Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English by John McWhorter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars




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 I loved this book--linguistics is a big interest of mine, and McWhorter brings it to my layman's level, with lots of humor thrown in. I started reading it in print, but decided to get the audiobook so I could hear the pronunciations of the many foreign words in there. He focuses on the evolution of the English language by way of the intermixing of cultures and people learning new languages as conquered or immigrant populations. He shows how linguists usually only look at written texts to trace the evolution of languages, without considering the history of the colloquial spoken word. This is not surprising because it is much more difficult road to follow. It often requires familiarity with less common languages and the ability to compare and connect the dots. His knowledge of Welsh, Norse, and other more obscure tongues allowed him to see the huge influence these languages had on modern English, and why English is so unique among the Germanic (and world) languages. He is also an entertaining narrator on the audiobook!