A Biography of the English Language

by Celia M. Millward, Mary Hayes

The third edition of A BIOGRAPHY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE continues to examine the structure of English, from its Indo-European pre-history, through the invasions that shaped Old and Middle English, through its speakers' conscious efforts to police it in the Early Modern period, through its present-day transformations manifest in urban slang and text-messaging. The textbook explores three important issues: how languages and language change are systematic; how the inner history of a language is profoundly affected by its outer history of political and culural events; and how the English of the past has everywhere left its traces on present-day English. By uncovering the language's past, one can better use it to communicate as well as speculate about its future use in ever-changing globalized media.

Genres: Nonfiction, Linguistics, History, Language, Reference, Academic, Textbooks

496 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[S. Garland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely boring, extremely fascinating. I've never been so intrigued while snoring. It's like reading your own family history--not particularly impressive, but it's your own and every minutia is grand because it's so much a part of your day to day existence.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tolkien was right that every language needed a history. If you've ever wondered why English is the way it is, the history of the British Isles combined with the unique qualities of sound and meaning in our words can provide logical explanations. Full disclosure: this is a textbook, but it's fascinating stuff.

[Owen Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good read, but I felt unqualified to read it... would help if one knows the International Phonetic Alphabet by heart (or has a reference book close to hand at all times)... I did learn some stuff tho, and don't regret reading it...

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was for one of my favorite classes (probably EVER) and I'm so sad it's over.

[Anatha · Rating 3 out of 5]

8/26/2011 - I'm treating this as a textbook for my History of the English Language class, and we're officially beginning readings today. :) Whether I like this book or not, it's my constant companion until the end of the semester.

12/1/2011 - Though we did not get to go through the entire book this semester for class, I intend to use it for future reference as I pursue my various degrees. It is informative, but I hardly think that it's as readable as an introductory linguistics book. Several topics were heady and difficult to understand due to unhelpful explanations, but I managed to get the hang of it. The external history = fascinating. The internal history = fascinating in a different light, but certainly cumbersome to those that could care less. I found it fascinating but even had to trudge through it at times. However, I'm glad that I read what I did, and if anyone should have any basic questions concerning the origin or certain characteristics of the English language, I'd be happy to recommend them a Biography of the English Language.

[Aurel Mihai · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a textbook, A Biography makes a great read. It isn't just a dry analysis of the language. It places the English language in context among other languages that evolved with it. It gives a good amount of related history. There are many, many fun and interesting facts interspersed throughout the book.

As casual reading, A Biography is sometimes tough to swallow. There are a few long stretches of highly technical grammar lingo and after referring to the glossary four or five times I just gave up and skipped a few pages. I still can't keep straight all the vowel sounds and the phonetic alphabet. I suppose that for somebody who studies this sort of thing regularly it isn't an issue, but the book does seem to try to fill that odd gap between a hard textbook and a fun stroll through history for casual amateurs of the language.

I took it in very small chunks, interspersed it with easier reads and tended to skip bits that dragged on. The vast majority of the book is well worth reading even casually.

[Jamilah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little tedious to read at times, but full of fascinating information nonetheless. (I especially loved the little anecdote about the nickname the French gave the British during the Hundred-Years' War... XD) This book covers Early English, Futhorc, Middle English, Early Modern English, and Present-Day English. I didn't know that we had so many French words in English. o_O

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another really great book on language but obviously deals more specificially with English and it's development over time so there's a lot more specific history and details in it. Still really interesting.

[Miriam]

The history of spoken English and what dialect, pidgin and creole mean. It ends with the recipe for Oyster Mush in Gullah, the last of it is "Mus' don' was' oshtuh mush 'long de chillun. Gib' de chillun aig en' hom'ny." (Children won't appreciate oyster mush. Cook eggs and hominy for them.)

[John Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

everything about english, ever.

[Dave Haskins]

Language,English

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for people interested in a beginner's book on linguistics.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh...its a textbook