Atlas van de Europese talen

by Victor Stevenson

Did you know that when you call someone a "pal" you're using a word derived from Romany, the gypsy tongue (phal, or brother)? Or, that "cosmonaut" has its origins in ancient Greek? Remnants of the past live on in our words, grammar, and pronunciation. This is the story of language--how it succeeds or fails, and why it develops the way it does--abundantly and colorfully illustrated.
* Newly drawn maps and discussions of the most current linguistic issues (including "politically correct" and techno-speak).
* Over 1000 examples illustrate how specific words changed through time.
* Covers Sanskrit; Indo-Aryan; Basque; Greek; Celtic; Latin and the Romance languages; English, and the Germanic languages; Slavonic, and Baltic tongues; "outsider" languages, like Magyar and Finnish; and Europe's national languages.
* Includes over 140 photographs and special boxed sections
Whether you're interested in Romany or Romanian, English from Texas or Italian from Tuscany--you'll find the words that link them here!

Some reviews of the original edition:

"...this handsomely produced survey is that rarity, a scholarly book that is also very entertaining..."

"...turns what many regard as a day-as-dust academic subject into a topic of lively and unending interest..."

"...diagrams show relationships between dozens of different languages in a brilliantly clear and interesting way..."

Genres: Language, History, Linguistics, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, ever since I first read Victor Stevenson’s 1983 The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages as a University of Waterloo Library book while I was in the mid 1990s preparing, while I was studying for my first comprehensive exam for my PhD requirements (and my first comprehensive exam did not just feature older German literature until the 15th and early 16th century, but also was also testing basic linguistics and in particular the history of the German language and by extension of course all of the Indo-European languages), I have felt conflicted about how to adequately review and rate The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages.

For yes, while with regard to Victor Stevenson’s presented factual information and his thematics in The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages about how Proto Indo-European (PIE) spread and fragmented into the many daughter languages we know today (and with detailed introductions to ALL of the major Indo-European language groups including lesser known and extinct tongues such as Hittite, Illyrian and Thracian), I certainly ended up finding all of this sufficiently interesting and informative for basic and general reading knowledge when I was perusing The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages for my comps, the unavoidable fact that in The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages, Victor Stevenson does not really at all require even minor and basic knowledge of linguistics and of terms such as phonology, morphology and syntax, while this certainly did make for a very fast and easily digested reading experience regarding uThe World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages/>, it also managed to leave me with huge and major informational gaps for my comprehensive exam preparation and the need to return to the UW library and look for tomes that were more academically oriented and not so devoid of any and all linguistic background requirements, thus making me consider and approach The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages as a decent enough but only really and totally basic introduction to the Indo-European languages and their history, but unfortunately not really at all teaching me anything that I could actually make use of academically, that I needed to specifically know for my comprehensive exams.

And as such, I really do think that Victor Stevenson is being rather too simplistic and much too focused only on history and not sufficiently on actual linguistics with his The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages for this tome to really be of any actual use and benefit for serious academic study. But yes, if a potential reader truly only wants a very basic, unacademic and not at all linguistics based based introduction to the Indo-European languages, they might well very much enjoy reading The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages, although I do feel like I also must leave the caveat that sometimes Victor Stevenson’s tone of narrative voice has an annoying amount arrogance and of language superiority especially with regard to the Germanic languages and in particular towards English to it and that I also think the book title of The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages is a trifle misleading. For in my opinion and no matter what, the Indo-European languages are not to be classified as “Western” languages, since for one I do not like that type of distinction anyhow and that for two, I would certainly not consider the many Indo-European languages of Eastern Europe and Asia such as the Slavic, the Baltic, the Indo-Aryan and the extinct Tocharian tongues as being in any way based in Western Europe, as being considered as “Western” and not as “Eastern” languages and in particular since there also is the problematic at best attitude shown by Victor Stevenson in The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages that Western is obviously to be preferred to Eastern.

Therefore, academically speaking, I should definitely be only rating The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages with two stars, but because Victor Stevenson’s text actually does not ever make any annoying academic pretences and that there is also a sufficiently detailed bibliography included, I will be rating The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages with a rather grudging and low three stars (but no, if a potential reader is actually looking for a linguistically based and themed serious introduction to the Indo-European languages, The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages is most definitely a bit of a failure).

[Wander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting, but I don't think it's best read from cover to cover, as I did. It's a book made for perusal. Also, the lack of a section on Futhark, Germanic runes, is disappointing.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book immensely.
The opening section was rather dry but it did set the scene for what was to follow. The later chapters helpfully linked the movement and development of words with the movements of people and history. It was peppered with amusing links and asides.
My variable proficiency with English, French and German is supplemented with knowledge of Sanskrit -derived Nepali and this augmented the enjoyment.
Although my knowledge of history is weak I was yet able to appreciate how historical factors affected the development and decline of languages.
Along the way were intriguing insights into many things: for example the early constraints on moveable type when printing was first developed.
The story of English and the influence of American English were particularly fascinating and a challenge to my Old World bias.

[Evergreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It kind of makes me wonder if learning Latin, Spanish, and German first will actually make learning to speak French more easier. A lot of people had told French is the hardest language to learn, but the way the author describes how every region borrowed "loanwords" from others it makes one feel as though learning a new language would be easy and fun. I also love the way Stevenson speaks about the history and gives the reader a clear understanding of how the languages of other countries came about in literature. I most definitely learned more than I thought I would while reading this book and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Melissa Embry]

The edition of Words: The Evolution of Western Languages, I read was published in 1983 and is showing its age both in discussions of no longer existing countries such as Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union and in its no longer politically correct terms. However, its discussion of the history and interrelations of European languages is still fascinating even to this non-specialist.

[Vera Versteeg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly relevant - and readable - after 40 years. It feels very sensitive to various cultures influenced by this family of languages. I would love to see an update of where these languages stand in the present.

[Sari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boek uit 1984

[Geri Hoekz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for the amateur lingophile. Stevenson takes a subject that some people might consider dry (I realize that not everyone is a language geek!) and makes it fascinating, due in great part to his lively writing style.

[Kitty Red-Eye · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit on the short side about each language/language family, but nice overview of the Indo-European languages through the ages. Good illustrations as well, wish I had this book when I was younger - maybe I would have been inspired!

[Zea Wintersong · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gotta love the study of the Indo-European mother language. Western language study at it's finest. It's my bathroom reading book, since it's a little dense to digest on the couch or before bed.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous book. Entertaining and fascinating.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interessant, men hadde trengt litt oppdatering på bl.a. geografi. Litt lenge siden den ble skrevet.