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Mother Tongue: The Story of the English Language
Bill Bryson
€ 14.99
€ 11.82
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Description for Mother Tongue: The Story of the English Language
Paperback. Presenting a tour of English from its mongrel origins to its status as the world's most-spoken tongue; its apparent simplicity to its deceptive complexity; its vibrant swearing to its uncertain spelling and pronunciation, this book covers curious eccentricities that make it as maddening to learn and as flexible to use. Num Pages: 288 pages. BIC Classification: 2AB; CBX. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 196 x 130 x 18. Weight in Grams: 206.
'More than 300 million people in the world speak English and the rest, it sometimes seems, try to...'
Only Bill Bryson could make a book about the English language so entertaining. With his boundless enthusiasm and restless eye for the absurd, this is his astonishing tour of English. From its mongrel origins to its status as the world's most-spoken tongue; its apparent simplicity to its deceptive complexity; its vibrant swearing to its uncertain spelling and pronunciation, Bryson covers all this as well as the many curious eccentricities that make it as maddening to learn as it is flexible to use.
Bill Bryson's classic Mother Tongue is a highly readable and hilarious tale of how English came to be the world's language.
Product Details
Publisher
Penguin Books Ltd
Number of pages
288
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2009
Condition
New
Number of Pages
288
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
ISBN
9780141040080
SKU
V9780141040080
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 5 to 9 working days
Ref
99-99
About Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and grew up there, but has spent most of his adult life in Britain. He has worked for a number of newspapers, including The Times and the Independent. His books on the English language include Mother Tongue and Troublesome Words, both published by Penguin. Bill Bryson is the author of several bestsellers including The Lost Continent, Neither Here Nor There, Notes from a Small Island, A Walk in the Woods, Notes from a Big Country, Down Under, A Short History of Nearly Everything, One Summer: America 1927 and his memoir, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. His most recent bestseller is The Road to Little Dribbling.
Reviews for Mother Tongue: The Story of the English Language
Not only fascinating but extremely funny
Angus Deayton The sort of linguistics I like, anecdotal, full of revelations, and with not one dull paragraph
Ruth Rendell
Sunday Times
A gold mine of language-anecdote, information, curiosity. A suprise on every page... enthralling
Observer
Delightful, amusing and provoking... A joyful celebration of our wonderful language, which is packed with curiosities and enlightenment on every page
Sunday Express
A delightful survey - though with its good humour, wealth of anecdote, and boyish enthusiasm, "romp" would be a better word.
David Crystal
Angus Deayton The sort of linguistics I like, anecdotal, full of revelations, and with not one dull paragraph
Ruth Rendell
Sunday Times
A gold mine of language-anecdote, information, curiosity. A suprise on every page... enthralling
Observer
Delightful, amusing and provoking... A joyful celebration of our wonderful language, which is packed with curiosities and enlightenment on every page
Sunday Express
A delightful survey - though with its good humour, wealth of anecdote, and boyish enthusiasm, "romp" would be a better word.
David Crystal