11 books for those interested in linguistics

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Fascinating popular science literature about the modern Russian language and its history, awarded with the "Enlightener" award.

1. "Linguistics from Aristotle to Computational Linguistics", Vladimir Alpatov

The most recent book on this list lifts the veil of secrecy over linguistic cuisine. The author of more than 200 works in this area explains what linguists actually do, what interests them, why they travel to remote places on our planet and write new computer languages.

A guide to linguistics from its inception to the present day explores the everyday side of the issue, allowing you to look at science as a historical process with a human face.

2. "What is it about", Irina Levontina

The sequel to the book "Russian with a Dictionary" is a collection of short stories about the great and mighty. Lewontina tells what a linguistic norm is and how it changes, why clichés appear and what are the fundamental differences between, at first glance, synonymous words.

There have been several editions of this book, and it is better to choose the latter, which is more complete and up-to-date.

3. "Purely Russian", Marina Koroleva

The author explains difficult cases and the most popular words today - both in speech and in writing.

The presentation format is a dictionary one, where a separate example is analyzed on each page. Thanks to this, the book can be read from anywhere and quickly find the information you need. Often, the analysis is preceded by a story from life, which makes you wonder how correctly we interpret the meaning of a known word, using it in one context or another.

4. "How the names of rivers and lakes appeared: popular hydronyms", Ruth Ageeva

Reading for those interested in hydronymics - the section of toponymy that explores the origin of the names of water bodies - or did not even know such a word before.

Ageeva convinces that the names store in themselves valuable information about the past of all mankind, and their study allows you to learn history through language. What is behind the word "Baikal"? Why are there so many more Black rivers in the world than Yellow and Blue rivers? The answers often surprise and amaze, allowing you to take a fresh look at familiar names and better understand word formation.

5. "Tutorial for Albansky", Maxim Krongauz

Another award-winning book by Krongauz. This time, the linguist explores Internet vocabulary, telling curious stories of the transition of words and expressions popular on the Web into modern Russian.

Krongauz understands how the Internet is changing the language and whether it is necessary to be afraid of it. Active users note the thorough study of the topic by the author and the almost complete absence of inconsistencies.

6. "Do we know Russian?" (2 volumes), Maria Aksyonova

A two-volume book, each book of which is devoted to a separate topic. It will appeal to those who like to delve into the history of linguistics and follow their oral speech.

In the first book, a Russian publisher and author of TV programs about the Russian language understands the origin of words. Aksenova proves that in most cases the story of a word can be more exciting than a popular novel. The second book is devoted to catchphrases, and after it your language will automatically become more figurative and rich.

7. “Dictionary of buzzwords. The linguistic picture of our time ", Vladimir Novikov

Prose writer, critic and Doctor of Philology Vladimir Novikov was the first of his colleagues to create witty essays on words that reflect today's linguistic picture of the world. How did the word "dosvidos" appear? What is the meaning of "discourse" today? Novikov sets out his versions, which can be argued with, but can hardly be called unfounded.

The “dictionary” in the title should not scare you away: this is not a boring text, but a lively and original one. The book is more like a work of fiction than a reference book. The author looks at linguistic processes in oral speech with humor, which is often lacking by recognized scientists, and the dictionary only benefits from this.

8. "Russian with a dictionary", Irina Levontina

Small essays from the popularizer of linguistics Irina Levontina are an example of a woman's view of the nature of language.

The text is like a guide to everyday speech that we hear every day on the subway, at work, at home, on TV, but we don't always attach importance to it. With the inherent observation of women, Lewontina notices how the language is changing, analyzing the speeches of politicians, advertising texts and the manner of communication adopted in different social strata of modern Russia. The author insists that any changes are not a reason for grumbling, but a sure sign that the language lives and develops, as well as our worldview.

9. "Why are languages so different?", Vladimir Plungyan

A professor at Moscow State University and an employee of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences released a sample of high-quality Russian non-fiction. This is a book about modern linguistics, and it deals with different languages. But the Russian, as a native, is given a place of honor. The author tells how many languages exist, according to what laws they change, how Russian actually differs from Chinese and why nouns need cases, and verbs need moods.

This entertaining scientific pop was conceived as a book for children (Plungyan masterfully speaks simply about the complex), but after its release, it found an instant response from adults.

10. "From notes on amateur linguistics", Andrey Zaliznyak

Known for his fundamental work on the text "The Lay of Igor's Campaign," in this book Zaliznyak exposes the pseudolinguists Anatoly Fomenko and Mikhail Zadornov, because of whom many have a false idea of the history of the language and the origin of words. The author is sure that professionals should deal with this issue. And it successfully proves it.

A critical look at the judgments of amateur philologists gives the book the same poignancy that keeps the reader's attention from the first to the last page. At the same time, there is no reason to doubt the arguments of the author himself.

11. "The Russian language is on the verge of a nervous breakdown", Maxim Krongauz

A well-known linguist and teacher on the Internet has collected his articles on the issues of modern language under one cover. Krongauz does not act as an all-knowing professional who sprinkles with incomprehensible terms and draws unobvious conclusions, but looks at the language from the position of an enlightened layman. This brings the author closer to the reader, allowing the latter to independently notice interesting changes in vocabulary and grammar, follow the change in linguistic norms and highlight the main words of the era.

The book has been reprinted several times, and it is better to read the last version - it is very different from the previous ones, since it takes into account the linguistic phenomena of recent years.