# Recommend me a book on language(s)/linguistics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [December 9, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-language-s-linguistics/927650 "2020-12-09T15:29:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-language-s-linguistics/927650/1 "2020-12-09T15:29:23Z")
My family is doing the Icelandic gift-a-book thing this Christmas, and I’m trying to find something my daughter will love. She’s 17 and smarter than I am. She has always been fascinated by languages. She speaks Spanish semi-fluently and has some French as well. She listens to _Lexicon Valley_ religiously. She spends a lot of time on line learning new languages — Russian, Chinese, etc. (To be clear, I doubt she’s fluent, or even conversant, in any of them. I think her purpose is to get a feeling for how the language works.) As I said, she’s smart, so I’m not worried about something being over her head. But I doubt she’ll be interested in anything that’s too dry, either. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-language-s-linguistics/927650/2 "2020-12-09T15:50:15Z")
It’s from ages ago (1994), but I really enjoyed Steven Pinker’s “[Language Instinct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Language_Instinct)” and it made me laugh here and there. And it has got a loooong bibliography list where there is plenty to choose for further reading. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-language-s-linguistics/927650/3 "2020-12-09T17:32:38Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > She listens to _Lexicon Valley_ religiously. I haven’t listened to Lexicon Valley, but I have listened to and enjoyed a couple of the lecture series that John McWhorter has done for The Teaching Company/The Great Courses. Not sure if that would be worthwhile for a Lexicon Valley fan or would be too redundant. Also not sure whether it would count as a book, for your purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-language-s-linguistics/927650/4 "2020-12-10T13:28:00Z")
Oooh! I hadn’t thought of TGC. Not a book, but an idea for her birthday. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-language-s-linguistics/927650/5 "2020-12-10T13:30:07Z")
I’ll check it out. Thanks! As for the bibliography, I’m looking more for recommendations than lists. I mean, Pinker may have found a reference work useful even though it’s dry as dust or composed of impenetrable prose. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-language-s-linguistics/927650/7 "2020-12-10T14:53:59Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > Icelandic How about _Viking Language 1: Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas_ > **[Viking Language 1 Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas: Byock, Jesse L.:...](https://www.amazon.com/Viking-Language-Learn-Norse-Icelandic/dp/1480216445)** > > Viking Language 1 Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas \[Byock, Jesse L.\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Viking Language 1 Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas ---
**Author:** ![Spiriting\_Lightly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Spiriting\_Lightly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiriting_Lightly)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-language-s-linguistics/927650/8 "2020-12-12T02:40:13Z")
Hi, **Cayuga** : Here are a a couple of recommendations for your daughter, all of them nice gateways to further readings: _Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech_ by Edward Sapir Dr. Sapir has a wonderful writing style: precise, flexible, witty, warm, humane. Whether he discusses differences between analytic and synthetic languages, unpacks the lexical components of Latin nouns, describes language drift, or culture and linguistics, Dr. Sapir is gracious and kind. When he talks about language, race, and culture, your daughter may find him charmingly naive, but once she checks the copyright date, 1921, perhaps she’ll decide he was some kind of visionary. If she chooses to study linguistics, your daughter may decide that some of his findings are dated and his opinions superseded while wishing this intelligent man were still alive and living next door. _Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World_ by Nicholas Ostler This is nothing less than an attempt to write a history of all the great and widespread languages, where they sprouted, how they grew, how they thrived, in some cases how they died, in others how they continue. As the subtitle claims, it’s a kind of history of the world, which requires a lot of different kinds of context, including geography, culture, technology, speech generation, and so on. That’s a tall order. Dr. Ostler is more than equal to the task and he sets to it with a nice blend of enthusiasm, grit, and insight. In a fairly small space, he doles out a lot of information, all of it nicely organized and intelligently deployed. If his style can be a bit clunky, well, he’s working with some unwieldy topics. If you opt for the trade paperback, please look for the one with a blue-gray cover, costing 17.99 in the USA, with a title that spans the width of the spine, and a single ISBN, 978-0-06-093572-6. The alternative has the ISBN listed above along with a secondary, 0-06-093572-3; it has a deep blue cover, and cost 17.95 in the USA, and have a small font on the spine. The latter is badly printed, much harder to read than the former version. _The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language_ by David Crystal The title sounds like the opening of a very dry tome but David Crystal loves languages, all languages in all their aspects and with all their eccentricities. Dr. Crystal is never dull, always incisive, always clear, writing in a pellucid style suffused with warmth and good humor. The book can be read serially or by leapfrogging from one chapter to another: either approach is rewarding. There’s an incredible amount of information here, from how a language is defined to communications media to machine learning to mathematical expression to language acquisition. This book is a splendid overview of a protean subject. **Pardel-Lux** has recommended Steven Pinker’s _The Language Instinct_, a very fine book heavily influenced by the teachings of Noam Chomsky, whose approach to linguistics is introduced quite nicely. Dr. Pinker has described his work with language and its relation to thought in many of his books, all of them intelligent and accessible. _The Language Instinct_ is a terrific place to start with Drs. Pinker and Chomsky; and many thanks to **Pardel-Lux** for his post. If pressed to recommend just one of these books, Dr. Sapir’s _Language_ is wise and warm and wonderful. Yes, it’s old and, yes, it’s out-of-date, but it may be the sort of book that helps your daughter in any number of ways, from deciding what to do with her life to gaining an appreciation for other tribes and cultures. Whatever you decide, **Cayuga** , best wishes to her and to you. Peace. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-language-s-linguistics/927650/9 "2020-12-12T02:59:07Z")
> **[In the Land of Invented Languages: Adventures in Linguistic Creativity, Madness,...](https://www.amazon.com/Land-Invented-Languages-Adventures-Linguistic/dp/0812980891)** > > In the Land of Invented Languages: Adventures in Linguistic Creativity, Madness, and Genius \[Okrent, Arika\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. In the Land of Invented Languages: Adventures in Linguistic Creativity, Madness, and... > **[A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages: Tolkien, J. R. R., Fimi, Dimitra,...](https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Vice-J-R-Tolkien/dp/000834809X)** > > A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages \[Tolkien, J. R. R., Fimi, Dimitra, Higgins, Andrew\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages > **[A Dictionary of Made-Up Languages: From Elvish to Klingon, The Anwa, Reella,...](https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Made-Up-Languages-Invented-Lexicons/dp/1440528179)** > > A Dictionary of Made-Up Languages: From Elvish to Klingon, The Anwa, Reella, Ealray, Yeht (Real) Origins of Invented Lexicons \[Rogers, Stephen D\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. A Dictionary of Made-Up Languages: From Elvish to... > **[Æðelgyðe Ellendæda on Wundorlande: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in Old...](https://www.amazon.com/%C3%86%C3%B0elgy%C3%B0e-Ellend%C3%A6da-Wundorlande-Adventures-Wonderland/dp/1782011129)** > > Æðelgyðe Ellendæda on Wundorlande: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in Old English (Old English Edition) \[Carroll, Lewis, Tenniel, John, Baker, Peter S\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Æðelgyðe Ellendæda on Wundorlande: Alice's... ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-language-s-linguistics/927650/10 "2020-12-12T03:06:32Z")
I read Peter Farb’s _ **Word Play** _ many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, though I’ve heard it’s been revised somewhat since. I’m embarrased that I can’t think of any other works like this right offhand, since I’m a professional translator. When I was in high school, my Spanish teacher gave me a stack of _ **Quinto Lingo** _ magazines that I spent many hours poring over. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-language-s-linguistics/927650/11 "2020-12-12T04:05:05Z")
Are you on Pinterest? If so, do a search for Linguistics. You’ll get lots of great links, including dozens of recommended books, each list different. I scanned a few of the lists last night and think they’re all good lists. Oh, and anything at all by McWhorter is great, IMHO and IAAL. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-language-s-linguistics/927650/12 "2020-12-12T20:29:18Z")
OK, now how do I pick just one? [/rhetorical question] Thank you all so much!