'Babel' Looks At Language Through The 20 Most-Widely Spoken
Linguist Gaston Dorren's book is endlessly interesting — and you don't have to have any linguistic training to enjoy it: He has a talent for clearly explaining even the most difficult concepts.
For centuries, people have used mythology to try to make sense of the fact that the people of the world speak so many different languages.
One example of the origin story of the "confusion of tongues" comes from the Old Testament — God confounded the language of the people as punishment for trying to build the Tower of Babel, the story goes, which they did in attempt to physically reach heaven.
Linguists are understandablyof them.
