Euskera On The Map

There is an excellent review by Helena Drysdale on the book "Empires of the Word; a language history of the world" by Nicholas Ostler.

It contains this jewel:

It makes good sense to consider the world from a linguistic perspective. A common language gives people not only a means of communication, but also a peg on which to hang their identity, their shared history and sense of future. Most nation states are recent impositions on top of much older linguistic communities. The Basques have been fighting for years to reunite their ancient linguistic unit, which straddles the borders of modern France and Spain. And Britain and America's "special relationship" is based above all on a shared language.

Hopefully the you-know-whos won't find it offensive and call the Basques racist for what Mrs. Drysdale said.

Here is the note at The New Stateman-Books.

You can read the whole article here also.

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