An Introduction to the Languages of the World is a text designed to introduce beginning linguistics students, who now typically come to their study with little background in languages, to the variety of the languages of the world.

Lyovin begins by explaining the classification of languages, discussing not only genetic classification but typological and sociolinguistic classification as well. He follows this with an explication of the classification of writing systems. A chapter is then devoted to each of the world's continents, with in-depth analyses of representative languages of Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and America. A separate chapter is devoted to pidgins and creoles. Each chapter includes student exercises and suggestions for further readings.

"The author succeeds in covering a broad range of important and interesting information, and I am not aware of any other work that could serve as an all-round textbook for a course on The Languages of the World". --Bernard Comrie, Linguistics, USC; author of The World's Major Languages (OUP)

"clearly exhibits the author's very considerable erudition in several languages areas". Joseph Grimes, Linguistics, Cornell