The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got that Way

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The middle portion of the book gets very involved in examining the evolution of English spellings and pronunciations as it moved from Old English to Modern English, and the further hiving off of American English from British English. Some of this was really illuminating, but the parts discussing the minute details of spelling and grammatical shifts were slow-going unless you are truly a student of the language and I found somewhat less interesting. This was quite a fascinating and entertaining book, up until the point where Bill Bryson claims that Finns don't swear. That when they stub their toes, they say "ravintolassa" (in the the restaurant). Right. I've never heard that expression, but I've sure heard a whole plethora of other fascinating swear words depicting all manner of hell, damnation, and body parts. After all, "perkele, saatana, vittu" are the first three words most foreigners learn and particularly the last one (female body part) is sprinkled into conversation as filler, much like the German word "aber". So that's when the whole book fell apart for me, because if he couldn't get this part right, what other things might he have been wrong about? Earlier I had thought it fascinating that Lithuanian is one of the oldest European languages. I doubt it now. Bill Bryson library opens 200 new study spaces and 'Small Island' café – Palatinate". 21 February 2019.

Over 300 million people speak English in some fashion, and it seems as if all the rest of the world wish they spoke English. English has invaded other languages mercilessly. For years the French resisted introduction of English words into their language, but no more. There are more students of English in China than there are people in the United States. In addition to the history of language, Bryson examines how language functions. He charts its changing pronunciation and spelling and discusses how the language that currently exists today reflects the prejudices of many centuries of printed material. Tracing the influence of Shakespeare and other notable figures in the development of language, he also provides historical and linguistic detail about the first printed books, linguistic studies, and dictionaries of the English language. Seeing Further – The Story of Science and the Royal Society". The Royal Society. 28 January 2010 . Retrieved 5 December 2022. The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way" is a fascinating book written by Bill Bryson that explores the origins and evolution of the English language. Bryson takes readers on a linguistic journey through time, delving into the various events, influences, and quirks that have shaped the English language into what it is today. allerdings ist auch bryson ein kandidat für die selbstverliebtheit zu land, kultur bzw in diesem fall sprache, die ja sowohl in den usa als auch der uk nicht ganz unverbreitet sind.

My only disappointment comes when he mentions things I have already read and got wrong or off the mark. You have to worry a little about what you do not know and if to trust him. Still, it is a fun book. Webster was responsible for the American aluminum in favor of the British aluminium. His choice has the fractional advantage of brevity, but defaults in terms of consistency. Aluminium at least follows the pattern set by other chemical elements— potassium, radium, and the like.” Bill Bryson receives honorary doctorate". King's College London. 14 November 2012. Bill Bryson OBE: the UK's highest-selling author of non-fiction, acclaimed as a science communicator, historian and man of letters.

Well, a sample of two is not enough to go on, apparently because this turned out disappointing, for two primary reasons: Throughout the later Middle Ages, English evolved organically and developed many of its more recognizable features. One such feature was uninflected verbs with stable consonants (in other words, they are mostly the same regardless of gender, tense, case, and mood). Another was the simplification of noun endings to denote plurals (almost all English nouns are today pluralized with the addition of a simple s at the end). The Mother Tongue" has the expected rambling charm of a Bryson nonfiction work. When he becomes enamored on a topic (such as the history of our houses in "At Home" or the history of our universe in "A Short History of Nearly Everything") Bryson digs up all kinds of interesting facts and stories and anecdotes and puts it all together in a delightfully interesting collection of essays. In this book, he discusses the history of the English language, but also the history of languages in general, the history of dictionaries, and many of the odd pronunciations and spellings that are so peculiar to English.We don't normally say "labor", we call it labour. The sole exception is in the name of the Australian Labor Party, which adopted that spelling in the 19th century. In this chapter, we’re going to take our survey of the language beyond the British Isles. We’ll explore how American English came into existence, diverged from British English, and developed its own unique characteristics. Then, we’ll examine how English has evolved as a global language. The Legacy of the British Empire a b c "Writer Bill Bryson remembers his Iowa roots". Ames Tribune. Gannett Co. 28 October 2013 . Retrieved 31 January 2020. wissen: bryson war und ist journalist - und mit dem gleichen eifer geht er auch an seine bücher heran: recherchieren, recherchieren, recherchieren! und das merkt man auch - keine leeren theorien, echtes (erlerntes bzw erarbeitetes) wissen.

Summary: This amusing and informative book surveys the history of the English language and all its vagaries and perplexities of word origins, spellings, and pronunciations and why it has become so successful as a world language. Mr Bill Bryson OBE HonFRS Honorary Fellow". London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. biographical text reproduced here was originally published by the Royal Society under a creative commons licenseOne curious thing: Norwegians supposedly "talk about departing like an Englishman" (p7) Eh, really? Never heard of that. Googling it, I find only quotes from this book. niveau/anspruch: dazu muss man wissen, dass bryson ein sehr hohes bildungs- und sprachniveau hat, das merkt man natürlich auch in seiner schreibweise. er verwendet (fach)vokabular, das man tw nicht einmal in der muttersprache kennen würde. darauf sollte man sich einstellen. Although able to apply for British citizenship, Bryson said in 2010 that he had declined a citizenship test, declaring himself "too cowardly" to take it. [19] However, in 2014, he said that he was preparing to take it [20] and in the prologue to his 2015 book The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island he describes doing so, in Eastleigh. His citizenship ceremony took place in Winchester and he now holds dual citizenship. [15] Writings [ edit ]