Lorna Gibb was born and grew up in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire. She has a PhD in Linguistics from Edinburgh as well as a BA and MA from the University of London. She's currently an Associate Professor at the University of Stirling but has worked at universities in London, Hertfordshire, Essex, Qatar, Monaco and France. Before going to University, Lorna worked as a professional dancer in Italy and the UK. She also worked in the City of London as an IT programme manager and consultant, for several years, and as a journalist. Together, with her husband Alan, she's lived and worked in Qatar, Spain, Italy and the UK, and before she was married, she lived in Austria and the Netherlands for a few months, as well as Paris and Helsinki for a year. She is childless and has written about the reasons for this in a recent book (Childless Voices, Granta). Lorna has four cats, a Bengal, a rescue Khau Manee and two adoptees from Dubai.

The most delightful parts of Rare Tongues are the most eccentric... extremely interesting.

• 1: Latin and How Languages Develop 2: Khoisan - The Languages with Many Sounds 3: Lost and Reclaimed 63 4: Languages and Ecosystems: An Environmentalist Vocabulary 5: Plains Sign Talk - The Sound of Silence 6: Whistled Languages 7: Rare Tongues in Europe: Sicilian, Corsican, Catalan, 8: Language in Conflict 9: Language Revival 10: Dare to Speak Your Language: Guarani and Gaelic Conclusion: Conclusion Appendix: A Note on Some Linguistic Terms and the Idea of Linguistic Universality

Lorna Gibb was born and grew up in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire. She has a PhD in Linguistics from Edinburgh as well as a BA and MA from the University of London. She's currently an Associate Professor at the University of Stirling but has worked at universities in London, Hertfordshire, Essex, Qatar, Monaco and France. Before going to University, Lorna worked as a professional dancer in Italy and the UK. She also worked in the City of London as an IT programme manager and consultant, for several years, and as a journalist. Together, with her husband Alan, she's lived and worked in Qatar, Spain, Italy and the UK, and before she was married, she lived in Austria and the Netherlands for a few months, as well as Paris and Helsinki for a year. She is childless and has written about the reasons for this in a recent book (Childless Voices, Granta). Lorna has four cats, a Bengal, a rescue Khau Manee and two adoptees from Dubai.

The most delightful parts of Rare Tongues are the most eccentric... extremely interesting.

• 1: Latin and How Languages Develop 2: Khoisan - The Languages with Many Sounds 3: Lost and Reclaimed 63 4: Languages and Ecosystems: An Environmentalist Vocabulary 5: Plains Sign Talk - The Sound of Silence 6: Whistled Languages 7: Rare Tongues in Europe: Sicilian, Corsican, Catalan, 8: Language in Conflict 9: Language Revival 10: Dare to Speak Your Language: Guarani and Gaelic Conclusion: Conclusion Appendix: A Note on Some Linguistic Terms and the Idea of Linguistic Universality