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Language Families of the World

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Using the tools of linguistics, undertake a voyage of discovery to uncover the origins of language families around the world and the ways languages have developed and changed over time.

Syllabus

  • 01: Why Are There So Many Languages?
  • 02: The First Family Discovered: Indo-European
  • 03: Indo-European Languages in Europe
  • 04: Indo-European Languages in Asia
  • 05: The Click Languages
  • 06: Niger-Congo: Largest Family in Africa I
  • 07: Niger-Congo: Largest Family in Africa II
  • 08: Languages of the Fertile Crescent and Beyond I
  • 09: Languages of the Fertile Crescent and Beyond II
  • 10: Nilo-Saharan: Africa’s Hardest Languages?
  • 11: Is the Indo-European Family Alone in Europe?
  • 12: How to Identify a Language Family
  • 13: What Is a Caucasian Language?
  • 14: Indian Languages That Aren’t Indo-European
  • 15: Languages of the Silk Road and Beyond
  • 16: Japanese and Korean: Alike yet Unrelated
  • 17: The Languages We Call Chinese
  • 18: Chinese’s Family Circle: Sino-Tibetan
  • 19: Southeast Asian Languages: The Sinosphere
  • 20: Languages of the South Seas I
  • 21: Languages of the South Seas II
  • 22: Siberia and Beyond: Language Isolates
  • 23: Creole Languages
  • 24: Why Are There So Many Languages in New Guinea?
  • 25: The Languages of Australia I
  • 26: The Languages of Australia II
  • 27: The Original American Languages I
  • 28: The Original American Languages II
  • 29: The Original American Languages III
  • 30: The Original American Languages IV
  • 31: Languages Caught between Families
  • 32: How Far Back Can We Trace Languages?
  • 33: What Do Genes Say about Language Families?
  • 34: Language Families and Writing Systems
  • By This Professor

Taught by

John McWhorter

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4.6 rating at The Great Courses Plus based on 134 ratings

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