Language Families of the World

By: John McWhorter, The Great Courses

Narrated by: John McWhorter

Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's 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

Excellent Overview and Fascinating Details

Another home run from the excellent John McWhorter. Great insights into the languages of the world and their distinguishing features. A great antidote to any notions that Western languages have inherent superiority to others.

A fascinating look at how languages are related

The Great Courses always prove to be as entertaining as they are edifying. Information is broken down into lessons that are small, easily digestible chunks. There's always some interesting esoteric information.

Human Creativity

Could not stop listening, insights on the development of language and challenges faced captivating and the possibility of new languages arising fascinating.

Fascinating!

Absolutely marvelous, this answers so many questions regarding this subject that I have wondered about for a long time. I'm currently giving it a second listen to really let it soak in but I LOVED it!

However, I did have to knock off a star for the instructor's seeming inability to stay put relative to the microphone in several lectures.

Fascinating!

Lessons were very interesting, technical, revealing. It was well worth it. Only sorry he didn’t spend time on Aztec, Maya languages which are still spoken today.

Intriguing History of Language and Its Evolution

A well narrated and intriguing overview of world languages and their shared relationships, the narrator is well versed in the subject of linguistics, and will open your eyes to the commonalities and differences of culture and how communication has evolved throughout human history.

Great Overview

I already have my MA in linguistics and am eyeing a PhD. I found the content absolutely worthwhile and engaging even with a strong background in the material. It was also surprisingly personal, which made it feel more like being in a class with the revered Dr. McWhorter than like listening to an audiobook. Well done, sir.

Incredible

This course is one of the most entertaining ones I’ve found. The speaker knows what he’s talking about and conveys his enthusiasm about a subject that deserves the enthusiasm. He gives great examples of everything he’s talking about too. I love ancient history too and though it wasn’t about that, you get a lot of world history through the movements of languages. I was never disappointed when I turned this lecture series on. I’ll be looking for another similar one right now.

Worthwhile and Fascinating Course

This is the second course by John McWhorter that I listened to. With no previous knowledge of linguistics, I found the new information about language fascinating. The author is a witty and entertaining speaker. My main disappointment is with the present state of linguistics itself. Linguistics is in the state that botany was in 1500. There is no reference to anything that makes use of post renaissance science, other than some checking of hypotheses with human DNA studies at the end. The field is about empirical classifications based on similarity between words in various languages and ideas of how sounds change or are dropped. A lot of time is spent constructing “protolanguage.” This endeavor isn’t much different than the labors of medieval theologians to find out how many angels are on the head of a pin!

Great lecture

This was my first time listening to one of the Great Courses. John McWhorter is undoubtedly a great lecturer and master in his field. He comes off as pretty self important which can be mildly irksome. But he really is a master and therefore I guess he’s entitled to be a bit arrogant. The lecture was worth the time spent listening and I will be trying another one soon.