出版社：Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris
摘要：Only once in a great while does a scholarly work manage tograb the general public’s interest in linguistics with such ahigh degree of scientific rigor and humanistic spirit. Thisbook excels in its scope of investigation, dealing with a vast variety oflinguistic families, Indo- and non-Indo-European alike. The authordemonstrates an impressive ability in working across a constellationof sources, all of which are duly annotated. As a renowned polyglot,Nicolas Tournadre’s linguistic expertise is all the more commendablegiven that he often carries out his analyses in plain French prose accessibleeven by those not trained in the relevant fields of academia.Moreover, it is readily evident that the abundance of first-hand examplessupplied in this book are the fruits of years of field study intargeted communities where the peculiarities of relevant languagesare to be encountered. Clearly, it is the author’s willingness to immersehimself in the culture of others, however much it may be consideredmarginal or insignificant, and his eagerness to interact withpeople via their own modes of communication that form the humanisticbedrock of Le Prisme des Langues
