Tell your friends about this item:
The Book of Babel: Words and the Way We See Things Nigel Lewis
Our customers say:
The Book of Babel: Words and the Way We See Things
Nigel Lewis
This extended essay-lexicon celebrates the creative confusion of the world's languages as they interact in overheard "echoic" words, muddled popular etymologies, & the misunderstandings among cultures. This book examines the amazing & amusing "category mistakes" of metaphor. Why are whitecapped waves "white horses" in English, "sheep" in French, & "little goats" in Spanish? What is the connection between birds nests, baskets, & friendship? Eggs & eyes? Focuses on a single location to show how multiple meanings arose from the mixed & immemorial activities of peasant life. Shows ancient patterns of perception & prejudice at work as well as the resourceful power of the mind to reap a rich crop of meaning from a small seedcorn of words.
| Media | Books Paperback Book (Book with soft cover and glued back) |
| Released | March 1, 1995 |
| ISBN13 | 9780877454960 |
| Publishers | University of Iowa Press |
| Pages | 310 |
| Dimensions | 150 × 230 × 30 mm · 480 g |
| Language | English |
More by Nigel Lewis
Show all
More from the same publisher
See all of Nigel Lewis ( e.g. Paperback Book , CD and Hardcover Book )