- The Mother Tongue (book)
infobox Book |
name = The Mother Tongue
orig title =
translator =
author =Bill Bryson
cover_artist = Tom Curry
country =
language = English
series =
genre =Language
publisher = William Morrow & Company, Inc.
release_date = July 1990
media_type = Print
pages = 279
isbn = ISBN 0-888-07895-8
preceded_by =
followed_by ="The Mother Tongue" (ISBN 0-888-07895-8) is a book by
Bill Bryson which wittily compiles the history and origins of theEnglish language and the language's various quirks. Subtitled "English And How It Got That Way". The book discusses the Indo-European origins of English, the growing status of English as a global language, the complexetymology of English words, thedialect s of English,spelling reform,prescriptive grammar , and more minor topics includingswearing . Bryson's account is a popularization of the subject, designed to entertain as well as to inform, and the book is sprinkled with trivia and language lore.This book has also been published in Great Britain by
Penguin Books under the title "Mother Tongue: The English Language" (ISBN 0-14-014305-X).
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.