Water, whiskey and vodka by Danko Šipka is a remarkable contribution addressing a broad audience in linguistics and beyond. In this introductory work to Slavic languages, the author combines deep linguistic expertise with masterful storytelling ability. The result, as the subtitle reveals, is a story of how Slavic languages emerged, developed, became standardized, and the bearers of cultural and political significance.

The most noteworthy features of this book are accessibility, conciseness, and wit. They are woven together throughout the three sections and ten chapters of the book and brilliantly epitomized in the title.

As Šipka notes, the etymologies of ‘water’, ‘whiskey’, and ‘vodka’ all have a common Proto-Indo-European (PIE) ancestor. In his diachronic treatment of Slavic lexicon, morphology, syntax, phonology, and accentology, the author explains specific characteristics in terms of how they developed from PIE and Proto-Slavic.

Succinct overviews of historical phenomena are interspersed with hints to language contact between Slavic and other languages which help grasp the sociolinguistic reality of Slavic languages today. Students, early-career researchers, and the interested audience will particularly appreciate insights into research methods as well as the summaries on main takeaways and further reading suggestions at the end of each chapter. All the latter point at the author’s attention to didactics and can serve as an inspiration for instructors of Slavic (socio)linguistics and East European studies.

The author pays close attention to topics at the cutting edge of sociolinguistic scholarship of Slavic languages. These include, for example, the relation between Slavic script systems on the one hand and religious affiliation and national ideologies on the other, language use in post-Soviet Ukraine, Slavic heritage languages, and standard language ideologies throughout Eastern Europe.

This book can prove especially helpful for anyone interested in minority languages, as Šipka does not only focus on the most frequently spoken Slavic languages, but also accustoms readers with Sorbian, Kashubian, Rusyn, and Judeo-Czech, among others.

Next to referring to staple sources in Slavic linguistics, the author makes the reading even more engaging and lively by featuring his own queries as well as anecdotes relying on his longstanding experience as a speaker and researcher of numerous Slavic and other languages. Did you know, for instance, that the National Security Agency once mistook Marshal Tito for a Russian (or possibly Polish) guy? While this testifies to the impressive dialect repository of Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian, you’ll have to read the whole book to discover why.

A compelling, well-rounded introductory book that takes readers on a foray into the fascinating past and dynamic present of Slavic languages and cultures.