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#true #langblr #the lover speaks

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Saeed Jones, How We Fight For Our Lives

#devourrrr

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remembering sarah moldoror, 2020

#sara moldoror #african cinema #art

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jamaica kincaid nearly killed me

#'see now then' not 4 the weak! #jamaica kincaid #bookblr

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Byun-Chul Han, The Disappearance of Rituals

#hmmm

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Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Oil on canvas

#yeah

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#sage

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Fernando Molano Vargas

#fernando molano vargas

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Superlinguo linguistics books master post - fiction and non-fiction

This post is a collection of all the reviews and write ups of linguistics fiction and non-fiction that has appeared on Superlinguo over the years. I’ll add to this post whenever I write a new review.

See also, the separate post of links to linguistics books for young people. 

Non-fiction

Language Unlimited: The Science Behind Our Most Creative Power, David Adger

This example-rich ten chapter volume from David Adger focuses on the unique syntactic capacity of human languages. I wish there were more linguistics professors bringing their A-game to a larger audience like this.

How We Talk, N.J. Enfield

If you did linguistics but never got to study Conversation Analysis, or you want a whistlestop tour of some of the most interesting work to come out of the field in the last couple of decades, this book is certainly worth a visit. 

Women Talk More than Men… and Other Myths about Language Explained, Abby Kaplan

Each chapter takes a ‘myth’ about language and deconstructs it, with careful and critical attention to research.

The Art of Language Invention, David J. Peterson

This book is designed as an introduction to conlanging, but can just as easily be read as an introduction to linguistic analysis, or a refresher if you’re heading back to university and want to polish up on your linguistics vocab.

Secret Language, Barry J. Blake

Blake does a good job of wending his way though an impressive array of topics, explaining things clearly and providing often entertaining examples, but never dwelling too long on any one topic.

You Are What You Speak, Lane Green

Overall this book is a great read, suffused with both enthusiasm for the topic and a desire to not fudge things for the sake of a good anecdote.

Bastard Tongues, Derek Bickerton

Bastard Tongues is part memoir, part linguistic adventure. Until as recently as the 1970s Creoles were dismissed as simple languages, arising from simple communicative needs. Bickerton very quickly shows that this is not the case.

The Information, James Gleick

The first three chapters focus on language and literacy without a bit or a broadband to be seen.

Netymology, Tom Chatfield

Netymology is a romp through the lexicon of the interwebs, with 100 short and snappy entries all focusing on one or two words, their meaning, etymology, origins and changing usage.

A Christmas Cornucopia, Mark Forsyth

If yours is the kind of family that gets a kick out of sitting around guessing the punchlines to the jokes in Christmas crackers, then you’ll get a great deal of entertainment in your post lunch stupor reading and sharing informative gems from this volume.

The Speculative Grammarian Essential Guide to Linguistics

SpecGram takes you a giant leap towards absurdity, often masked by seemly earnest academic rigour. 

Fiction

Some of this is fiction with clear linguistic themes, other times I’ve made a post about reading something like a linguist.

Native Tongue, Suzette Haden Elgin

There are two separate plots that explore linguistic relativity, the first explores the consequences of humans learning languages of aliens with radically different perceptions of reality. The second, and really the core of the book, is the secret organisation of women who are creating their own language to escape the tyranny of the male dominated world.

Babel-17, Samuel R. Delany

The pace is good, the universe isn’t too badly dated and even though there’s a neat ending with regards to some of the plot, there are enough unanswered questions for the reader to build their own conclusions.

Embassy Town, China Miéville

Even if you’ve not studied language or linguistics Mieville guides you though the narrative turns with consummate skill that rarely feels too heavy handed.

New Finnish Grammar, Diego Marani 

The tale itself is a compelling one, but for a word nerd it’s got another layer of intrigue as the Finnish language is a central focus of the story.

Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson

Stephenson goes right to the heart of some of the biggest debates in linguistics in the 20th century, although Hiro doesn’t seem that convinced by Universalism.

Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut

Woven throughout the story are a small number of examples of this ‘dialect’, and while I tried very hard to behave and just enjoy reading the books, I couldn’t help but note them all down.

Short Stories

Repairing the World, John Chu

In a reality that is constantly being invaded by portals to other worlds, linguists are called in to deal with whoever and whatever comes through from the other side.

Polyglossia, Tamara Vardomskaya

Although a work of fiction, it touches on many of the social tensions in the context of endangered languages and efforts to document and revive them.

The Story of Your Life, Ted Chiang

It’s one of the best fictional descriptions I’ve come across of the process to document and capture a language you don’t speak.

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virginia woolf's 1931 new years resolutions : "to have none. not to be tied. to be free & kindly with myself. sometimes to read, sometimes not to read. to go out, yes—but stay at home in spite of being asked. as for clothes, i think to buy good ones."

#say that then gini #virginia woolf

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Me asf

#my hobbies include:

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desde que empecé a ver futbol masculino regularmente tengo esta experiencia curiosa en que no puedo distinguir entre los nombres de futbolistas y de escritores latinoamericanos que he leído. por ejemplo, ayer juré que manuel ugarte era autor de un libro de cuentos cortos

#fijate es jugador de psg... #español #the lover speaks

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estaban preguntando a la gente si preferirían vivir en madrid o en barcelona, y este hombre, casi sin pensar, dijo la cosa más profunda que he oído en mucho tiempo

#donde hay amor y trabajo... tiene razon no? #es muy sencillo #spanish language #espanol #españa #langblr #the lover speaks #quotes

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i love you indigenous languages i love you endangered languages i love you revived languages i love you

#i really do #langblr

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“Everyone go to the library. Every peon, poor man, kolkhoz worker must become a member of the library!” Reading propaganda poster from Soviet Union (1929)

#fair play

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claire schwartz lecture on the history of the house

support me

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i am reading the book you lent to me with so much caution and care ! will not crack a spine will not fold a page. i know what it means.