> From: nicole perrin
> Subject: Re: query: where to start?
>
> Well, if you want to learn some about the structures of other languages
> without reading a whole grammar on them, maybe you'd want to check out
> (or buy) a book like Comrie's The World's Major Languages or Lyovin's An
> Introduction to the Languages of the World. The former is the better
> book but they're both really neat. They have short essays on a whole
> bunch of different natlangs so you can learn about the more interesting
> parts of their grammars and then steal them!
Haven't seen the latter, but can join Nicole's recommendation of the former.
Once you've gone through this compendium, start collecting as many "Teach
Yourself ..." books as you can find. These are great for "tasting the
grammar of a language without having to delve too deep. Great sources of
ideas. I have a whole shelf full of them.
David
David E. Bell
The Gray Wizard
dbell@graywizard.net
www.graywizard.net
"Wisdom begins in wonder." - Socrates