The Atlas of Unusual Languages - by Zoran Nikolic & Collins Books (Paperback)

About the Book

The ideal gift for anyone interested in language, geography and people.

We communicate through the spoken and written word and language has evolved over the centuries. Many languages have survived although only in small pockets throughout the world. This book explores a selection of those languages.

Book Synopsis

We communicate through the spoken and written word and language has evolved over the centuries. Many languages have survived although only in small pockets throughout the world. This book explores a selection of those languages and some that have now been lost forever. Selection of languages included;

ISLANDS OF LANGUAGE ISOLATES
- Basque language, Spain/France
- Ainu, Japan/Russia
- Burushaski, Pakistan
- Huave language, Mexico
INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGE ISLANDS
- u er-Sandevo; Selemlija, N. Macedoniae
- Trinidadian French Creole, Trinidad & Tobago
- Y Wladfa, a Welsh colony in Argentina
- Cornish language
- Vakifli, Turkey
- Bolze language of Switzerland
NON-IE LANGUAGE ISLANDS IN EUROPE
- Ugric languages
- Gagauz language
- Kalmyk Oirat language
LANGUAGE ISLANDS AROUND THE WORLD
- Yele language, Rossel Island, Papua New Guinea
- Formosan languages
- Kumzari language, Oman
"WEIRD" LANGUAGES
- Polari language, UK
- Shelta traveller language of Ireland
EXTINCT LANGUAGE ISLANDS
- Sumerian language
- Potato Germans in Denmark
- Crimean Gothic

These and many more instances are captured in this fascinating book full of strange language intrigue.

Review Quotes

shortlisted for the 2021 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award

About the Author

Born in an area of constant political change in what was once Yugoslavia and is now Serbia, Zoran Nikolic saw the impact political change had on people's daily lives. This interest in geography extended outside Eastern Europe and became a lifetime fascination with borders and political geography.