A view which combines linguistics with history. By looking at the 20 most spoken languages in the world, the author (a Dutch national) examines why they became popular.

In some chapters Dorren seemed to get lost in the details, in others the information remained very superficial. Despite that the book does a good job of pointing out some of the most interesting features of the 20 languages while at the same time providing important cultural and historical background knowledge.

I have always loved languages and how they are similar and different from others. This was a perfect book for someone like me. I was hooked on all of the little details and unfamiliar rules for the different languages. If anything, I wish the book had more details, instead of a brief snapshot.

Pútavo napísaná kniha o zaujímavostiach svetových jazykov - osobne sa mi najviac páčili prvé kapitoly, lebo o španielčine či čínštine som toho už počula dosť ale o bizarnom systéme zdvorilostnej jávčiny som teda nemala tušenia.

Len drobné výhrady k slovenskému prekladu: viem si predstaviť že táto kniha, ako ostatne všetky takéto lingvistické traktáty, sa prekladala neľahko a bola plná veľkých aj malých prekladateľských výziev. Väčšina z nich je skvele vyriešená - samotné prepisy jednotlivých jazykov a tanskripicia cudzích výrazov museli zabrať obrovské množstvo času. Napriek tomu mi však preklad prišiel trochu rozpačitý, hlavne tam kde sa originál prihovára pôvodnému anglofónnemu čitateľovi - niektoré príklady sú prispôsobené slovenčine (ako subštandardné slová "hranolky" či "sáčok"), no inokedy sa anglické slová prekladajú priamo a často strácajú význam (pri vysvetlení ako anglické "mouth" používa otvorenú "veľkú" samohlásku sa slovenský preklad "ústa" nehodí ani náhodou). Niekedy je v príklade ponechaný "pán Jones" a "Trevor", inde sa z Johna zrazu stane "Ján". Chcelo by to trochu viac prekladateľskej smelosti, alebo možno len jednoznačnejšie určenie metódy na preklad v celej knihe.

For language nerds, this does the trick. Each chapter is written is a different style: some look at linguistic features, others at history of the language, others make comparisons, etc. This works well for the most part but some chapters felt a bit tedious and too thick to keep my attention. The chapters on Korean, German, Japanese, Arabic, and Spanish were highlights for me.

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this non-fiction eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

Even though English is the "world language," the fact of the matter is that most of the world doesn't speak it.  This book explores the idea that to speak fluently with half of the people in the world, ye would need to speak 20 languages.  This book set out to explore those 20.

The concept of this book be fascinating.  The execution was sadly not to me taste.  Part of the problem is that the book didn't feel like a cohesive whole.  The chapters varied in style and focus.  There were often long tangents, that while interesting, made following the arguments being made difficult.  Other parts went into details of linguistics which were frankly over me head.  In addition, the review copy that I received was missing dates and figures.

I do believe that the author was enthusiastic and I did find many of the facts, like the formation of Turkish, to be amazing.  I so wanted to love this book but the presentation was muddled.  It was irksome and so I only read up to 54%.  Other readers may find this style worthwhile so I hesitate to condemn the book altogether.  I do hope this book finds its proper audience.  I am just not it.

So lastly . . .

Thank you Grove Atlantic!

Side note: from Amazon - "Gaston Dorren is a linguist, journalist, and polyglot. He speaks Dutch, Limburgish, English, German, French, and Spanish, and reads nine more languages."  How awesome is that?

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

I was interested in the concept of this book, but I found it to be too broad / inaccurate for someone with background knowledge in linguistics (and probably too technical for someone without). I also was quite disappointed in the coverage of some of the languages, specifically the chapter on Swahili which spent a lot of time focused on an anecdote about a person who spoke many African languages, none of which were Swahili. Overall it was a very Western-centric view.

a fun read with a variety of information focusing on historical roots of languages as well as linguistic oddities

This is absolutely in the running for my favorite read of 2023! A fun, intelligent, creative overview of twenty world languages, this book reminded me why I was so eager to study linguistics. While my life has obviously bent in a different direction, I still find the idea of language fascinating. If you have even the most remote curiosity about how language is affected by cultural values, or perhaps wonder why certain nationalities struggle with different concepts in English, Babel is a great introduction. From my personal experience, learning more about language is key to a deeper and more compassionate understanding of other people and cultures. 12/10 recommend that you pick this one up!