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Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare
Jeremy Butterfield
€ 16.99
€ 13.47
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Description for Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare
Paperback. Using evidence from the world's largest language databank, the Oxford English Corpus, Butterfield uncovers fascinating facts about the English language. Where does our vocabulary come from? How is our language really being used? How do word meanings change? This entertaining book has the authoritative answers to key questions about our language. Num Pages: 192 pages, Some tables and charts. BIC Classification: 2AB; CBX. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 190 x 135 x 14. Weight in Grams: 214.
How many words are there in the English language and where were they born? Why does spelling 'wobble' and why do meanings change? How do words behave towards each other - and how do we behave towards words? And what does this all mean for dictionary-making in the 21st century? This entertaining book has the up-to-date and authoritative answers to all the key questions about our language. Using evidence provided by the world's largest language databank, the Oxford English Corpus, Butterfield exposes the English language's peculiarities and penchants, its development and difficulties, revealing exactly how it operates. Interpolating his ... Read more
How many words are there in the English language and where were they born? Why does spelling 'wobble' and why do meanings change? How do words behave towards each other - and how do we behave towards words? And what does this all mean for dictionary-making in the 21st century? This entertaining book has the up-to-date and authoritative answers to all the key questions about our language. Using evidence provided by the world's largest language databank, the Oxford English Corpus, Butterfield exposes the English language's peculiarities and penchants, its development and difficulties, revealing exactly how it operates. Interpolating his ... Read more
Product Details
Publisher
Oxford University Press United Kingdom
Number of pages
192
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2009
Condition
New
Number of Pages
186
Place of Publication
Oxford, United Kingdom
ISBN
9780199574094
SKU
V9780199574094
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 4 to 8 working days
Ref
99-1
About Jeremy Butterfield
Jeremy Butterfield has commissioned, compiled, and edited many major English and foreign-language dictionaries, and is a regular contributor to radio and TV discussions about questions of language use. He is particularly interested in how we all help language to evolve, and edited the Oxford A-Z of English Usage (2007).
Reviews for Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare
'This book will be fascinating to those who would really like to find out how the English language is behaving. Clearly written and informative, it is a lively guide to that most creative and challenging language, English'
Alexander McCall Smith
Nice choice of words
Newsweek, 13 December 2008
definitive guide to the evolution of English
... Read more
Alexander McCall Smith
Nice choice of words
Newsweek, 13 December 2008
definitive guide to the evolution of English
... Read more