As the first significant anthropological descriptions of northeastern Siberia, the publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, undertaken in the first years of the 20th century, marked not only the beginning of a new era of research in Russia. Jochelson's work The Yakut, for which he draw on results of his earlier fieldwork in that area, was an important milestone for Russian and North American anthropology that provides to this day a unique contribution to thoroughly understanding the cultures of the northeastern Siberia.

This is the very first publication mapping onomatopoeia in the languages of the world. The publication provides a comprehensive, multi-level description of onomatopoeia in the world’s languages. The sample covers six macro-areas defined in the WALS: Euroasia, Africa, South America, North America, Australia, Papunesia. Each language-descriptive chapter specifies phonological, morphological, word-formation, semantic, and syntactic properties of onomatopoeia in the particular language. Furthermore, it provides information about the approach to onomatopoeia in individual linguistic traditions, the sources of data on onomatopoeia, the place and the function of onomatopoeia in the system of each language.

From the foremost authority on history and civilization comes the definitive guide to world cultures--showcasing human diversity in all its vast and startling richness. 235 color photographs and 37 maps.