Is That a Fish in Your Ear?

Fülszöveg

P^ 'PLEASE READ
BRILLIAXT BOOK'
GUARDIAN
INDEPENDENT
'A richly original cultural history A book for anyone interested in words, language and cultural anthropology, m«*- BeUos's fascination with his subject is itself endlessly fascinating'
ECONOMIST
'Enthralling A, wonderful celetration of the sheer diversity of language and the place it occupies in human endeavour. Conducted ty a man who clearly knows his stuff, it is a whirlwind tour round the highways and fcyways of translation in all its glorious forms'
SCOTSMAN
THE TIMES
Hs That A Tlihln Your Ear? is, spiced with good and provocative things. At once erudite and unpretentious [it is a] scintillating bouillabaisse'^ LITERARY REVIEW


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Fülszöveg

P^ 'PLEASE READ
BRILLIAXT BOOK'
GUARDIAN
INDEPENDENT
'A richly original cultural history A book for anyone interested in words, language and cultural anthropology, m«*- BeUos's fascination with his subject is itself endlessly fascinating'
ECONOMIST
'Enthralling A, wonderful celetration of the sheer diversity of language and the place it occupies in human endeavour. Conducted ty a man who clearly knows his stuff, it is a whirlwind tour round the highways and fcyways of translation in all its glorious forms'
SCOTSMAN
THE TIMES
Hs That A Tlihln Your Ear? is, spiced with good and provocative things. At once erudite and unpretentious [it is a] scintillating bouillabaisse'^ LITERARY REVIEW


¦ I',,
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' • i 1 ¦ ' I-.; 1 -.1 i ¦ ^ : 1 r, li' : ¦ . ' I; , j I 1 ¦ ¦ ¦ 1 ¦ -i M d ¦' ' ; 'r ¦ ¦ U
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People different
and always have. The Ancient Greeks took no notice of anything unless it was said in Greek; the Romans made everyone speak Latin; and in India, people learned their neighbours' languages - as did many ordinary Europeans in times past (Christopher Columbus knew Italian, Portuguese and Castilian Spanish as well as the classical languages). But today, we all use translation to cope with the diversity of languages. Without translation there would be no world news, not much of a reading list in any subject at college, no repair manuals for cars or planes, and we wouldn't even be able to put together flat pack furniture.
Is That a Fish in Your Ear? across the
whole of human experience, from foreign films to philosophy, to show why translation is at the heart of what we do and who we are. Among many other things, David Bellos asks: What's the difference between translating unprepared natural speech, and translating Madame Bavary} How do you translate a joke.? What's the difference between a native tongue and a learned one? Can you translate between any pair of languages, or only between some? What really goes on when world leaders speak at the UN? Can machines ever replace human translators, and if not, why?
The biggest question he asks is this: how do we ever really know that we've grasped what anybody else says - in our own language or in another? Surprising, witty and written with great joie de vivre, this book is all about us, and how we understand each other. Vissza