Includes index

There are 2,796 languages in the world -- How languages started -- How languages spread and decline -- 1066 and the French invasion of English -- How can you turn thousands of English words into French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, or Dutch -- Language, gender, and sex -- Language incidents that changed history -- Rallying cries of conquest, defiance, or prayer -- Words of love and admiration -- Insults and profanity around the world -- Ethnic slurs and their comparatively innocent origins -- Same sounds, different meanings -- Language survival and survival through language -- Clicks, whistles, gestures, and musical scales -- Counting; fingers, toes, and computers -- Our mysterious alphabet -- An Asian script of subtlety and humor -- Languages lost and found again -- Word frequency and some surprises -- Some evocative names for animals -- Do animals have a language? -- Undiplomatic translations -- What's in a name: places -- What's in a name: people -- The view from the tribe --

There were others before Columbus -- The local coloring of proverbs -- The levels of politeness -- Hello and goodbye -- The world's shortest phrasebook in the most languages -- Odd origins and changing meanings -- Palindromes, nonstop words, tongue twisters, and historic puns -- The language of revolution -- Military codes and linguistic deceptions -- Secret languages, crime, and slang -- Languages in space -- English vs. American -- The export of English words -- Someday, a world language

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