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1 Beaverton Reference- Words Phrases and Language


The Mother Tongue

by Bill Bryson

The Mother Tongue Cover

ISBN13: 9780380715435
ISBN10: 0380715430
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

From Powells.com:

"Everything, it seems, is interesting to Bill Bryson. The marvel is that he can make it all interesting to us....Bryson's book, Mother Tongue...is the one that convinced me he could probably write informatively and with humor about anything. I mean, who ever heard of a Linguistics study with laughs on every page?" Dave Weich, Powells.com

Publisher Comments:

With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson--the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent--brilliantly 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 fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.

Review:

"Vastly informative and vastly entertaining....A scholarly and fascinating book." Fred S. Holley, Los Angeles Times

Review:

"Complex and maddeningly illogical though it is, English is spoken by more than 300 million people around the world....Its story has been told before, but seldom as deftly or as memorably....An enthralling excursion....A motherlode of delectable trivia." Burt Hochburg, The New York Times Book Review

Synopsis:

The author of the acclaimed The Lost Continent now steers us through the quirks and byways of the English language. We learn why island, freight, and colonel are spelled in such unphonetic ways, why four has a u in it but forty doesn't, plus bizarre and enlightening facts about some of the patriarchs of this peculiar language.

Description:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 247-255) and index.

About the Author

Bill Bryson's bestselling books include A Walk in the Woods, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, In a Sunburned Country, and The Mother Tongue. He received the Aventis Prize for A Short History of Nearly Everything. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, he now lives in Norfolk, England, with his wife and children.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780380715435
Subtitle:
Author:
Bryson, Bill
Author:
by Bill Bryson
Publisher:
Harper Perennial
Location:
New York :
Subject:
General
Subject:
English language
Subject:
History
Subject:
Linguistics
Subject:
Language arts
Subject:
Form - Essays
Subject:
Cree language.
Subject:
English language -- History.
Subject:
General Language Arts & Disciplines
Copyright:
Edition Number:
1st Bard printing
Series Volume:
no. 48
Publication Date:
November 2001
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
272
Dimensions:
7.96x5.32x.65 in. .45 lbs.
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