The Loom of LanguageIt is at the same time a history of language, a guide to foreign tongues, and a method for learning them. It shows, through basic vocabularies, family resemblances of languages--Teutonic, Romance, Greek--helpful tricks of translation, key combinations of roots and phonetic patterns. It presents by common-sense methods the most helpful approach to the mastery of many languages; it condenses vocabulary to a minimum of essential words; it simplifies grammar in an entirely new way; and it teaches a languages as it is actually used in everyday life. But this book is more than a guide to foreign languages; it goes deep into the roots of all knowledge as it explores the history of speech. It lights up the dim pathways of prehistory and unfolds the story of the slow growth of human expression from the most primitive signs and sounds to the elaborate variations of the highest cultures. Without language no knowledge would be possible; here we see how language is at once the source and the reservoir of all we know. |
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adjective affixes agglutinating alphabet Anglo-American Aryan called Celtic century characteristic Chinese common consonants constructed language corresponding DANISH DUTCH GERMAN dative declension definite article derivatives dialects dictionary direct object distinction ENGLISH FRENCH SPANISH ENGLISH SWEDISH DANISH English verb English words equivalent Esperanto European languages expressions feminine flexion foreign FRENCH SPANISH GUESE gender genitive grammar grammarians Greek guage helper verbs homophones idiom illustrated Indo-European Indo-European languages infinitive interlanguage Interlingua Italian language planning Latin latter linguistic logograms masc masculine meaning ment modern neuter noun Novial Old English particles phonetic plural PORTU Portuguese preceding prefix preposition pronunciation recognize Romance languages root rules Sanskrit Scandinavian script Semitic sentence sing singular sound SPANISH GUESE ITALIAN speak speech spelling spoken suffix SWEDISH DANISH DUTCH syllable symbols tense forms Teutonic languages thing third person tion vocables vocabulary Volapük vowel Vulgar Latin word order writing