Descripciones mejoradas de Syndetics:

Este libro cuenta la historia del español desde quiénes la hablan. Qué han hecho para que un romance surgido al norte de España acabe siendo una de las primeras lenguas del mundo.

Este libro no narra la historia de una lengua en sí misma, sino de quienes la hablan. No se preocupa por lo que ha sido la pronunciación del español, lo que ha sido de su gramática o de sus palabras a través del tiempo. Narra lo que ha hecho cierta gente para que un romance surgido al norte de la península ibérica ocupe, al cabo de mil años, un puesto entre las grandes lenguas del mundo. Es una historia donde no faltan peripecias curiosas, aventuras y casos novelescos.

Gente de Cervantes considera también el proceso de confluencia lingüística al que asistimos en la actualidad, por el que progresivamente un mayor número de personas será capaz de entenderse en un menor número de lenguas. Con ello se crean cauces para una comunicación lingüística más sencilla, segura y económica. Se reflexiona sobre la contribución, responsabilidad y futuro del ámbito hispanohablante en tan particular circunstancia humana.


ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

The People of Cervantes, the Human History of the Spanish Language

This book tells the story of the Spanish language through the eyes of those who speak it. What had to happen so that a romance that came about in the North of Spain could become one of the most important languages in the world?

This book does not tell the story of a language in itself, but of those who speak it. This book doesn't focus on or worry about pronunciations in Spanish, its grammar, or its variation of words over time. It tells what certain people have done so that a romance arisen in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, a thousand years later can occupy a place among the world's great languages. It is a story where there is no shortage of curious incidents, adventures, and odd happenings of the times.

Gente de Cervantes / The People of Cervantes also considers the process of linguistic convergence that we are living in today, by which a greater number of people will progressively be able to understand each other in a smaller number of languages. This creates channels for a simpler, safer, and cheaper linguistic communication. It reflects on the contribution, the responsibility, and future of the Spanish-speaking sphere, in such a particular occurrence.

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Publishers Weekly Review

A professor of Spanish at the Universidad Autonoma of Madrid, Lodares (El paraiso poliglota [The Polyglot Paradise], Taurus, 2000) has worked with eminent scholars in the field of Hispanic linguistics, including the late Rafael Lapesa and Yakov Malkiel. Here, he examines the sociohistorical environment in which Spanish has been spoken from its beginnings to the present day. Although the book doesn't follow a strict chronology, its coverage of both geography and epoch is exhaustive. Lodares includes a forecast of the vitality of Spanish among the world's ever-diminishing pool of languages and predicts that it will keep its status alongside English and Mandarin as one of the top three languages in number of speakers. He also discusses current problems that could prevent Spanish from being a language of power and prestige. Accessible to the non-specialist, and reminiscent of works for a similar audience by U.S. linguists John McWhorter, Deborah Tannen, and Steven Pinker, this book is packed with fascinating details presented in a humorous tone. As the title suggests, the reader becomes acquainted with the people, ordinary and famous, who have spoken and written in Spanish over the course of 1,000 years. Recommended for any library or bookstore with a section on Spanish linguistics. Laura Callahan, Univ. of California, Berkeley Law (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved