Lingering Questions On Language Addressed By A Crafty Book

 

 

Are you fascinated by the science of language?  

If you love the English language, but have questions about it, read Why Is This A Question? Everything About The Origins & Oddities Of Language You Never Thought To Ask, by Paul Anthony Jones.   

“The chapters that follow answer 20 questions such as this, ranging from the basics of our language, defining our words and languages themselves, through some of the more famous quirks of the English language, and finally casting a more philosophical eye over the inner workings of language and human communication,” writes Jones.   

The book raises and answers some quirky questions about the language, such as why doesn’t English classify its words into genders anymore, while other languages, like Spanish, continue to do so?  

It asks us, “What is language?” and “Where do languages come from?” Some of the answers are filled with theories and logical guesses, so we don’t necessarily get all of the answers we could hope for. Inventive conjecture will have to do for now.   

According to Jones, “The dawn of recognizable language can be dated to around 45,000 years ago.”  

There is a lot of linguistic sleuthing taking place here, but it's fascinating to even have a working theory on the mysteries of language.   

English may have the most words, more than any other language. But the original words came from where?  

“Go back far enough in time.” writes the author, “However, and surely all our words were at one point invented out of nothing. According to Max Miller’s ding-dong theory, our very first words were our ancestors’ instinctual responses to the world around them; they had no etymological basis other than a metaphysical resonance with nature.”   

For the curious intellect, Why Is This A Question?, readers will learn of theories, histories, and facts about the building blocks for books.  

I’ll leave you with one more tidbit that I found super interesting: Jones says about two-fifths of the world’s languages have no written form. Think about that.  

Do You Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator! 

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,800,000 page views. With 5,500+ posts over the past 14 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs  by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2026.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum