Who is Paul Anthony Jones, the author of the book under review? Is he related to John Paul Jones, the keyboard player in Led Zeppelin? Or was it bass? Why does this book have a question on the cover and not a statement, as all ‘normal’ books? Is it the only question discussed in the book, or are there also other ones that are discussed? If so, does the author provide answers to those questions?
Why didn’t the author finish his university studies in linguistics, to the dismay of his teachers? Why did he then become a freelance writer, who writes about languages? Is it true what he writes about this, that he does not regret the choice, and that he has written at least six books since 2012? Did he write ten books, most of them about languages?
What is he interested in? Only questions or also answers and other topics? How does he fill 296 pages with text? Does he actually know what he is talking about, when he discusses questions, words, language, the origin of languages, the origin of words, the hardest language in the world or why languages have gender? Or when he writes about the origin of number names, the order of the letters of the alphabet, what the difference is between vowels and consonants and why one in English writes I with a capital? Does he think it is a good idea that the letter I has a dot? Why, why, why? What is the reason that the letter q is followed by the letter u, but not always in all languages, and what is the reason for the existence of double letters, the nonexistence of words rhyming with ‘orange’ or that words appear in certain orders? Has he found out how we read, speak, understand and why we use gestures when we talk? Why do all his chapter titles involve a question?
Does he only deal with English or also with many other languages? If he mentions Basque, Gaelic, Berik of Papua New Guinea, and dozens of other languages, all of them to be found in the 11 pages of references, does he really speak them all or has he only read about them?
Is the reviewer of this book cited in chapter 3 dealing with the origin of languages, in connection with what some call the hottest thing in the universe, Basque-Icelandic Pidgin?
Did I learn something from the book, that I bought in some kiosk where it was the only book about linguistics that they were selling? Would you contest it if I say that I did learn quite a bit from it, even in areas in linguistics that I think I know? Do you ask me whether it is written well? Should I say so that I honestly think that the guy is a good writer, with a clear and fluent style? Is this book better and richer or just more narratively attractive than Mikael Parkvall’s Limits of Language? Would I recommend this book, or both books, to people who read English and who want to know about English and the languages of the world? Yes.
Paul Anthony Jones. 2022. Why Is This a Question?: Everything about the origins and oddities of language you never thought to ask. London: Eandtbooks. 978-1783966646
Peter Bakker, is he a business leader who heads the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) as the President & CEO? Or is he that rich guy who married the Russian supermodel Natasha Poly in 2011? Or did he win the Prix Voltaire last year? Or could he be the guy who works at Aarhus University? Or is he a specialist in recycling with 200 million euro on his bank account? Perhaps he is a manager and consultant in The Hague, the Netherlands? Or a Search & Rescue Volunteer in Washington, USA? Who knows? PB or not PB, is that the question?
