Linguaphile is part memoir and part essay. I took an early childhood language acquisition course in college which was really interesting, so I was excited to read this book to learn more about how language shapes us. I really enjoyed the way Sedivy wove personal anecdotes and reflections with the science of language learning. It made the information/research easier to understand. I would recommend this book to anyone with an appreciation for languages.

Julie Sedivy’s Linguaphile is a series of very long essays about the author’s experience with learning languages and her love for languages.

The author draws a lot from her personal and professional experience as a linguist. The book is very well researched, but that wasn’t really evident when I was reading it because the bibliography and citations are not mentioned until the very end, so for most of the book, it felt that the author was drawing her own conclusions instead. A lot of statements felt like it was stated to be truth when it really does just reflect upon the author’s own experiences.

I also thought that the author’s use of flowery language and metaphoric prose was quite excessive, as well as her segues into her divorce and proceedings. This book really could have benefited from editing, and it wasn’t immediately clear that this is less about the study of linguistics and more personal essays/memoir format.

However, there are some wonderful ideas about languages and how it enriches your life and changes your perspective about your relationship to different cultures, and the author is a thoughtful and introspective author.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publishing team at Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing a complimentary eARC for review.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an independent, honest review.

I love learning new languages and learning about how to learn new languages, so this book was right up my alley. I'm fascinated by the author's learning so many languages throughout her life, and I really enjoyed the way she wove her own story into the science of language acquisition.

Highly recommend this book for anyone who likes languages!

I really love this. But this is not a quick read--you have to be in the right mood and surrounding to be able to immerse in its beauty. Word after word after word can either take you to literary dreamscape or surfeit, so it took me some time to finish this, but even after a long break I always find something mind-blowing about language in particular that pushes me to rethink the way I view things. Because language is more than jumble of letters spoken or written within certain nationality; it is also miracle of birth, passage of time, and death. And the message often carries with me, like when I was riding my bicycle and suddenly I remembered a part in this book that talks about how language is propagation of our limbs, like vehicles.

The story is divided into three section, each has its own writing style as if demonstrating word manipulation that is discussed here--walk the talk, I see--and I really appreciate that. The blurb is right about it being part non-fiction part memoir, matching scientific theories with reality. If you are a multilingual speaker too like the author, you can relate to the struggle and privilege. As someone with English as their second/foreign language, when syntax, poetry structure, or any grammar related are explained, I needed a minute or two to digest the info, but the way Sedivy points them out brings me to recognize what's so special about it.

A must read for lovers of reading, speaking, and language.

Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for providing an ARC of this book.

Linguaphile is an interesting deep dive on linguistics and language acquisition, part memoir, part monograph, written by Dr. Julie Sedivy. Released 15th Oct 2024 by Macmillan on their Farrar, Straus and Giroux imprint, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

The author has an exquisite command of the language and the prose is often poetic and moving. She has a lot to say about language, how we acquire it, how we use it, and how it can enrich us and our interactions with one another.

It's not academically rigorous, in fact, it's perfectly accessible for average readers. It is, however, well annotated throughout and the references the author uses are mostly from academia and will require more effort to access and interpret.

This is one for nonfiction readers, and is exceptionally well written, moving, and often profound.

Four and a half stars. It would make an excellent acquisition for public or post-secondary school library, for home use, or possibly for a book club study.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Thank you to the author, Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Language and communication are essential building blocks to relationship, and having grown up with two languages - neither of which I can explain grammar for, but would consider myself fluent - and having learned three more, this seemed like a book that would be a perfect fit for me. Parts of it resonated deeply, e.g. the cultural commentary, but I did find that much of that material devolved quickly into broad generalizations. Some of the scientific evidence was fascinating, but some was very dry. The memoir was the largest part of the book, creeping into both of the other categories and shading them, which certainly made it more personal, but also tended to be more prejudicial. Overall, this was not quite what I expected, but it was an interesting read.

happy pub day and thank you to the publishers for an arc!

this was a beautifully written ode to languages - learning them, hearing them, and how they make their way into our lives. how and when language comes to us and then leaves our hearts. i enjoyed how this was written and sedivy's writing style - it was lyrical and beautiful and a matter of fact, like we were reading her inner thoughts while also learning something new. and i truly did learn so much from reading this, which i really appreciate! i also appreciated how this was a more nuanced take on languages and their impact - there wasn't a linear direction to this book and instead sedivy took us on a ride that reflects how expressive and dynamic languages are in itself. while definitely filled with sedivy's expertise as a linguistic, this wasn't so intimidating to read as it was also filled with the author's own personal moments and story, to which language of course played a great part. this is definitely a book that i can see myself coming back to, more so because of the wonderful writing, but also because of how it's filled with so much knowledge and merit!

Though I only took one Linguistics class as an English undergrad, I still recall it being one of the most fascinating classes I've ever taken. This book proves exactly why: languages-- how they are acquired, how they function, how they affect societies-- is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

The passion that Julie Sedivy has for language really blew me away, and her love for it translated so well into the pages. From admiring the way that languages roll of the tongue to questioning how important word fillers like "um" and "uh" actually are... I loved every page of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I thought the way that Sedivy put together this book was unique and her love of words shone through. With parts written almost as a language love letter to her mother, Linguaphile captures the beauty of language and the concepts of how it draws us together, and sets us apart.

Between her methodical and chronological breakdown of her research, you can find many essays of her life and experience of how language guided her life from a very early age. Though I enjoyed reading about her personal experience, I really enjoyed the segments about her research on language and communication both of the animal and human kingdoms.

**Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.**

True to its premise of being part memoir, part scientific exploration, and part cultural commentary---Linguaphile celebrates and lingers on the immense power of language and the web it weaves between people and time. Sedivy dips in and out of her personal relationships with her family and herself, breaks down her fascination and holds us by the hand as she walks us through the intricacies of language. Indeed, languages have their own codes, secrets, and ways of interpreting and sharing meaning of the world. It bonds our minds and inner thoughts to the outer world. It grounds our minds and can help us prolong our claim on life and resist a little longer against death. A specific language evokes certain senses and feelings more strongly, colour memories differently, and may always be tied to a certain person in your mind. To deny its far-reaching effects, to put yourself down from mastering one, if not more, because of your age, are disservices to yourself. If one has any appreciation of languages, this book would appeal well to that interest.

Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with an e-ARC/DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Growing up multilingual, Sedivy loved language. She would be a writer.
That is, until she walks into a Linguistics class and sees a world opened up. There's science behind language. She now loves language, and the science of it.
We share a passion for language. Like her, part of my curriculum at University was Psycholinguistics. (and sociolinguistics, and several other classes, so there's more differences than overlap there) I cannot judge other readers' love for language, but Sedivy's is clear from the page. If you pick up this book thinking this is your next memoir, you are wrong. She tells us how she acquired languages (moving from one country to the other) how it felt to be lacking in the dominant language, and what people conclude from that fact. She lets you know there's love, and a divorce, but these chapters too are all written focusing on the language used, explaining how users of language add meaning to words, and deduct meaning from sentences and as a reader you are no closer to knowing the details of her marriage falling apart (and yet, it's there, she wrote it, even why it did).
Sedivy reaches meno-pause in her memoir, and grasps with words sometimes failing her.
Again, her book talks about her life in a few sentences, and paints it in with lots and lots of research - I found it to be compelling, fascinating (even though sometimes I knew about it, because of my own background) and very readable. She writes with a certain distance about her life, if you agree she writes about her life at all, and I realised it worked for me. The last chapter, the most personal one, left me with moist eyes (I will not spoil anything, but will tell you "moisture" is generally thought to be an "ugly word").

A beautiful book about growing up and growing old with language

I received an eARC from NetGalley in return for my honest opinion.

As a person who loves learning languages, I loved this book.

It was very interesting how the author managed to share her expertise and knowledge, in a very easy and manageable way to understand. Although I love languages but I certainly don't know it all so I always appreciate when others share their experiences and knowledge through books like Linguaphile.

Thank Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Netgalley, for the free ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

Wendy

When I first started this book, I thought it would be about language acquisition - as in, acquisition of languages. Julie Sedivy starts with explaining how she came to know so many of them, after all. But it turned out to be about acquisition of Language (singular, capital L), as well as all other ways in which we humans inhabit Language and are haunted by it.

Part memoir, part nonfiction, these essays are definitely informed by the author's long career as a psycholinguist, but are also written so beautifully that they can be read just for the pleasure derived from literary prose. I have discovered a glitch in myself, however: after three degrees that all included some coursework and tons of academic reading on topics related to those discussed here, I realized that my mind just automatically slips into skimming mode when seeing the keywords. And it was so funny because this is something Sedivy discusses in one of the essays, the need to slow down to be able to feel the beauty of linguistic utterings. I do not know if they are planning to make an audiobook of this text, but I think that would be the best way to interact with it.

The essays are grouped into three sections, roughly following the general narrative arc from acquisition of meaning, through mature use of language, to the idea of its loss. But they can be read out of order and one by one as well.

I have received a free eARC of this book through NetGalley; the review above is my independent opinion of it.

I loved Linguaphile! It’s beautifully written and a fascinating look into language and how we acquire it, interpret it, and use it - whether written, spoken, or signed. It made me reflect on my own relationship with language, particularly as a bilingual person who used one language at home and another in school from a young age.

Throughout the book, the author also addresses links between language and social norms; for instance, how men and women are perceived as speakers when using the same linguistic signals, and how communication styles and interpretation can differ around the world. In doing so, she includes many different insights and perspectives from various cultures, age groups, and genders as well as the use of signed languages and Protactile language.

Rather than being a solely academic text, Linguaphile is part-memoir. I feel that this personal aspect and outlook makes a book like this more accessible to a wide range of readers, who will be able to compare and contrast with their own life experiences of, and relationships with, language. For those who want to dive deeper into the world of linguistics, there is a comprehensive list of sources in the Notes section at the end of the book.

I think this is a book I’ll be returning to, and it’s certainly one I would be happy to recommend to anyone with an interest in languages and communication!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. All views are my own.

A Love Letter from the author to Language - that is simply how i felt when reading this book. it was interesting to read about how language evolves as we grow and experience and how meanings change. An interesting read.

Linguaphile is a treat for the minds of everyone who has ever felt captured by the magic and mystery of language. Julie Sedivy imparts her expert knowledge of linguistics in a way that is digestible and enlightening, inviting readers into her world; they leave forever changed.

3.5 ⭐
As a linguist, Julie Sedivy tries to understand how spoken language comprehension works.
As a child who grew up speaking four languages, she is well aware of the way language can shape a life and is linked with love and relationships. To communicate is to negotiate meanings; we cannot do this without merging our minds with each other.

"Linguaphile" is part memoir, part essay. It takes us through research findings on how we learn to speak and how we use language to connect. Do not worry though—you do not need an academic background to keep up with it. And if you wish to read further on this topic, you can find an explanatory reading list at the end of the book!
However, at its heart, this is also a tender and emotional tribute to the people and connections that shaped Sedivy into the person she is today.

Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for the ARC!

Thanks to NetGalley and FSG for the ARC!

Dr. Julie Sedivy’s "Linguaphile" is a poppy celebration of language that favors simplicity over substance.

Sedivy has a remarkable ability to synthesize basic linguistic concepts into a manageable package, reframing them in accessible terms. That said, this is probably a better book for readers who haven’t put much thought into language, as the author often reduces these ideas to generalizations that amount to “Isn’t reading magical?!?!” or “There’s a lot of subtext in language.” To be clear, these are important points, and I appreciate the journey Sedivy takes us on to get to them, but it feels like a hike that promises a waterfall and delivers a creek—they feel trite because of their extended setup.

The later sections of the book feel more fruitful, as Sedivy writes directly about some of her research. In particular, her exploration of syntax in “The Rectilinear Movement of Time” is exciting and informative, perfectly threading the needle between analysis and simple language philosophy. Likewise, I found all the discussion of her eye-tracking studies to be really fascinating, though it’s quickly undermined by a (frankly) meanspirited take on the dissolution of the author’s marriage. It’s a pivot that feels indicative of the book’s larger issues.

All of the memoirish scaffolding that Sedivy uses begins to obscure her actual points, which feels like a betrayal of the audience, the author, and the form. Good memoir is tacitly built on the premise that writers will dignify everyone they write about with honesty, including themselves. That means depicting people in all their kindness and cruelty; it means recognizing one’s own faults as much as one’s strengths. In "Linguaphile," the author constantly reminds readers that she has been exceptional her whole life, whereas many of the people surrounding her have not. In a different book, these topics might feel at home, but here, they read more like this was the only outlet the author could find to air her frustrations. Similarly, her reliance on art and poetry often feels ill-informed and under-developed, distracting from the discussion rather than clarifying it.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t feel that Sedivy’s authorial strengths lend themselves to the tone and style she uses in "Linguaphile." It’s a matter of subjective taste, but she writes with a performatively elevated diction, similar to what you might hear in a graduation speech or a TedTalk. It's a manufactured "artfulness." In those short-form outlets, it might be a powerful approach, but it can’t sustain hundreds of pages here. It's disappointing because I’m certain that if I took a class with Dr. Sedivy, she would be one of my favorite professors; I probably would have loved this book as a freshman linguistics student too—it’s just that her communication style doesn’t translate well to print.

With all of those caveats in mind, I think this book is probably a great choice for readers who want to reflect more on the mysteries of language. It likely won’t be groundbreaking for most people, but it might be thought-provoking, and sometimes that’s enough!

Also, if anybody asks, I was definitely NOT energized by the section on sentence diagrams. (ugh, I love sentence diagrams.)

Linguaphile is a book for language lovers written with beautiful language by a woman who obviously lives for it. Sedivy weaves her personal story through the somewhat academic book, keeping it accessible. Appropriately, her gift of language shines throughout.

Description
A celebration of the beauty and mystery of language and how it shapes our lives, our loves, and our world.

If there is one feature that defines the human condition, it is language: written, spoken, signed, understood, and misunderstood, in all its infinite glory. In this ingenious, lyrical exploration, Julie Sedivy draws on years of experience in the lab and a lifetime of linguistic love to bring the discoveries of linguistics home, to the place language itself lives: within the yearnings of the human heart and amid the complex social bonds that it makes possible.

Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love follows the path that language takes through a human life—from an infant’s first attempts at sense-making to the vulnerabilities and losses that accompany aging. As Sedivy shows, however, language and life are inextricable, and here she offers them together: a childish misunderstanding of her mother’s meaning reveals the difficulty of relating to other minds; frustration with “professional” communication styles exposes the labyrinth of standards that define success; the first signs of hearing loss lead to a meditation on society’s discomfort with physical and mental limitations.

Part memoir, part scientific exploration, and part cultural commentary, this book epitomizes the thrills of a life steeped in the aesthetic delights of language and the joys of its scientific scrutiny.

My Take:

The strength of this book comes from the study of linguistics and the beauty and tension from having the ability to engage in language: from sign language to one's mother tongue to "foreign" languages. I think this is a good book to introduce oneself to study of linguistics, and to contemplate one's own relationship to language.