The Prodigal Tongue

The Prodigal Tongue
Author :
Publisher : Penguin
Total Pages : 370
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781524704889
ISBN-13 : 1524704881
Rating : 4/5 (881 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Prodigal Tongue by : Lynne Murphy

Download or read book The Prodigal Tongue written by Lynne Murphy and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-04-10 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CHOSEN BY THE ECONOMIST AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR An American linguist teaching in England explores the sibling rivalry between British and American English “English accents are the sexiest.” “Americans have ruined the English language.” Such claims about the English language are often repeated but rarely examined. Professor Lynne Murphy is on the linguistic front line. In The Prodigal Tongue she explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and American English. By examining the causes and symptoms of American Verbal Inferiority Complex and its flipside, British Verbal Superiority Complex, Murphy unravels the prejudices, stereotypes and insecurities that shape our attitudes to our own language. With great humo(u)r and new insights, Lynne Murphy looks at the social, political and linguistic forces that have driven American and British English in different directions: how Americans got from centre to center, why British accents are growing away from American ones, and what different things we mean when we say estate, frown, or middle class. Is anyone winning this war of the words? Will Yanks and Brits ever really understand each other?


The Prodigal Tongue Related Books

The Prodigal Tongue
Language: en
Pages: 370
Authors: Lynne Murphy
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-04-10 - Publisher: Penguin

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

CHOSEN BY THE ECONOMIST AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR An American linguist teaching in England explores the sibling rivalry between British and American English �
The Prodigal Tongue
Language: en
Pages: 274
Authors: Mark Abley
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011-04-20 - Publisher: Vintage Canada

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Prodigal Tongue takes a look at the wild, wacky and sometimes baffling road our language–English and others–is taking in its evolution. Where in the wor
Watch Your Tongue
Language: en
Pages: 272
Authors: Mark Abley
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-10-30 - Publisher: Simon and Schuster

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Phrases, idioms, and clichés—why do we say the things we say? Watch Your Tongue explores weird and wonderful everyday sayings and what they reveal about us.
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue
Language: en
Pages: 258
Authors: John McWhorter
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2009-10-27 - Publisher: Penguin

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar Why do we say “I am reading a catalog” instead
The Prodigal
Language: en
Pages: 115
Authors: Derek Walcott
Categories: Poetry
Type: BOOK - Published: 2014-09-09 - Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott's The Prodigal is a journey through physical and mental landscapes, from Greenwich Village to the Alps, Pescara to Milan, Germany t