The Prodigal Tongue

2018-04-10 Language Arts & Disciplines

Author : Lynne Murphy
Release : 2018-04-10
Genre : Language Arts & Disciplines
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 881/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Prodigal Tongue by : Lynne Murphy

Download or read book The Prodigal Tongue written by Lynne Murphy. This book was released on 2018-04-10. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CHOSEN BY THE ECONOMIST AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR An American linguist teaching in England explores the sibling rivalry between British and American English “English accents are the sexiest.” “Americans have ruined the English language.” Such claims about the English language are often repeated but rarely examined. Professor Lynne Murphy is on the linguistic front line. In The Prodigal Tongue she explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and American English. By examining the causes and symptoms of American Verbal Inferiority Complex and its flipside, British Verbal Superiority Complex, Murphy unravels the prejudices, stereotypes and insecurities that shape our attitudes to our own language. With great humo(u)r and new insights, Lynne Murphy looks at the social, political and linguistic forces that have driven American and British English in different directions: how Americans got from centre to center, why British accents are growing away from American ones, and what different things we mean when we say estate, frown, or middle class. Is anyone winning this war of the words? Will Yanks and Brits ever really understand each other?

The Prodigal Tongue

2008 Education

Author : Mark Abley
Release : 2008
Genre : Education
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 222/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Prodigal Tongue by : Mark Abley

Download or read book The Prodigal Tongue written by Mark Abley. This book was released on 2008. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The wild, wacky, and sometimes baffling road of the English language and its astonishing evolution is the subject of this evocative and thoughtful, yet always lively, book for anyone who cherishes the words they use.

Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue

2009-10-27 Language Arts & Disciplines

Author : John McWhorter
Release : 2009-10-27
Genre : Language Arts & Disciplines
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 944/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by : John McWhorter

Download or read book Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue written by John McWhorter. This book was released on 2009-10-27. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 one lively history. Covering such turning points as the little-known Celtic and Welsh influences on English, the impact of the Viking raids and the Norman Conquest, and the Germanic invasions that started it all during the fifth century ad, John McWhorter narrates this colorful evolution with vigor. Drawing on revolutionary genetic and linguistic research as well as a cache of remarkable trivia about the origins of English words and syntax patterns, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue ultimately demonstrates the arbitrary, maddening nature of English— and its ironic simplicity due to its role as a streamlined lingua franca during the early formation of Britain. This is the book that language aficionados worldwide have been waiting for (and no, it’s not a sin to end a sentence with a preposition).

Watch Your Tongue

2018-10-30 Language Arts & Disciplines

Author : Mark Abley
Release : 2018-10-30
Genre : Language Arts & Disciplines
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 298/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Watch Your Tongue by : Mark Abley

Download or read book Watch Your Tongue written by Mark Abley. This book was released on 2018-10-30. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Phrases, idioms, and clichés—why do we say the things we say? Watch Your Tongue explores weird and wonderful everyday sayings and what they reveal about us. Do you ever wonder why you shouldn’t have a cow but you should seize a bull by its horns? Who has the better reputation in language—cats or dogs? Do you sometimes feel that our speech is all smoke and mirrors or that our expressions simply make no sense? In Watch Your Tongue, award-winning author Mark Abley explores the phrases, idioms, and clichés of our everyday language. With wit and subtle wisdom, he unravels the mysteries of these expressions, illuminating the history, tradition and stories behind everything we say. Pulling examples from Shakespeare’s plays to sports team names, ancient Rome to Twitter, Abley shares samples and anecdotes of the eccentric ways that we play with, parse, and pattern language. Why do so many companies use fruit for their brand names? What do politicians mean when they say they’re going to “drain the swamp”? Why does English use chickens to signify cowardice? Abley dives into the history and psychology behind these examples and countless others, unpacking their significance (and sheer absurdity) to show how our language developed, where it is headed, and what we can learn about ourselves from it. Whimsically illustrated, easily browsable, and full of catchy sidebars, Watch Your Tongue celebrates how we amuse ourselves with words and what our sayings reveal about the way we see the world.

The Prodigal

2014-09-09 Poetry

Author : Derek Walcott
Release : 2014-09-09
Genre : Poetry
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 414/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Prodigal by : Derek Walcott

Download or read book The Prodigal written by Derek Walcott. This book was released on 2014-09-09. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott's The Prodigal is a journey through physical and mental landscapes, from Greenwich Village to the Alps, Pescara to Milan, Germany to Cartagena. But always in "the music of memory, water," abides St. Lucia, the author's birthplace, and the living sea. In this book of poems, Derek Walcott has created a sweeping yet intimate epic of an exhausted Europe studded with church spires and mountains, train stations and statuary, where the New World is an idea, a "wavering map," and where History subsumes the natural history of his "unimportantly beautiful" island home. Here, the wanderer fears that he has been tainted by his exile, that his life has become untranslatable, and that his craft itself is rooted in betrayal of the vivid archipelago to which, like Antaeus, he must return for the very sustenance of life.

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