Highly irregular : why tough, through, and dough don't rhyme-and other oddities of the English language /
"This book presents an illustrated history of English as told through all the things that are weird about it. Maybe you have been speaking English all your life, or maybe you learned it later on. But whether you use it just well enough to get your daily business done, or you are an expert who n...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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New York, NY :
Oxford University Press,
[2021]
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| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | "This book presents an illustrated history of English as told through all the things that are weird about it. Maybe you have been speaking English all your life, or maybe you learned it later on. But whether you use it just well enough to get your daily business done, or you are an expert who never omits a comma or misplaces a modifier, you must have noticed that there are some things about this language that are just weird. Why are there so many silent letters? Why do we have irregular verbs? The book answers these questions and many more. Along the way, it tells the story of the many influences--from invading French armies to stubborn Flemish printers--that made the English language the way it is today. Both an entertaining send-up of linguistic oddities and a deeply researched history of English, the book is essential reading for anyone who has paused to wonder about this marvelous mess of a language"--Publisher's description. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (viii, 264 pages) : illustrations |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 0197539424 9780197539415 0197539416 9780197616017 0197616011 9780197539422 |