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ISBN 9780802716798 (0-8027-1679-2, 0802716792)

by Nicholas Ostler

ISBN 0802716792 (0-8027-1679-2)
Softcover, Walker & Co

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› Find signed collectible books: 'Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin'

Book summary:

The Latin language has been the one constant in the cultural history of the West for more than two millennia. It has been the foundation of our education, and has defined the way in which we express our thoughts, our faith, and our knowledge of how the world functions. Indeed, the language has proved far more enduring than its empire in Rome, its use echoing on in the law codes of half the world, in the terminologies of modern science, and until forty years ago, in the liturgy of the Catholic Church. It is the unseen substance that makes us members of the Western world.

In his erudite and entertaining "biography," Nicholas Ostler shows how and why (against the odds, through conquest from within and without) Latin survived and thrived even as its creators and other languages failed. Originally the dialect of Rome and its surrounds, Latin supplanted its neighbors to become, by conquest and settlement, the language of all Italy, and then of Western Europe and North Africa. Its cultural creep toward Greek in the East led it to copy and then ally with it in an unprecedented, but invincible combination: Greek theory and Roman practice, delivered through Latin, became the foundation of Western civilization. Christianity, a latecomer, then joined the alliance, and became vital to Latin's survival when the empire collapsed. Spoken Latin re-emerged as a host of new languages, from Portuguese and Spanish in the west to Romanian in the east. But a knowledge of Latin lived on as the common code of European thought, and inspired the founders of Europe's New World in the Americas. E pluribus unum.

Illuminating the extravaganza of its past, Nicholas Ostler makes clear that, in a thousand echoes, Latin lives on, ad infinitum.

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Crawhall, N. T.: Creating Outsiders: Endangered Languages, Migration and Marginalisation, Proceedings of the Ninth FEL Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 18-20 November 2005

Creating Outsiders: Endangered Languages, Migration and Marginalisation, Proceedings of the Ninth FEL Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 18-20 November 2005

by N. T. Crawhall, Nicholas Ostler , Foundation for Endangered Languages Staff

ISBN 095382487X (0-9538248-7-X)
Softcover, Foundation for Endangered Languages

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› Find signed collectible books: 'Creating Outsiders: Endangered Languages, Migration and Marginalisation, Proceedings of the Ninth FEL Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 18-20 November 2005'

More editions of Creating Outsiders: Endangered Languages, Migration and Marginalisation, Proceedings of the Ninth FEL Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 18-20 November 2005:

Creating Outsiders: Endangered Languages, Migration and Marginalisation, Proceedings of the Ninth FEL Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 18-20 November 2005: ISBN 095382487X (0-9538248-7-X)
Softcover, Foundation for Endangered Languages

Empires Of The Word: A Language History Of The World

by Nicholas Ostler

ISBN 0007118716 (0-00-711871-6)
Softcover, HarperCollins Publishers Limited

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Book summary:

Nicholas Ostler's Empires of the Word is the first history of the world's great tongues, gloriously celebrating the wonder of words that binds communities together and makes possible both the living of a common history and the telling of it. From the uncanny resilience of Chinese through twenty centuries of invasions to the engaging self-regard of Greek and to the struggles that gave birth to the languages of modern Europe, these epic achievements and more are brilliantly explored, as are the fascinating failures of once "universal" languages. A splendid, authoritative, and remarkable work, it demonstrates how the language history of the world eloquently reveals the real character of our planet's diverse peoples and prepares us for a linguistic future full of surprises.

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