The Secret Life of Language

This book looks at how language has evolved around the globe from ancestral proto-languages to our recognisable modern tongues. It demonstrates how language has been shaped by social and cultural influences, and even explains how our anatomy affects the articulation, and therefore evolution, of words. Discover the surprising stories behind the origin of the written word, the difficulties of decipherment and the challenge of inventing from scratch languages such as Dothraki.

Combining expert analysis with accessible narrative and fun illustrations, The Secret Life of Language makes even the complex topics of philology, morphology and phonology easy to understand.

The Secret Life of Language uses quirky illustrations, helpful diagrams and clear text to unlock the fascinating workings behind the development of the world's languages. Readers will gain insight into the extraordinary underlying stories and facts about the language (or languages) they speak, as well as those that they perhaps would like to learn.

Language is essential to us all -- spoken, heard, written, read -- no matter which we use. Today, cultures move and meld across the globe in waves of migration taking their languages with them. The Secret Life of Language is sure to pique the interest of all general readers, language learners and those curious about the future of language.

Table of Contents

The anatomy of speech

• The history of communication
• Evolution of the power of speech

What makes up a language?

• Articulation
• Phonetics revisited
• Phonology
• Morphology
• Syntax
• Lexicon
• Language families
• The Indo-European family
• Other language families and proto-languages
• The Romance languages as daughters of Latin
• The Celtic languages
• The Slavonic languages
• The Semitic family
• The Turkic languages
• Languages in the Caucasus
• The African languages
• The languages of Polynesia
• Languages of the Americas
• Languages of South Asia
• Chinese
• Japanese

Writing systems

• The origins of writing
• Cuneiform and hieroglyphs
• Syllabaries
• The dawn of the alphabet
• Other systems of writing (Chinese, Japanese, Runes, Ogham)
• The problems of decipherment
• Unsolved mysteries of decipherment

Languages on the move

• International languages following religious groups
• The languages of Judaism

What next?

• Invented languages, like Klingon
• The future of the human language

"... covers the evolution of modern tongues. Pulleyen presents six chapters that cover global language groups and origins, the mechanics of speech, and expectations for the future of language. The book is chock full of facts, such as the roots and patterns of Semitic languages and how Estonian, Finnish, and Hungarian languages are related. This colorful reference work includes illustrations, diagrams, maps, and photos. Readers can trace language evolution straight through or consult the table of contents to pinpoint topics of interest. This book will appeal to those looking for a fresh approach to understanding language evolution."
- Booklist - Jennifer Adams