"Kauderwelsch" (was: LUNATIC SURVEY: 2005)
| From: | Roger Mills <rfmilly@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Saturday, February 26, 2005, 17:46 |
|---|
Andreas Neumann wrote:
>I love to study other languages. In the German speaking area there's a
series of little books (called "Kauderwelsch" which means gibberish). Every
issue deals with a language and presents the grammar, some vocabulary,
useful phrases and a little background on the respective society. I think
there are almost 200 issues. I don't want to spend all my money on these
books (they are not so cheap), but from time to time I add a new issue to my
collection. So far I have Bahasa Indonesia, Finnish, Irish-Gaelic, American
Slang, Modern Latin, Maltese, Quechua and Hungarian.>
Ha! Not a very complimentary title, but an interesting concept. I suppose
the nearest thing in English is the Teach Yourself....books. Or the more
professionally oriented "Great Languages" series that various University
presses occasionally undertake (but don't usually continue for very long
:-(( ). Scholars in the USSR used to publish lots of little "XXXskij yazik"
books, mainly minority langs. but also others, like Khmer and Bugis.
As for conlangss, I guess our websites are comparable.
Reply