'Bastard Tongues' book review

[katty]

more: http://www.calendarlive.com/books/bookreview/cl-bk-rich30mar30,0,3518.story

BOOK REVIEW

'Bastard Tongues' by Derek Bickerton
A linguist's search among some of the world's most unusual languages for clues to who we are.

By Nathaniel Rich

Bastard Tongues

A Trailblazing Linguist Finds Clues to Our Common Humanity in the World's Lowliest Languages

Derek Bickerton
(Hill & Wang: 270 pp., $26)

SOME linguistic scholars sit at home and analyze field data, others convene demographically vetted test groups, but Derek Bickerton will have none of that cautious bunk. In "Bastard Tongues," his "favorite modus operandi was simply to drive around until I saw a bar I liked the look of." Drunks, he explains, "are the world's most underrated language teaching resource." They speak slowly and with exaggerated care, they often repeat themselves, and they don't mind if you ask them the same questions over and over. He always asks whether they've heard of people speaking a "funny" dialect. Whenever he hears about some isolated village or farming community that has a funny way of talking, he heads there. As soon as he arrives, he finds a bar he likes the look of and begins his night.

[Hekate]

1. Must order that from the Library! It sounds like great fun. nt