3/12/22

fascinating book about words. problems of translation. changes in meanings across cultures, words that don't exist in other languages. how we think and how words shape what we think. ( )

Tthis is a fascinating look at what language DOES, what its parameters are in social terms. I thought this book was really interesting when I read it in the 1970s, and I have changed my opinion not one whit. Interesting.

But not sparkling! Dry writing is, one supposes, inevitable in books on such po-faced topics as why language works the way it does. I don't really understand why the academic world has such animus towards wit in writing! It's possible to be informative and amusing, just look at Brian Greene's "The Elegant Universe."

Still and all, it's a recommended read for anyone who feels language is more than just sounds to fill up silence. You'll come away from reading the book with an entirely altered approach to each conversation you have. ( )

Well, it took me two years, but I finally finished this book. It's a wonderful book, really, which gives a survey of linguistics. There are sections on early childhood language development, attitude change with language, pidgin languages... I mean it's just amazing. I'm really interested in languages but you don't have to be to read this book. It's not too technical, and it's not boring at all. Farb really made a scholarly subject really interesting.

Some very interesting parts:
Glossolalia (speaking in tongues)
Playing the dozens
Japanese-American housewives giving different answers to the same questions asked in Japanese then in English
Common sounds for mother and father among languages
"'Twas Brillig" and how it was translated into different languages
The etymology of "ketchup"

The great thing about this book is that I could pick it up and put it down for quite a while but then just pick it back up again. I definitely recommend getting this book, even if it means keeping it in your bathroom collection. If you don't now, by the time you finish one section of Word Play, you will recognize language as the fascinating thing it is. ( )