pesahson
29-Aug-2011, 16:06
Guy Deutscher obtained an undergraduate degree in mathematics and a Ph.D. in linguistics. He’s an author of three books: Syntactic Change in Akkadian(2000), The Unfolding of Language (2005), and Through the Language Glass(2010). The two latter books have been mentioned on the WLF briefly in the Recently Finished Books thread but I think Guy Deutscher deserves his own thread.
The Unfolding of Language
There are seven chapters and 5 appendices. He starts with the language structure. Then in the chapters „The Forces of Destruction” and „The Forces of Creation” talks about the changes that languages undergo over time, why and how they happen; how new words and meanings arise. He uses plenty of examples from Indo-European languages mostly, but not exclusively. One of the appendices is dedicated to explaining the Semitic template system. I suspect that someone who studied it professionaly will be already familiar with the ideas presented in this book, but for an amateur, like me, it was fascinating.
Through the Language Glass
Another readable and accessible book from Mr Deutscher. He takes a couple of aspects of language (perception of colour, grammatical gender or lack thereof) that seem natural to native speakers and proves that not every notion in the language is as natural and normal as may seem.
Here’s an article Mr Deutscher wrote for the NYTimes summarizing the ideas he later expanded in the book.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html?smid=fb-share&pagewanted=1
The Unfolding of Language
There are seven chapters and 5 appendices. He starts with the language structure. Then in the chapters „The Forces of Destruction” and „The Forces of Creation” talks about the changes that languages undergo over time, why and how they happen; how new words and meanings arise. He uses plenty of examples from Indo-European languages mostly, but not exclusively. One of the appendices is dedicated to explaining the Semitic template system. I suspect that someone who studied it professionaly will be already familiar with the ideas presented in this book, but for an amateur, like me, it was fascinating.
Through the Language Glass
Another readable and accessible book from Mr Deutscher. He takes a couple of aspects of language (perception of colour, grammatical gender or lack thereof) that seem natural to native speakers and proves that not every notion in the language is as natural and normal as may seem.
Here’s an article Mr Deutscher wrote for the NYTimes summarizing the ideas he later expanded in the book.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html?smid=fb-share&pagewanted=1