This innovative introduction outlines the structure and distribution of the world’s languages, charting their evolution over the past 200,000 years. Balances linguistic analysis with socio-historical and political context, offering a cohesive picture of the relationship between language and society Provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the study of language by drawing not only on the diverse fields of linguistics (structural, linguist anthropology, historical, sociolinguistics), but also on history, biology, genetics, sociology, and more Includes nine detailed language profiles on Kurdish, Arabic, Tibetan, Hawaiian, Vietnamese, Tamil, !Xóõ (Taa), Mongolian, and Quiché A companion website offers a host of supplementary materials including, sound files, further exercises, and detailed introductory information for students new to linguistics

Table of Contents:
Map 0.1 World map with language families xi Figure 0.1 IPA consonants xii Figure 0.2 IPA vowels xii About the Website xiii List of Maps and Figures xv Preface xvii Part I Linguistic Preliminaries: Approach and Theory Introductory Note: On Language 1 1 All Languages Were Once Spanglish 3 The Mexican State of Coahuila y Tejas 3 What Is Language? 4 How Many Languages Are There? 6 How and When Did Language Get Started? 9 The Structure of Spanglish 13 Final Note: The Encounter of Spanish and English on Television in the United States 17 Exercises 18 Discussion Questions 20 Notes 20 References 21 Further Reading 21 2 The Language Loop 22 The Australian Walkabout 22 Introducing the Language Loop 23 Language and Cognition 26 Language, the World, and Culture 28 Language and Linguistic Structure 31 Language, Discourse, and Ideology 32 On Major and Minor Languages 33 Final Note: The Contingencies of Time, Place, and Biology 35 Exercises 37 Discussion Questions 37 Notes 38 References 38 Further Reading 39 3 Linguistics and Classification 40 The Role of Sanskrit in Philology 40 Of Linguistics, Philology, Linguists, and Grammarians 42 Genetic Classification 46 Areal Classification 48 Typological Classification 51 Functional Classification 55 Final Note: The Role of Sanskrit in India Today 57 Exercises 58 Discussion Questions 59 Notes 60 References 60 Further Reading 61 Part II Effects of Power Introductory Note: On Power 63 4 Effects of the Nation-State and the Possibility of Kurdistan 65 Lines Are Drawn in the Sand 65 The Status of Language on the Eve of the Nation-State 66 The Epistemology of the Nation-State 69 The French Revolution, German Romanticism, and Print Capitalism 71 Standardization and the Instilling of Vergonha 75 Language and Individual Identity 76 What’s Race Got to Do with It? 78 The Problematic Race–Nation–Language Triad 79 Final Note: The Kurds Today – Different Places, Different Outcomes 84 Language Profile: Kurdî / [Kurdish (Indo-European)] 85 Exercises 90 Discussion Questions 91 Notes 91 References 92 Further Reading 93 5 The Development of Writing in the Litmus of Religion and Politics 94 The Story of the Qur’¨¡n 94 Magico-Religious Interpretations of the Origins of Writing 95 Steps Toward the Representation of Speech 97 Types of Writing Systems 100 Religion and the Spread of Writing Systems 105 The Always Already Intervention of Politics 108 Orality and Literacy 111 Final Note: Azerbaijan Achieves Alphabetic Autonomy 114 Language Profile: [Arabic (Afro-Asiatic)] 114 Exercises 119 Discussion Questions 122 Notes 123 References 124 Further Reading 124 6 Language Planning and Language Law: Shaping the Right to Speak 125 Melting Snow and Protests at the Top of the World 125 Language Academies: The First Enforcers 127 Another Look at Prescriptivism 129 Making Language Official: A Tale of Three Patterns 131 Language Policy and Education: A Similar Tale of Three Patterns 139 Language Planners and Language Police 144 Final Note: Choosing Death or Life 146 Language Profile: [Tibetan (Sino-Tibetan)] 147 Exercises 152 Discussion Questions 153 Notes 154 References 155 Further Reading 156 Part III Effects of Movement Introductory Note: On Movement 159 7 A Mobile History: Mapping Language Stocks and Families 161 Austronesian Origin Stories 161 Population Genetics and Links to Language 162 A Possible Polynesian Reconstruction 166 Linguistic Reconstructions Revisited 168 Proto-Indo-European and Its Homeland 173 Other Language Stocks and Their Homelands 176 Models of Spread 183 Lost Tracks 186 Final Note: On Density and Diversity 187 Language Profile: 'Olelo Hawai'i [Hawaiian (Austronesian)] 187 Exercises 194 Discussion Questions 195 Notes 195 References 196 Further Reading 197 8 Colonial Consequences: Language Stocks and Families Remapped 198 Eiffel Towers in Vietnam 198 Time-Depths and Terminology 199 The Middle Kingdom: Government-Encouraged Migrations 201 Linguistic Geography: Residual Zones and Spread Zones 203 Spreading Eurasian Empires: The Persians, Mongols, Slavs, and Romans 206 Religions as First Nations and Missionaries as Colonizers 213 English as an Emergent Language Family 215 Final Note: Creoles and the Case of Kreyòl Ayisyen 218 Language Profile: Tiéng Việt [Vietnamese (Austro-Asiatic)] 219 Exercises 223 Discussion Questions 226 Notes 226 References 228 Further Reading 229 9 Postcolonial Complications: Violent Outcomes 230 Tamil Tigers Create New Terrorist Techniques 230 What’s in a Name? Burma/Myanmar 232 Modern Sudan: The Clash of Two Colonialisms 235 The Caucasian Quasi-States: Two Types of Conflict 238 Poland’s Shifting Borders 242 Terrorism on the Iberian Peninsula: Basque and the ETA 244 Québécois Consciousness and the Turbulent 1960s 245 The Zapatista Uprising and Indigenous Languages in Chiapas 247 Final Note: The Parsley Massacre in the Dominican Republic 249 Language Profile: Tamil (Dravidian) 250 Exercises 254 Discussion Questions 255 Notes 256 References 257 Further Reading 257 Part IV Effects of Time Introductory Note: On Time 259 10 The Remote Past: Language Becomes Embodied 261 Look There! 261 Seeking Linguistic Bedrock 262 The Primate Body and Human Adaptations to Language 263 Evolution in Four Dimensions 269 The Genetic Story 270 Grammatical Categories and Deep-Time Linguistics 275 Complexity and the Arrow of Time 279 Final Note: The Last Stone Age Man in North America 282 Language Profile: !Xóõ [Taa (Khoisan)] 283 Exercises 288 Discussion Questions 288 Notes 289 References 290 Further Reading 291 11 The Recorded Past: 'Catching Up to Conditions' Made Visible 292 Mongolian Horses 292 Chapter 3: The Invariable Word in English 294 Chapter 4: The Shift to Head-Marking in French 295 Chapter 5: Writing and e-Arabic 299 Chapter 6: Mongolian Cases 301 Chapter 7: Reformulating Hawaiian Identity 304 Chapter 8: Varieties of Chinese – Yesterday and Today 306 Chapter 9: Juba Arabic Pidgin, Nubi, and Other African Creoles 310 Final Note: Language Change in Progress 313 Language Profile: [Mongolian (Mongolic)] 315 Exercises 320 Discussion Questions 321 Notes 322 References 323 Further Reading 323 12 The Imagined Future: Globalization and the Fate of Endangered Languages 324 Gold in the Mayan Highlands 324 Beyond the Nation-State: The Globalized New Economy 325 Money Talks: What Language Does It Speak? 327 When the Language Loop Unravels 329 Language Hotspots 332 Rethinking Endangerment 334 Technology to the Rescue 336 Anishinaabemowin Revitalization in Wisconsin 339 What Is Choice? 341 Final Note: Our Advocacies 342 Language Profile: K'iche' [Quiché (Mayan)] 342 Exercises 347 Discussion Questions 349 Notes 350 References 350 Glossary 353 Subject Index 359 Language Index 373