Nonfiction

The Atlas of Unusual Languages: Discover intriguing linguistic oddities and language islands

The Atlas of Unusual Languages: Discover intriguing linguistic oddities and language islands

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-11-24 18:15:58
  • Update Date：2025-09-25
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Zoran Nikolić
  • ISBN：0008469598
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Summary

We communicate through the spoken and written word and language has evolved over the centuries。 Many languages have survived although only in small pockets throughout the world。 This book explores a selection of those languages and some that have now been lost forever。


Selection of languages included;


ISLANDS OF LANGUAGE ISOLATES
- Basque language， Spain/France
- Ainu， Japan/Russia
- Burushaski， Pakistan
- Huave language， Mexico
INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGE ISLANDS
- Čučer-Sandevo; Selemlija， N。 Macedoniae
- Trinidadian French Creole， Trinidad Tobago
- Y Wladfa， a Welsh colony in Argentina
- Cornish language
- Vakifli， Turkey
- Bolze language of Switzerland
NON-IE LANGUAGE ISLANDS IN EUROPE
- Ugric languages
- Gagauz language
- Kalmyk Oirat language
LANGUAGE ISLANDS AROUND THE WORLD
- Yele language， Rossel Island， Papua New Guinea
- Formosan languages
- Kumzari language， Oman
“WEIRD” LANGUAGES
- Polari language， UK
- Shelta traveller language of Ireland
EXTINCT LANGUAGE ISLANDS
- Sumerian language
- Potato Germans in Denmark
- Crimean Gothic


These and many more instances are captured in this fascinating book full of strange language intrigue。

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Reviews

Stephanie Jane ，

See more of my book reviews on my blog， Literary FlitsI'm fascinated by linguistics and the way in which languages have evolved throughout human history so I leapt at the chance to review Zoran Nikolic's new global study， The Atlas of Unusual Languages。 He's researched dozens of languages and dialects from every continent， focusing particularly on ones which are now what he calls 'language islands' - pockets where a language， frequently one originating thousands of miles away， still remains in u See more of my book reviews on my blog， Literary FlitsI'm fascinated by linguistics and the way in which languages have evolved throughout human history so I leapt at the chance to review Zoran Nikolic's new global study， The Atlas of Unusual Languages。 He's researched dozens of languages and dialects from every continent， focusing particularly on ones which are now what he calls 'language islands' - pockets where a language， frequently one originating thousands of miles away， still remains in use today。 The book contains lots of details about each language including theories about its history， its linguistic evolution and family grouping， and snippets of information concerning the people who speak these often endangered languages。 I didn't know that UNESCO maintains a list of endangered languages or， indeed， quite how many of them there are。Nikolic crams mind-boggling volumes of facts and theories into The Atlas of Unusual Languages， but while this is great if the book is treated as an occasional dip-into tome， I found its presentation made it hard work to just read。 There is no overarching narrative linking each entry so the book is essentially an encyclopedia of facts with limited explanations。 I did love the way a passage from The Little Prince is repeatedly translated into many of the Latin-alphabet languages thereby allowing readers an opportunity to see these languages 'in action' and to compare how those of the same family diverge。 Again though， these passages are simply presented to the reader， but with no attempt at linguistic explanation。 I'm not sure what the target readership is for The Atlas of Unusual Languages， but unfortunately I found it quite a frustrating read。 。。。more

Annarella ，

I learned a lot and I found this book informative and well researched。I don't think it's a book for linguists or anyone who's working on this field but it's an excellent way to discover facts about less know or nearly forgotten languages。 I enjoyed it and learned something new。Highly recommended。Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC， all opinions are mine I learned a lot and I found this book informative and well researched。I don't think it's a book for linguists or anyone who's working on this field but it's an excellent way to discover facts about less know or nearly forgotten languages。 I enjoyed it and learned something new。Highly recommended。Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC， all opinions are mine 。。。more

Terence Eden ，

I was disappointed with this book。 It starts with a hefty disclaimer: "Please note that the author of this book is not a linguist and the book is not intended to be read as a scientific work。 Instead， it’s simply a collection of some interesting linguistic curiosities and should be viewed as such。"It's hard to call this a book。 It really is a collection of snippets from Wikipedia。 There's no real description of what makes a language， nor how they evolve。 In fact， the book rarely tells us anythin I was disappointed with this book。 It starts with a hefty disclaimer: "Please note that the author of this book is not a linguist and the book is not intended to be read as a scientific work。 Instead， it’s simply a collection of some interesting linguistic curiosities and should be viewed as such。"It's hard to call this a book。 It really is a collection of snippets from Wikipedia。 There's no real description of what makes a language， nor how they evolve。 In fact， the book rarely tells us anything about a language other than it exists。Once in a while， it mentions how a counting system works （"one， two， many"） but it never attempts to tell us any of the language features。 Is this language peculiar in not having a past tense？ Does that language have different prefixes for male and female nouns？ Do these people not have words for left and right - instead referring to East and West？ No idea。 If it isn't in the first paragraph of the encyclopedia entry， it doesn't get a mention。Instead of an actual investigation into these languages， everything is written with hedging statements。 "It is believed。。。"， and "According to legend （and claims on social media）。。。"， and "It is assumed。。。"The book contains translated passages of "The Little Prince" to compare languages。 Again， these have been lifted wholesale from another book。 And， again， they don't tell us anything interesting about the languages。 What is the etymology of "Dywysog"？ What does that tell us about how the language evolved？There are a few photos of some of the more unusual written languages - but they're nothing more than a passing mention。Similarly， there's a single paragraph devoted to whistling languages！ And it's little more than a list。 How do whistling languages work？ Are there any similarities between them？ The book is silent。As a coffee-table book， it's fine。 Nice large photos （again， taken from Wikipedia） and some light text to skim。 But if you want any information about languages and what makes them unusual， you'll need to look elsewhere。Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy。 。。。more

emma ，

3。5 stars。Let me preface my review by making it clear， I have a degree in Linguistics。 I have spent the last three years studying languages， dialects， accents and everything in between。 I find great joy and entertainment from reading about said 'unusual languages'。 This book was entertaining and well explained。 I can see how it would make for a good gift for any language lover， the images and maps added to the overall reading experience。 There was clearly a lot of research put into this。 However 3。5 stars。Let me preface my review by making it clear， I have a degree in Linguistics。 I have spent the last three years studying languages， dialects， accents and everything in between。 I find great joy and entertainment from reading about said 'unusual languages'。 This book was entertaining and well explained。 I can see how it would make for a good gift for any language lover， the images and maps added to the overall reading experience。 There was clearly a lot of research put into this。 However， the linguist in me wanted more information。 I wanted more detail， more empirical evidence and more explanation behind these oddities。 The author addresses this and clarifies that this is not a scientific book， so I understand the lack of depth in some of the chapters。 Nonetheless， it was a good read and I came away knowing more than I did before。Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review。 #TheAtlasOfUnusualLanguages #NetGalley。 All opinions are my own 。。。more

Theediscerning ，

Hmmm。。。 I saw this book falling down a hole between two markets。 For language specialists I felt it would become something for flicking through in the smallest room， as it was never comprehensive or scholarly enough， yet for the average curious browser （which was how I approached it） it became a little too dry， and not quite what I expected。 It introduces us， in very friendly manner， to language isolates， and language islands， the first an endemic one-off， linguistically， the second a chunk of p Hmmm。。。 I saw this book falling down a hole between two markets。 For language specialists I felt it would become something for flicking through in the smallest room， as it was never comprehensive or scholarly enough， yet for the average curious browser （which was how I approached it） it became a little too dry， and not quite what I expected。 It introduces us， in very friendly manner， to language isolates， and language islands， the first an endemic one-off， linguistically， the second a chunk of people speaking a known language we find elsewhere， but in an unexpected place when compared to what their neighbours are speaking。We easily skim through a few isolates， even if the author takes almost every opportunity to tell us what one is， which we understood the first time， thanks。 More convoluted are the language islands， such as the one formed of a couple hundred thousand who fled eastern Bulgaria and are now in the extreme SW of Ukraine and a smidge of Moldova。 Pre-technology days， if they wanted to speak to anyone in their own tongue who was not a neighbour， they would have had to take a cart right across Romania's coastal area。 With Serbians in the 'wrong' places， and Croat heard today in three villages somewhat near Bari， Italy， we learn there is a lot to blame the Ottomans for。To respond in the base way， to the book's very title， well the 'atlas' part is definitely correct， for this conveys the geography of the languages very well， and of course their history， in showing in text and image what cultural grounding these isolated communities live with today – whether they have their own schools， churches， festivals， newspapers， traffic signs etc。 Some of this I still found absolutely fascinating – how there is a diaspora of Sorbs （"who？"， I hear you say） that went SE to the Barossa Valley of Australia， and W to Texas – but a lot that was a little too dry。 But while I never expected to learn any lingo， I did think， as a word fan， that I might gain a bit of what makes each language an 'unusual' one – extended， unpronouncable quotes from "The Little Prince" didn't get me to where I thought I'd be。Still， this did at times manage to inform in a quite entertaining way; the book being more pleasurable to the random browser like me when it's dealing with places and peoples with whom you have affinity。 Even hearing about tongues such as Tischlbongarisch brings a novelty to the day， although of course it's a lot more than trivial to the people who speak it。 It's ironic for me to say I didn't know quite what to expect from these pages， yet it wasn't exactly what I thought I was letting myself in for， but that doesn't mean I don't wish this success。 Three and a half stars。 。。。more

Kid Ferrous ，

This is a beautifully produced collection of “interesting linguistic curiosities”， namely the obscure tongues still spoken。 It is a colourful atlas of over 200 languages， and the indigenous people who speak them， pinpointed on a world map and described in short， easily digestible sections。 Richly illustrated with maps and photographs of the regions， it is clearly written and easy to follow and suitable for a broad age range。

Reference

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The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Atlas of Unusual Languages: Discover intriguing linguistic oddities and language islands&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0