A Field Guide To The Main Languages Of Europe

"This guide has three aims: it is a summary by language family of the main languages of Europe, it gives practical hints on how to recognise these languages and distinguish between them, and it is meant to encourage you to explore these languages further. Languages covered in this guide: Albanian, Armenian, Azeri, Basque, Belarusian, Bosnian, Breton, Bulgarian, Castilian Spanish, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lëtzebuergesch, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Maltese, Montenegrin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romani, Romanian, Russian, Sámi, Scots Gaelic, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Welsh, Yiddish."--Editor.

Open publication> The Languages and Linguistics ofEurope: A Comprehensive Guideis part of the multi-volume reference work on the languages and linguistics of the continents of the world. The book supplies profiles of the language families of Europe, including the sign languages. It also discusses the areal typology, paying attention to the Standard Average European, Balkan, Baltic and Mediterranean convergence areas. Separate chapters deal with the old and new minority languages and with non-standard varieties. A major focus is language politics and policies, including discussions of the special status of English, the relation between language and the church, language and the school, and standardization. The history of European linguistics is another focus as is the history of multilingual European 'empires' and their dissolution. The volume is especially geared towards a graduate and advanced undergraduatereadership. It has been designed such that it can be used, as a whole or in parts, as a textbook, the first of its kind, for graduate programmes with a focus on the linguistic (and linguistics) landscape of Europe.

With 364 range maps and 96 color plates portraying 548 species, this is the classic field guide to European birds. Covering 698 species, the descriptive text includes information on geographical races, vagrants, and introduced species. Confusing species such as waders, raptors, and warblers have additional notes on how to distinguish them.

Based on Bernard Comrie's The World's Major Languages, this is a key guide to one of the major language families. The areas covered include Germanic languages, English, and Romance languages.

This book tells the story of Western European languages - where they came from, how they developed across the globe, and what still binds them together. However, it does so in a deliberately concise manner; in just a few pages, the user has an immediate platform from which to gain proficiency in any individual language or even in a group of languages. Providing an outline of all major Germanic and Romance languages, ancient and modern, and covering them not just as they have come to be used in Europe but as they have developed across the world, this guide also adds extra insight, interest and intrigue to the language learning journey - and is thus an indispensable reference for any language enthusiast.

Based on Comrie's much-praised The World's Major Languages , this is the first comprehensive guide in paperback to descibe in detail the language families of Eastern Europe, and includes an introduction which surveys the field.