Guide To 14 Asiatic Languages

The author thinks that this handbook will smooth the path of some of the many English-speaking travelers who will, in the very near future, visit the newly awakened East. It may seem presumptuous to claim that one small book will be of real service as a guide to the thousand tongues of Asia. But it is surprising how far the dozen linguae francae of the East will serve the wanderer even in remote places. Arabic, Turkish and Persian between them will take him along all the shores, and through most of the interior, of the great region known as the Middle East, from North Africa to the frontiers of India. In India itself there are reckoned to be some two hundred languages and many more dialects; but the traveler is not likely to get into difficulty if he commands a few words of Hindustani (Urdu), Bengali and Tamil. Moreover, Asiatic languages are certainly no more difficult than European ones. Notes are given in the book do not profess to cover the grammars of the languages concerned, but it should be possible for the beginner into construct simple sentences with no more aide then they provide. So, this book is good for the travelers to the East