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Language Families of the World

By: John McWhorter,The Great Courses
Narrated by: John McWhorter
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Summary

Language, in its seemingly infinite varieties, tells us who we are and where we come from. Many linguists believe that all of the world’s languages - over 7,000 currently - emerged from a single prehistoric source. While experts have not yet been able to reproduce this proto-language, most of the world’s current languages can be traced to various language families that have branched and divided, spreading across the globe with migrating humans and evolving over time.

The ability to communicate with the spoken word is so prevelant that we have yet to discover a civilization that does not speak. The fitful preservation of human remains throughout history has made tracing the ultimate origin of sophisticated human cultures difficult, but it is assumed that language is at least 300,000 years old. With so much time comes immense change - including the development of the written word. There’s no doubt that over centuries, numerous languages have been born, thrived, and died. So how did we get here, and how do we trace the many language branches back to the root?

In Language Families of the World, Professor John McWhorter of Columbia University takes you back through time and around the world, following the linguistic trails left by generations of humans that lead back to the beginnings of language. Utilizing historical theories and cutting-edge research, these 34 astonishing lectures will introduce you to the major language families of the world and their many offspring, including a variety of languages that are no longer spoken but provide vital links between past and present.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 The Great Courses (P)2019 The Teaching Company, LLC

What listeners say about Language Families of the World

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Great but two niggles

Really enjoyable lecture series. I had two niggling complaints after finishing. The first was that McWhorter only ever adopts a pejorative tone when describing the effects of empires when the imperialism was done by people with white skin, e.g. the British or the Russians. He skips every opportunity to moralize when it's brown-skinned folks who did the raping, enslaving, and language-diversity-destroying. The second was that in the final lecture he missed an opportunity to discuss the South American khipu as a form of writing which may rival cuneiform for antiquity based on recent archeology.

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14 people found this helpful

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John McWhorter does it again!

This course provides a detailed introduction to the languages of the world, roughly following the path of human migration as the species left East Africa. You’ll learn how experts know or guess that certain languages are related into what they call “families,” what shared characteristics each family has, and the debates between “lumpers” and “splitters” about whether certain families exist at all. McWhorter carefully selects some of the most interesting languages out there, most of which you will never have heard of, and explains their bizarre idiosyncrasies. It’s fairly intellectual, yes, but uncomplicated enough that you can listen while you are doing something else.

But what makes this course a real gem is McWhorter’s amazing delivery. He’ll have you laughing out loud as he explains the facts through his trademark non-sequiturs, rambling Grandpa Simpson stories, sound effects and cast of “Hanna Barbera” voices. His running gag about the “the coconut languages [hums Aloha Oe]” had me giggling every time. He knows exactly how to make the facts entertaining, and exactly what information to skip over because it’s too boring.

Yes, John, we *would* like to go to one of your dinner parties.

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9 people found this helpful

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At times annoying jokes

Prof McWorther is trying a bit too hard to be funny. Some of his jokes are really rather childish and hearing him imitating voices is rather embarrassing and at times annoying. The content, however, is incredibly fascinating.

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Engaging!

John McWhorter is a great narrator and keeps you interested in his field.
I love the way he's travelled around the world in language following the accepted pattern of human migration. it's great!

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Captivating

What a fantastic tour of the language groups of the world delivered in a very interesting and engaging manner. Definitely going to listen to other books in this series and related topics. I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

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All of John McWorter’s lectures are worth getting

He’s funny, interesting and informative and I’ve enjoyed every lecture series he has done with the great courses. This series takes a tour round the language families of the world so it’s more of a general survey than some of the others which talk more about the way languages develop.

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Excellent

I really enjoyed listening to this. The author is entertaining and I learned a lot.

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Fascinating listen, delightfully performed

John McWhorter makes this a total pleasure to listen to. It is constantly fascinating, and I learned probably hundreds of things I didn't know.
He presents it in such an engaging and fun way as well. It's such a joy to listen to him talk with such passion and knowledge.

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Can see why this guy is a narrator, not a comedian

The voice he puts on during lecture two was equal parts irritating and garbled.
Zero stars, I'll read a book instead.

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Fascinating and very informative

I was rather blown away by this book and all the nuggets of information it passed on. I found it fascinating. The presentation was lively, maybe a teeny bit OTT at times, but nothing you wouldn't expect from a lecture at university. John's honest about his own biases in the subject, and decent about those who disagree.
Anyone wanting to invent a language for a fictional world should listen to this and get depressed at the options!

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