cover image Gente de Cervantes, Historia Humana del Idioma Espanol = The People of Cervantes, the Human History of the Spanish Language

Gente de Cervantes, Historia Humana del Idioma Espanol = The People of Cervantes, the Human History of the Spanish Language

Juan Ramon Lodares. Santillana USA Publishing Company, $21.95 (238pp) ISBN 978-84-306-0423-4

A professor of Spanish at the Universidad Autonoma of Madrid, Lodares (El paraiso poliglota [The Polyglot Paradise], Taurus, 2000) has worked with eminent scholars in the field of Hispanic linguistics, including the late Rafael Lapesa and Yakov Malkiel. Here, he examines the sociohistorical environment in which Spanish has been spoken from its beginnings to the present day. Although the book doesn't follow a strict chronology, its coverage of both geography and epoch is exhaustive. Lodares includes a forecast of the vitality of Spanish among the world's ever-diminishing pool of languages and predicts that it will keep its status alongside English and Mandarin as one of the top three languages in number of speakers. He also discusses current problems that could prevent Spanish from being a language of power and prestige. Accessible to the non-specialist, and reminiscent of works for a similar audience by U.S. linguists John McWhorter, Deborah Tannen, and Steven Pinker, this book is packed with fascinating details presented in a humorous tone. As the title suggests, the reader becomes acquainted with the people, ordinary and famous, who have spoken and written in Spanish over the course of 1,000 years. Recommended for any library or bookstore with a section on Spanish linguistics. Laura Callahan, Univ. of California, Berkeley Law