Words on the Move: Why English Won't--and Can't--Sit Still (Like, Literally)
John McWhorter
Language
All John McWhorter's books are fun reads for language mavens. This one is arguing that there is no single, unalterable standard for what makes "correct" language. There are a lot of interesting examples of how words and pronunciations that we now consider standard were once considered solecisms. There's also a good, non-technical description of how vowel shifts happen, specifically in the context of the zaniness that is English orthography.
I have a few quibbles with specifics--I think McWhorter's discussion of the modern "like" is incomplete, for example. That didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the book. It probably won't change your life, but it's an enjoyable work on a thought-provoking topic. If you're a strict prescriptivist in matters linguistic, though, it may provoke you to wrath. If so, you're in good company--just not very effectual good company.
Showing posts with label Language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Language. Show all posts
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Monday, February 1, 2016
Book Review: Lingo
Lingo: A Language Spotter's Guide to Europe
Gaston Dorren
Linguistics
The subtitle gives a good idea of what this book is like. For all intents and purposes, it's a hobbyist's identification guide, much like the ones I had as a kid for identifying rocks and seashells. The chapters are short, the facts are interesting, the writing is amusing. There's not much in the way of an overarching thesis or an argumentative stance. In short, IYTTSMSIYPETB. (I liked it very much.)
Gaston Dorren
Linguistics
The subtitle gives a good idea of what this book is like. For all intents and purposes, it's a hobbyist's identification guide, much like the ones I had as a kid for identifying rocks and seashells. The chapters are short, the facts are interesting, the writing is amusing. There's not much in the way of an overarching thesis or an argumentative stance. In short, IYTTSMSIYPETB. (I liked it very much.)
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Book Review: You Talking to Me?
You Talking to Me? The Art of Persuasion from Aristotle to Obama
Sam Leith
Rhetoric
A witty and well-written introduction to the classical theory of rhetoric, with examples and explanations. The glossary of rhetorical terms is particularly useful.
I don't think You Talking to Me will be of enormous practical use to most readers. It's hard to envision sitting around listening to political sound bites and thinking "By Jove! That was a jolly fine zeugma!"
It is, however, an enjoyable way of analyzing and describing how a persuasive argument should work. As usual, the people who would most benefit from reading it are the people least likely to do so; we seem, indeed, to have largely given up on the idea of "persuasion" as a part of public discourse, in favor of mere bombast--the sort of thing that's meant to sound good in short bites, so that the people who already agree with you will have something to agree with you on.
American readers should be warned that You Talking to Me? has a substantial quotient of British cultural references, some of which are quite obscure.
Anyone interested in this topic should run out and buy Gary Wills's Lincoln at Gettysburg, if you haven't read it already.
Sam Leith
Rhetoric
A witty and well-written introduction to the classical theory of rhetoric, with examples and explanations. The glossary of rhetorical terms is particularly useful.
I don't think You Talking to Me will be of enormous practical use to most readers. It's hard to envision sitting around listening to political sound bites and thinking "By Jove! That was a jolly fine zeugma!"
It is, however, an enjoyable way of analyzing and describing how a persuasive argument should work. As usual, the people who would most benefit from reading it are the people least likely to do so; we seem, indeed, to have largely given up on the idea of "persuasion" as a part of public discourse, in favor of mere bombast--the sort of thing that's meant to sound good in short bites, so that the people who already agree with you will have something to agree with you on.
American readers should be warned that You Talking to Me? has a substantial quotient of British cultural references, some of which are quite obscure.
Anyone interested in this topic should run out and buy Gary Wills's Lincoln at Gettysburg, if you haven't read it already.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Book Review: The Secret Life of Words
The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English
Henry Hitchings
Linguistics
This is a book for word mavens, of whom I am one. Does it make your day to discover that the Russian word for a train station (vokzal) derives from a specific train station (Vauxhall) in South London? Do you cherish the knowledge that "robot" is etymologically related to the German "arbeit"? Then The Secret Life of Words is for you.
TSLoW is structured as a chrono-thematic journey through English. It purports to demonstrate how English acquired vocabulary from other language in response to specific circumstances, and to be fair it does some of that.
But, really, it's all about the words.
TSLoW is chatty. It's digressive. It's full of largely useless but enjoyable facts--no human being could possibly remember any appreciable fraction of the etymologies herein. Naturally, I liked it a lot.
Good crossover reads include John McWhorter's Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue and Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way. The first is more learned, but very readable; it's a bit of a favorite of mine. The second is somewhat unreliable--take it with a pinch of salt--but entertaining.
Henry Hitchings
Linguistics
This is a book for word mavens, of whom I am one. Does it make your day to discover that the Russian word for a train station (vokzal) derives from a specific train station (Vauxhall) in South London? Do you cherish the knowledge that "robot" is etymologically related to the German "arbeit"? Then The Secret Life of Words is for you.
TSLoW is structured as a chrono-thematic journey through English. It purports to demonstrate how English acquired vocabulary from other language in response to specific circumstances, and to be fair it does some of that.
But, really, it's all about the words.
TSLoW is chatty. It's digressive. It's full of largely useless but enjoyable facts--no human being could possibly remember any appreciable fraction of the etymologies herein. Naturally, I liked it a lot.
Good crossover reads include John McWhorter's Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue and Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way. The first is more learned, but very readable; it's a bit of a favorite of mine. The second is somewhat unreliable--take it with a pinch of salt--but entertaining.
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