952, graduated with a degree in Latin, Greek, philosophy and economics from Balliol College, Oxford.

He then received his PhD in linguistics and Sanskrit from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the guidance of linguist Noam Chomsky.

To date, Nicholas Ostler has extensively researched a total of 26 languages ​​in the world.

He is currently the Chairman of the Foundation for Endangered Languages ​​in the UK and the author of many valuable books such as: Ad Infinitum (2007), The Last Lingua Franca (2010), Passwords to Paradise (2016)...



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