Language-Its Structure & Evolution

Out Of Print... Cohens study in linguistics is now a classic. Written first in French, it has been translated into Japanese and Chinese, as well as English. In it he examines the origins of language, suggesting connections with the physiological, social and economic evolution of early man; he then compares language structures, the selection and grouping of sounds, and the adoption of grammatical systems that distinguish one language from another. Finally he traces the evolution of the main language groups, taking as his detailed example the changes in grammar, phonology and meaning from early Indo-European, through Latin to modern French. He shows how language changes with social organisation and with great and small movements of history (indeed, it may vary from one village and one decade to another), how the history of language is indeed the hislory of man, and how its study is inextricably connected with that of the other humanities: with psychology and sociology, history and politics. Teachers of history, in short, will find this book as invaluable as will teachers of language, and indeed anyone prepared to allow himself to be fascinated by the connections and differences that exist, and are constantly changing, among words and structures and usages the world over.