Catalog Search Results
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
"Vastly informative and vastly entertaining...A scholarly and fascinating book." —Los Angeles Times
With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language.
From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the
...Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 551
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
The English language is spoken by more than a billion people throughout the world. But where did English come from? And how has it evolved into the language used today? In this Very Short Introduction Simon Horobin investigates how we have arrived at the English we know today, and celebrates the way new speakers and new uses mean that it continues to adapt. Engaging with contemporary concerns about correctness, Horobin considers whether such changes...
Author
Pub. Date
2010.
Language
English
Formats
Description
It seems impossible: a small island in the North Atlantic, colonized by Rome, then pillaged for hundreds of years by marauding neighbors, becomes the dominant world power in the nineteenth century. Equally unlikely, a colony of that island nation across the Atlantic grows into the military and cultural colossus of the twentieth century. How? By the sword, of course; by trade and industrial ingenuity; but principally, and most surprisingly, by the...
Author
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Pub. Date
©2016.
Language
English
Description
"Simon Horobin investigates the evolution of the English language, examining how the language continues to adapt even today, as English continues to find new speakers and new uses. Engaging with contemporary concerns about correctness, Horobin considers whether such changes are improvements--or evidence of slipping standards"--Amazon.com.
Author
Publisher
British Library
Pub. Date
2010.
Language
English
Description
English is spoken or written today by one-third of the world's population--an unprecedented achievement for a language. How has this situation come about? And what happens to a language when it is used by so many? In this illustrated history David Crystal charts the development of the language from the earliest runic inscriptions in Old English, through the emergence of a standard variety of English between 1400 and 1800, to the most modern forms...
Author
Publisher
Michael O'Mara Books
Pub. Date
[2012]
Language
English
Description
This book tells the story of how the English language has developed over the last 15 centuries. Illustrating the compelling history of how the relatively obscure dialects spoken by tribes from what are now Denmark, the Low Countries, and northern Germany became the most widely spoken language in the world, this history also explores how that language evolved during the last two millennia. Chronologically ordered and divided into six main sections...
Author
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Pub. Date
[2024]
Language
English
Description
"Lost origins of words revealed. We like to recount that goodbye started out as "god be with you," that whiskey comes from the Gaelic for "water of life," or that avocado originated as the Aztec word for "testicle." But there are many words with origins unknown, disputed, or so buried in old journals that they may as well be lost to the general public. In Origin Uncertain: Unraveling the Mysteries of Etymology, eminent etymologist Anatoly Liberman...
Author
Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
From new words such as "bling" and "email" to the role of text messaging and other electronic communications, English is changing all around us. Discover the secrets behind the words in our everyday lexicon with this delightful, informative survey of English, from its Germanic origins to the rise of globalization and cyber-communications. Professor Curzan approaches words like an archaeologist, digging below the surface to uncover the story of
...Author
Publisher
Michael O'Mara Books Limited
Pub. Date
[2021]
Language
English
Description
In this highly entertaining book, language enthusiast and Sunday Times best-selling author Caroline Taggart browses through thousands of years of history to shed light on why we use the words and phrases we do. Arranged by themes including food, the household, childhood, romance and more, this intriguing book looks at the origins of our language from their historical context. For example, did you know that: If you rest on your laurels, you’re imitating...
Author
Pub. Date
2008.
Language
English
Appears on list
Formats
Description
A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar
Why do we say “I am reading a catalog” instead of “I read a catalog”? Why do we say “do” at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Language distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into...
Why do we say “I am reading a catalog” instead of “I read a catalog”? Why do we say “do” at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Language distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into...
Author
Publisher
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pub. Date
2011.
Language
English
Description
The English language is a battlefield. Since the age of Shakespeare, arguments over correct usage have been bitter, and have always really been about contesting values--morality, politics, and class. "The Language Wars" examines the present state of the conflict, its history, and its future. Above all, it uses the past as a way of illuminating the present.
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