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Fascinating language explorations with a global reach

Babel: Around the World In 20 Languages
by Gaston Dorren
(Profile Books, £14.99)

IT SEEMED like far-flung whimsy when Douglas Adams created the Babel fish, a universal language translator, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

[[{"fid":"9451","view_mode":"inlineright","fields":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-inlineright","data-delta":"1"}}]]The idea is nonetheless revisited in Gaston Dorren’s whirlwind tour of mother tongues, in which the author suggests that the silicon translator being developed by Google could help bring English’s status as a lingua franca to an end.

It’s one of many fascinating facts and ideas detailed in his book, which explores the world’s 20 most widely spoken languages. Learn these, Dorren notes, and the speaker will be able to communicate with three-quarters of the world’s population. It’s a mind-boggling figure at a time where there are approximately 7,000 living languages.

Liberation webinar, 30 November2024, 6pm (UK)
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