Very Interesting (and not stupid), 19 Aug 2008
Has a comprehensive bibliography for future research, and two sets of indicies so can be used as a text book. However you can also read it as a story book. I was surprised just how fascinating the history and development of the concepts behind each of the words described turned out to be.

Enjoyable and serious, 13 Apr 2008
This is a fluently written and interesting account of English's adoption of words from other languages - ranging from the obvious ones, like French, to the less obvious (Persian, Dutch, Portuguese). It is, as such, a history of English vocabulary, but also, more compellingly, a history of British relationships with other cultures. The subject matter might sound quite academic, but this is an engaging read, lit up by lots of memorable examples. It's a fascinating and thought-provoking take on history.

Very Interesting (and not stupid), 19 Aug 2008
Has a comprehensive bibliography for future research, and two sets of indicies so can be used as a text book. However you can also read it as a story book. I was surprised just how fascinating the history and development of the concepts behind each of the words described turned out to be.

Enjoyable and serious, 13 Apr 2008
This is a fluently written and interesting account of English's adoption of words from other languages - ranging from the obvious ones, like French, to the less obvious (Persian, Dutch, Portuguese). It is, as such, a history of English vocabulary, but also, more compellingly, a history of British relationships with other cultures. The subject matter might sound quite academic, but this is an engaging read, lit up by lots of memorable examples. It's a fascinating and thought-provoking take on history.

Useful, 03 Dec 2008
This book is useful to have with you if like me you are starting things like Open University and it helps remaind you of all the things you may have forgotten since leaving school.

A good quick reference, 09 Aug 2005
The grammar is a little patchy but the punctuation entries are excellent as quick guides (to solve problems when writing or teaching without having to plough through hundreds of pages of 'exceptions' to rules).

Very Interesting (and not stupid), 19 Aug 2008
Has a comprehensive bibliography for future research, and two sets of indicies so can be used as a text book. However you can also read it as a story book. I was surprised just how fascinating the history and development of the concepts behind each of the words described turned out to be.

Enjoyable and serious, 13 Apr 2008
This is a fluently written and interesting account of English's adoption of words from other languages - ranging from the obvious ones, like French, to the less obvious (Persian, Dutch, Portuguese). It is, as such, a history of English vocabulary, but also, more compellingly, a history of British relationships with other cultures. The subject matter might sound quite academic, but this is an engaging read, lit up by lots of memorable examples. It's a fascinating and thought-provoking take on history.

Useful, 03 Dec 2008
This book is useful to have with you if like me you are starting things like Open University and it helps remaind you of all the things you may have forgotten since leaving school.

A good quick reference, 09 Aug 2005
The grammar is a little patchy but the punctuation entries are excellent as quick guides (to solve problems when writing or teaching without having to plough through hundreds of pages of 'exceptions' to rules).

A fascinating read, 17 Dec 2008
What have "women and sticks" to do with "cats and dogs" ? What do "which" and "want" have in common? What is a corpus, and why does it matter ? The answers to these - and many more - questions are all to be found in this gem of a book.

Jeremy Butterfield writes with wit, style and authority on the elusive mysteries of the English language - a subject to which he has dedicated the bulk of his working life. The book is a fascinating and highly informative analysis of how our language is used and how it is evolving.

Highly recommended.

Very Interesting (and not stupid), 19 Aug 2008
Has a comprehensive bibliography for future research, and two sets of indicies so can be used as a text book. However you can also read it as a story book. I was surprised just how fascinating the history and development of the concepts behind each of the words described turned out to be.

Enjoyable and serious, 13 Apr 2008
This is a fluently written and interesting account of English's adoption of words from other languages - ranging from the obvious ones, like French, to the less obvious (Persian, Dutch, Portuguese). It is, as such, a history of English vocabulary, but also, more compellingly, a history of British relationships with other cultures. The subject matter might sound quite academic, but this is an engaging read, lit up by lots of memorable examples. It's a fascinating and thought-provoking take on history.

Useful, 03 Dec 2008
This book is useful to have with you if like me you are starting things like Open University and it helps remaind you of all the things you may have forgotten since leaving school.

A good quick reference, 09 Aug 2005
The grammar is a little patchy but the punctuation entries are excellent as quick guides (to solve problems when writing or teaching without having to plough through hundreds of pages of 'exceptions' to rules).

A fascinating read, 17 Dec 2008
What have "women and sticks" to do with "cats and dogs" ? What do "which" and "want" have in common? What is a corpus, and why does it matter ? The answers to these - and many more - questions are all to be found in this gem of a book.

Jeremy Butterfield writes with wit, style and authority on the elusive mysteries of the English language - a subject to which he has dedicated the bulk of his working life. The book is a fascinating and highly informative analysis of how our language is used and how it is evolving.

Highly recommended.

Wow! So that's how it works!, 10 Dec 2008
A tour de force! Not only has Deutscher produced a rigorous and compelling model of the way languages evolve and mutate, but he communicates this in fluid prose that means this is a great read with none of the linguistic clumsiness we have become accustomed to from the likes of Steve Pinker.

Charles Darwin for the 21st Centtury, 09 Dec 2008
The more one reads about Evolutionary Psychology the more one realises that the critical difference between our species and all others is our language ability. Thus a model for how language might have evolved could tell us a great deal about how our minds have developed. This author presents a coherent and fascinating account of the development of language across the World, from the "me-Tarzan" stage to the present day where there is widespread bemoaning of the destruction of the so called purity of our language. I found it impossible to put down, and is without doubt the most interesting book in the field of evolution that I have read.

Accessible exploration of why we speak as we do, 12 Jan 2008
Very readable account of how language developed, the author has an engaging style and a good way with metaphors which helps the casual reader get a handle on the more complex linguistic stuff. Some slow chapters and it seemed to end rather abruptly, but cleared up a lot of "why do we..?" type questions nicely.

Analysing the uninvented invention, 18 Jul 2005
The author calls language an "uninvented invention". This highly engaging, witty book is an attempt to uncover at least some of the secrets of language and to dismantle the stated paradox. He explains the meaning of `structure', argues that the present is the key to the past & explains why languages do not remain static. By drawing on recent discoveries in linguistics, he explores the forces of destruction, creation and the innate structure of language. It is revealed that the source of grammatical elements like case markers, pre- & post-positions and tense markers is the mundane words like inter alia `hand' and `go'.

Chapter One: Castles In The Air, takes a close look at the structure of language, whilst the following chapter: Perpetual Motion, demonstrates linguistic development and change with particular reference to English, German, French and the Indo-European language family as a whole. Chapter Three: Forces Of Destruction, is a further investigation of how and why changes in sound and meaning take place, with many examples from Indo-European.

Chapter Four examines interesting verbs like "to have/to hold" and the concepts of space & time in linguistic expression. All languages use spatial terms to describe temporal relations, revealing that space-time is deeply entrenched in human cognition. A metaphor is a way of describing something by comparing it to something else, and is an indispensable element in thought-processing. The stream of metaphors flowing through language moves from the concrete to the abstract. Language consists of layer upon layer of metaphors that are as common in plain conversation as in sublime poetics.

Chapter Five: Forces Of Creation, is a discussion of how new words and structures arise, how meanings change and the multiple ways in which languages are enriched by these developments. It was interesting to learn, for example that the conjunction `but' derives from Old English `be-utan' ("by the outside").

Chapter Six looks at the need for order in languages and contains lots of interesting information on the intricate Semitic verbal system. In essence, the effects of erosion interact with the mind's craving for order. There is thus a constant search for regular patterns and spontaneous analogical innovations arise. This is based on erosion + expressiveness and erosion + analogy.

The final chapter brings it all together and includes detailed discussions of the common sources out of which possessives, quantifiers, plural markers & articles may develop, the various interactions of verbs & nouns, and the nuances of action like tenses (past, present, future, continues & completed), and modality (should, ought, etc.). Adverbs and subordinate clauses are also discussed.

In the Epilogue, Deutscher revisits the mind's desire for order and the fact that innovation is based on a principle of recycling. He also discusses the movement towards simplification in the word structure of the Indo-European languages over thousands of years in terms of cyclical & linear time. Proto Indo-European had eight cases for nouns in the singular, dual & plural while the modern daughter languages have few left and there is a marked decline in the fusion of words.

This highly entertaining read is accessible to the non-linguist and explains many fascinating features of language and its structure. There are five appendices, copious notes, a bibliography and glossary of terms. The book concludes with an index. The text is enhanced by figures, illustrations and photographs, including an aerial view of the ruins of & an artist's impression of Hattusa in its heyday plus portraits of the Brothers Grimm and Sir William Jones who discovered the relationship of Sanskrit to Greek & Latin.

Appendix A provides more info on the flipping of word categories with reference to the word `go' which functions both as a verb and an auxiliary marking the future tense. Appendix B revisits the role of laryngeal consonants in the Semitic languages that changed the vowels I and U in their vicinity into A and the consequences of the phenomenon.

The next appendix elaborates on the complicated Semitic verbal templates with reference to how reflexives, intensives, causatives, passives & passive reflexive forms originated. Appendix D looks at how the ambiguity of pronouns as to referent may be solved; for example, by harnessing the emphatic `self' to function as a reflexive.

The final appendix, The Turkish Mirror, deals with the convergence of all languages into two opposing word-order camps. Joseph Greenberg made this discovery in the 1960s. The word-order arrangement results from the positioning of one particular couple, the verb and the object. The early choice between VO or OV determines whether pre- or postpositions will be employed and ripples throughout the entire structure of a language to determine, amongst others, the possessive construction where the two nouns arrange themselves to correspond with pre- or post-positions.

I also recommend On the Origin of Languages & A Guide to the World's Languages by Merritt Ruhlen, A Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler and the work of that great pioneer of language classification, Professor Joseph Greenberg, especially Language Universals & Indo-European and Its Closest Relatives: The Eurasiatic Language Family.

Very Interesting (and not stupid), 19 Aug 2008
Has a comprehensive bibliography for future research, and two sets of indicies so can be used as a text book. However you can also read it as a story book. I was surprised just how fascinating the history and development of the concepts behind each of the words described turned out to be.

Enjoyable and serious, 13 Apr 2008
This is a fluently written and interesting account of English's adoption of words from other languages - ranging from the obvious ones, like French, to the less obvious (Persian, Dutch, Portuguese). It is, as such, a history of English vocabulary, but also, more compellingly, a history of British relationships with other cultures. The subject matter might sound quite academic, but this is an engaging read, lit up by lots of memorable examples. It's a fascinating and thought-provoking take on history.

Useful, 03 Dec 2008
This book is useful to have with you if like me you are starting things like Open University and it helps remaind you of all the things you may have forgotten since leaving school.

A good quick reference, 09 Aug 2005
The grammar is a little patchy but the punctuation entries are excellent as quick guides (to solve problems when writing or teaching without having to plough through hundreds of pages of 'exceptions' to rules).

A fascinating read, 17 Dec 2008
What have "women and sticks" to do with "cats and dogs" ? What do "which" and "want" have in common? What is a corpus, and why does it matter ? The answers to these - and many more - questions are all to be found in this gem of a book.

Jeremy Butterfield writes with wit, style and authority on the elusive mysteries of the English language - a subject to which he has dedicated the bulk of his working life. The book is a fascinating and highly informative analysis of how our language is used and how it is evolving.

Highly recommended.

Wow! So that's how it works!, 10 Dec 2008
A tour de force! Not only has Deutscher produced a rigorous and compelling model of the way languages evolve and mutate, but he communicates this in fluid prose that means this is a great read with none of the linguistic clumsiness we have become accustomed to from the likes of Steve Pinker.

Charles Darwin for the 21st Centtury, 09 Dec 2008
The more one reads about Evolutionary Psychology the more one realises that the critical difference between our species and all others is our language ability. Thus a model for how language might have evolved could tell us a great deal about how our minds have developed. This author presents a coherent and fascinating account of the development of language across the World, from the "me-Tarzan" stage to the present day where there is widespread bemoaning of the destruction of the so called purity of our language. I found it impossible to put down, and is without doubt the most interesting book in the field of evolution that I have read.

Accessible exploration of why we speak as we do, 12 Jan 2008
Very readable account of how language developed, the author has an engaging style and a good way with metaphors which helps the casual reader get a handle on the more complex linguistic stuff. Some slow chapters and it seemed to end rather abruptly, but cleared up a lot of "why do we..?" type questions nicely.

Analysing the uninvented invention, 18 Jul 2005
The author calls language an "uninvented invention". This highly engaging, witty book is an attempt to uncover at least some of the secrets of language and to dismantle the stated paradox. He explains the meaning of `structure', argues that the present is the key to the past & explains why languages do not remain static. By drawing on recent discoveries in linguistics, he explores the forces of destruction, creation and the innate structure of language. It is revealed that the source of grammatical elements like case markers, pre- & post-positions and tense markers is the mundane words like inter alia `hand' and `go'.

Chapter One: Castles In The Air, takes a close look at the structure of language, whilst the following chapter: Perpetual Motion, demonstrates linguistic development and change with particular reference to English, German, French and the Indo-European language family as a whole. Chapter Three: Forces Of Destruction, is a further investigation of how and why changes in sound and meaning take place, with many examples from Indo-European.

Chapter Four examines interesting verbs like "to have/to hold" and the concepts of space & time in linguistic expression. All languages use spatial terms to describe temporal relations, revealing that space-time is deeply entrenched in human cognition. A metaphor is a way of describing something by comparing it to something else, and is an indispensable element in thought-processing. The stream of metaphors flowing through language moves from the concrete to the abstract. Language consists of layer upon layer of metaphors that are as common in plain conversation as in sublime poetics.

Chapter Five: Forces Of Creation, is a discussion of how new words and structures arise, how meanings change and the multiple ways in which languages are enriched by these developments. It was interesting to learn, for example that the conjunction `but' derives from Old English `be-utan' ("by the outside").

Chapter Six looks at the need for order in languages and contains lots of interesting information on the intricate Semitic verbal system. In essence, the effects of erosion interact with the mind's craving for order. There is thus a constant search for regular patterns and spontaneous analogical innovations arise. This is based on erosion + expressiveness and erosion + analogy.

The final chapter brings it all together and includes detailed discussions of the common sources out of which possessives, quantifiers, plural markers & articles may develop, the various interactions of verbs & nouns, and the nuances of action like tenses (past, present, future, continues & completed), and modality (should, ought, etc.). Adverbs and subordinate clauses are also discussed.

In the Epilogue, Deutscher revisits the mind's desire for order and the fact that innovation is based on a principle of recycling. He also discusses the movement towards simplification in the word structure of the Indo-European languages over thousands of years in terms of cyclical & linear time. Proto Indo-European had eight cases for nouns in the singular, dual & plural while the modern daughter languages have few left and there is a marked decline in the fusion of words.

This highly entertaining read is accessible to the non-linguist and explains many fascinating features of language and its structure. There are five appendices, copious notes, a bibliography and glossary of terms. The book concludes with an index. The text is enhanced by figures, illustrations and photographs, including an aerial view of the ruins of & an artist's impression of Hattusa in its heyday plus portraits of the Brothers Grimm and Sir William Jones who discovered the relationship of Sanskrit to Greek & Latin.

Appendix A provides more info on the flipping of word categories with reference to the word `go' which functions both as a verb and an auxiliary marking the future tense. Appendix B revisits the role of laryngeal consonants in the Semitic languages that changed the vowels I and U in their vicinity into A and the consequences of the phenomenon.

The next appendix elaborates on the complicated Semitic verbal templates with reference to how reflexives, intensives, causatives, passives & passive reflexive forms originated. Appendix D looks at how the ambiguity of pronouns as to referent may be solved; for example, by harnessing the emphatic `self' to function as a reflexive.

The final appendix, The Turkish Mirror, deals with the convergence of all languages into two opposing word-order camps. Joseph Greenberg made this discovery in the 1960s. The word-order arrangement results from the positioning of one particular couple, the verb and the object. The early choice between VO or OV determines whether pre- or postpositions will be employed and ripples throughout the entire structure of a language to determine, amongst others, the possessive construction where the two nouns arrange themselves to correspond with pre- or post-positions.

I also recommend On the Origin of Languages & A Guide to the World's Languages by Merritt Ruhlen, A Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler and the work of that great pioneer of language classification, Professor Joseph Greenberg, especially Language Universals & Indo-European and Its Closest Relatives: The Eurasiatic Language Family.


Excellent over-view of stylistics, 12 Jul 2008
Although Mick Short is sometimes prone to stating the obvious (did we really need an illustration of two chairs to illustrate deixis? I think most people know the difference between 'that' chair and 'this' chair depends upon where they are..) this is otherwise an excellent book about stylistic analysis, with useful exercises, and checklists to help with carrying out one's own analyses.

Very Interesting (and not stupid), 19 Aug 2008
Has a comprehensive bibliography for future research, and two sets of indicies so can be used as a text book. However you can also read it as a story book. I was surprised just how fascinating the history and development of the concepts behind each of the words described turned out to be.

Enjoyable and serious, 13 Apr 2008
This is a fluently written and interesting account of English's adoption of words from other languages - ranging from the obvious ones, like French, to the less obvious (Persian, Dutch, Portuguese). It is, as such, a history of English vocabulary, but also, more compellingly, a history of British relationships with other cultures. The subject matter might sound quite academic, but this is an engaging read, lit up by lots of memorable examples. It's a fascinating and thought-provoking take on history.

Useful, 03 Dec 2008
This book is useful to have with you if like me you are starting things like Open University and it helps remaind you of all the things you may have forgotten since leaving school.

A good quick reference, 09 Aug 2005
The grammar is a little patchy but the punctuation entries are excellent as quick guides (to solve problems when writing or teaching without having to plough through hundreds of pages of 'exceptions' to rules).

A fascinating read, 17 Dec 2008
What have "women and sticks" to do with "cats and dogs" ? What do "which" and "want" have in common? What is a corpus, and why does it matter ? The answers to these - and many more - questions are all to be found in this gem of a book.

Jeremy Butterfield writes with wit, style and authority on the elusive mysteries of the English language - a subject to which he has dedicated the bulk of his working life. The book is a fascinating and highly informative analysis of how our language is used and how it is evolving.

Highly recommended.

Wow! So that's how it works!, 10 Dec 2008
A tour de force! Not only has Deutscher produced a rigorous and compelling model of the way languages evolve and mutate, but he communicates this in fluid prose that means this is a great read with none of the linguistic clumsiness we have become accustomed to from the likes of Steve Pinker.

Charles Darwin for the 21st Centtury, 09 Dec 2008
The more one reads about Evolutionary Psychology the more one realises that the critical difference between our species and all others is our language ability. Thus a model for how language might have evolved could tell us a great deal about how our minds have developed. This author presents a coherent and fascinating account of the development of language across the World, from the "me-Tarzan" stage to the present day where there is widespread bemoaning of the destruction of the so called purity of our language. I found it impossible to put down, and is without doubt the most interesting book in the field of evolution that I have read.

Accessible exploration of why we speak as we do, 12 Jan 2008
Very readable account of how language developed, the author has an engaging style and a good way with metaphors which helps the casual reader get a handle on the more complex linguistic stuff. Some slow chapters and it seemed to end rather abruptly, but cleared up a lot of "why do we..?" type questions nicely.

Analysing the uninvented invention, 18 Jul 2005
The author calls language an "uninvented invention". This highly engaging, witty book is an attempt to uncover at least some of the secrets of language and to dismantle the stated paradox. He explains the meaning of `structure', argues that the present is the key to the past & explains why languages do not remain static. By drawing on recent discoveries in linguistics, he explores the forces of destruction, creation and the innate structure of language. It is revealed that the source of grammatical elements like case markers, pre- & post-positions and tense markers is the mundane words like inter alia `hand' and `go'.

Chapter One: Castles In The Air, takes a close look at the structure of language, whilst the following chapter: Perpetual Motion, demonstrates linguistic development and change with particular reference to English, German, French and the Indo-European language family as a whole. Chapter Three: Forces Of Destruction, is a further investigation of how and why changes in sound and meaning take place, with many examples from Indo-European.

Chapter Four examines interesting verbs like "to have/to hold" and the concepts of space & time in linguistic expression. All languages use spatial terms to describe temporal relations, revealing that space-time is deeply entrenched in human cognition. A metaphor is a way of describing something by comparing it to something else, and is an indispensable element in thought-processing. The stream of metaphors flowing through language moves from the concrete to the abstract. Language consists of layer upon layer of metaphors that are as common in plain conversation as in sublime poetics.

Chapter Five: Forces Of Creation, is a discussion of how new words and structures arise, how meanings change and the multiple ways in which languages are enriched by these developments. It was interesting to learn, for example that the conjunction `but' derives from Old English `be-utan' ("by the outside").

Chapter Six looks at the need for order in languages and contains lots of interesting information on the intricate Semitic verbal system. In essence, the effects of erosion interact with the mind's craving for order. There is thus a constant search for regular patterns and spontaneous analogical innovations arise. This is based on erosion + expressiveness and erosion + analogy.

The final chapter brings it all together and includes detailed discussions of the common sources out of which possessives, quantifiers, plural markers & articles may develop, the various interactions of verbs & nouns, and the nuances of action like tenses (past, present, future, continues & completed), and modality (should, ought, etc.). Adverbs and subordinate clauses are also discussed.

In the Epilogue, Deutscher revisits the mind's desire for order and the fact that innovation is based on a principle of recycling. He also discusses the movement towards simplification in the word structure of the Indo-European languages over thousands of years in terms of cyclical & linear time. Proto Indo-European had eight cases for nouns in the singular, dual & plural while the modern daughter languages have few left and there is a marked decline in the fusion of words.

This highly entertaining read is accessible to the non-linguist and explains many fascinating features of language and its structure. There are five appendices, copious notes, a bibliography and glossary of terms. The book concludes with an index. The text is enhanced by figures, illustrations and photographs, including an aerial view of the ruins of & an artist's impression of Hattusa in its heyday plus portraits of the Brothers Grimm and Sir William Jones who discovered the relationship of Sanskrit to Greek & Latin.

Appendix A provides more info on the flipping of word categories with reference to the word `go' which functions both as a verb and an auxiliary marking the future tense. Appendix B revisits the role of laryngeal consonants in the Semitic languages that changed the vowels I and U in their vicinity into A and the consequences of the phenomenon.

The next appendix elaborates on the complicated Semitic verbal templates with reference to how reflexives, intensives, causatives, passives & passive reflexive forms originated. Appendix D looks at how the ambiguity of pronouns as to referent may be solved; for example, by harnessing the emphatic `self' to function as a reflexive.

The final appendix, The Turkish Mirror, deals with the convergence of all languages into two opposing word-order camps. Joseph Greenberg made this discovery in the 1960s. The word-order arrangement results from the positioning of one particular couple, the verb and the object. The early choice between VO or OV determines whether pre- or postpositions will be employed and ripples throughout the entire structure of a language to determine, amongst others, the possessive construction where the two nouns arrange themselves to correspond with pre- or post-positions.

I also recommend On the Origin of Languages & A Guide to the World's Languages by Merritt Ruhlen, A Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler and the work of that great pioneer of language classification, Professor Joseph Greenberg, especially Language Universals & Indo-European and Its Closest Relatives: The Eurasiatic Language Family.


Excellent over-view of stylistics, 12 Jul 2008
Although Mick Short is sometimes prone to stating the obvious (did we really need an illustration of two chairs to illustrate deixis? I think most people know the difference between 'that' chair and 'this' chair depends upon where they are..) this is otherwise an excellent book about stylistic analysis, with useful exercises, and checklists to help with carrying out one's own analyses.



Interesting book about our language, 20 Nov 2008
I read the bulk of this all the way through although I skipped the odd fews pages here and there when I was getting bored with a topic.

This is an interesting account of how our language was formed.

A wonderful book, 20 Sep 2008
I have come late to English having only just scraped a pass at O level 35 years ago. I was sitting on a plane and saw someone on the seat opposite the aisle reading this book. From the little I could see it looked interesting and at the end of the flight when he stopped reading, I fortunately glimpsed the cover as he put it away. I was then straight onto Amazon and located it.

This is a wonderful book, incredibly illuminating and authoritative but at the same time straightforward and attention gripping. However it's not for the faint-hearted having many, many pages of small text. It took me several months to read cover to cover - but I'm glad I did...

Excellent Read, 26 Jun 2008
Another excellent book by the Language Expert, David Crystal. This was on the recommended reading list for a module of my English degree course, and found it both a fascinating and useful read. Would recommend to anyone studying Linguistics or for anyone who has a general interest in the English Language.

Interesting read!, 02 Jun 2005
This book is really helping me with my A2 English Language module on the development and change of language. It is really factual but easy to read - I am remembering and learning so much through reading the book! If you are interested in our language then no doubt you'll treasure it forever!

Masterpiece, 24 Jan 2005
David Crystal is quite probably the best authority there is on the English language past and present, and in "The Stories of English" he has visibly excelled himself. From "Beowulf" and the earliest documents in Old English right up to the specific features of text-messaging, and looking beyond to the twenty-first-century English-speaking world of his grandchildren, here is an impeccably researched history of the language.
The title gives an immediate clue to the originality of this book, throughout which Professor Crystal is at pains to show that, alongside "standard English", there are all the other varieties of the language which, in the name of a purism which he skilfully shows to be misplaced, have most often been either denigrated or ignored by other historical works of this kind.
Perhaps David Crystal's major achievement is that he succeeds in being scholarly without ever being pedantic. His attention to detailed research is impressive, and yet the reader never once gets bogged down in theoretical linguistics. The writer's approach is resolutely of a sociolinguistic nature, and he constantly draws attention to the links between language and society and the way in which the evolution of one is always conditioned by the evolution of the other. He is particularly good on the language of Shakespeare, and unsparing in his criticism of the "absolute rubbish" propagated on the subject of the bard by "enthusiastic linguistic amateurs".
But David Crystal's book really makes its major point in the way in which prescriptive norms are demonstrated to be arbitrary - however necessary they may also be. The book sets out an unanswerable counter-argument to all those who earnestly equate "good" English with good behaviour, and even with morality. The writer points out, with wonderful deadpan humour, that "some of the most respectable people I know speak nonstandard grammar; and conversely, there are several villains around whose standard grammar is impeccable."
Professor Crystal's book reads like a novel, and in a sense it is both an adventure story and a love story. The hardback is a work of art, with an index and very complete bibliographical sources. And, as far as I could see, not a single printing mistake. And not a syllable out of place, either.
If you're interested in the history of the English language, don't wait for the paperback, splash out £25 and get this. It's worth every penny.

We're living in a technological age, with septuagenarians on the net, students glued to mobiles, five-year olds able to programme the class video more effectively than their teacher and communication by fax and e-mail ubiquitous, a fact which John Seely has taken into account in The Oxford Guide to Writing and Speaking.

Seely's book is intensely practical, concerned with the effective use of speech and writing in day-to-day business and academic life. Not only does Seely cover everything from the best way to write a job application to giving a presentation or chairing a meeting, but he also embraces modern technology, including in his opening section, Communicating in Everyday Life, simple guidelines for setting out faxes and e-mails. Rather than lamenting the widespread use of technology, Seely celebrates it, seeing in e-mails a return to the ancient tradition of communication by letter--it's just that ISDN lines and modems are faster than a runner and wax tablet, coach and horses or postman and bike.

His chapters on the English language, its development, grammar, vocabulary and spelling are a very handy reference source for A/S and A2 Level (the old A Level) English Language students--and their teachers! And, for those students beyond A2 Level, grappling with unwieldy arts dissertations or a plethora of lab results, Seely offers practical advice on how to go about planning, researching, writing, drafting and revising reports, papers and essays. There is no longer any excuse for not meeting a coursework or business report deadline. --Amanda Cameron

Very Interesting (and not stupid), 19 Aug 2008
Has a comprehensive bibliography for future research, and two sets of indicies so can be used as a text book. However you can also read it as a story book. I was surprised just how fascinating the history and development of the concepts behind each of the words described turned out to be.

Enjoyable and serious, 13 Apr 2008
This is a fluently written and interesting account of English's adoption of words from other languages - ranging from the obvious ones, like French, to the less obvious (Persian, Dutch, Portuguese). It is, as such, a history of English vocabulary, but also, more compellingly, a history of British relationships with other cultures. The subject matter might sound quite academic, but this is an engaging read, lit up by lots of memorable examples. It's a fascinating and thought-provoking take on history.

Useful, 03 Dec 2008
This book is useful to have with you if like me you are starting things like Open University and it helps remaind you of all the things you may have forgotten since leaving school.

A good quick reference, 09 Aug 2005
The grammar is a little patchy but the punctuation entries are excellent as quick guides (to solve problems when writing or teaching without having to plough through hundreds of pages of 'exceptions' to rules).

A fascinating read, 17 Dec 2008
What have "women and sticks" to do with "cats and dogs" ? What do "which" and "want" have in common? What is a corpus, and why does it matter ? The answers to these - and many more - questions are all to be found in this gem of a book.

Jeremy Butterfield writes with wit, style and authority on the elusive mysteries of the English language - a subject to which he has dedicated the bulk of his working life. The book is a fascinating and highly informative analysis of how our language is used and how it is evolving.

Highly recommended.

Wow! So that's how it works!, 10 Dec 2008
A tour de force! Not only has Deutscher produced a rigorous and compelling model of the way languages evolve and mutate, but he communicates this in fluid prose that means this is a great read with none of the linguistic clumsiness we have become accustomed to from the likes of Steve Pinker.

Charles Darwin for the 21st Centtury, 09 Dec 2008
The more one reads about Evolutionary Psychology the more one realises that the critical difference between our species and all others is our language ability. Thus a model for how language might have evolved could tell us a great deal about how our minds have developed. This author presents a coherent and fascinating account of the development of language across the World, from the "me-Tarzan" stage to the present day where there is widespread bemoaning of the destruction of the so called purity of our language. I found it impossible to put down, and is without doubt the most interesting book in the field of evolution that I have read.

Accessible exploration of why we speak as we do, 12 Jan 2008
Very readable account of how language developed, the author has an engaging style and a good way with metaphors which helps the casual reader get a handle on the more complex linguistic stuff. Some slow chapters and it seemed to end rather abruptly, but cleared up a lot of "why do we..?" type questions nicely.

Analysing the uninvented invention, 18 Jul 2005
The author calls language an "uninvented invention". This highly engaging, witty book is an attempt to uncover at least some of the secrets of language and to dismantle the stated paradox. He explains the meaning of `structure', argues that the present is the key to the past & explains why languages do not remain static. By drawing on recent discoveries in linguistics, he explores the forces of destruction, creation and the innate structure of language. It is revealed that the source of grammatical elements like case markers, pre- & post-positions and tense markers is the mundane words like inter alia `hand' and `go'.

Chapter One: Castles In The Air, takes a close look at the structure of language, whilst the following chapter: Perpetual Motion, demonstrates linguistic development and change with particular reference to English, German, French and the Indo-European language family as a whole. Chapter Three: Forces Of Destruction, is a further investigation of how and why changes in sound and meaning take place, with many examples from Indo-European.

Chapter Four examines interesting verbs like "to have/to hold" and the concepts of space & time in linguistic expression. All languages use spatial terms to describe temporal relations, revealing that space-time is deeply entrenched in human cognition. A metaphor is a way of describing something by comparing it to something else, and is an indispensable element in thought-processing. The stream of metaphors flowing through language moves from the concrete to the abstract. Language consists of layer upon layer of metaphors that are as common in plain conversation as in sublime poetics.

Chapter Five: Forces Of Creation, is a discussion of how new words and structures arise, how meanings change and the multiple ways in which languages are enriched by these developments. It was interesting to learn, for example that the conjunction `but' derives from Old English `be-utan' ("by the outside").

Chapter Six looks at the need for order in languages and contains lots of interesting information on the intricate Semitic verbal system. In essence, the effects of erosion interact with the mind's craving for order. There is thus a constant search for regular patterns and spontaneous analogical innovations arise. This is based on erosion + expressiveness and erosion + analogy.

The final chapter brings it all together and includes detailed discussions of the common sources out of which possessives, quantifiers, plural markers & articles may develop, the various interactions of verbs & nouns, and the nuances of action like tenses (past, present, future, continues & completed), and modality (should, ought, etc.). Adverbs and subordinate clauses are also discussed.

In the Epilogue, Deutscher revisits the mind's desire for order and the fact that innovation is based on a principle of recycling. He also discusses the movement towards simplification in the word structure of the Indo-European languages over thousands of years in terms of cyclical & linear time. Proto Indo-European had eight cases for nouns in the singular, dual & plural while the modern daughter languages have few left and there is a marked decline in the fusion of words.

This highly entertaining read is accessible to the non-linguist and explains many fascinating features of language and its structure. There are five appendices, copious notes, a bibliography and glossary of terms. The book concludes with an index. The text is enhanced by figures, illustrations and photographs, including an aerial view of the ruins of & an artist's impression of Hattusa in its heyday plus portraits of the Brothers Grimm and Sir William Jones who discovered the relationship of Sanskrit to Greek & Latin.

Appendix A provides more info on the flipping of word categories with reference to the word `go' which functions both as a verb and an auxiliary marking the future tense. Appendix B revisits the role of laryngeal consonants in the Semitic languages that changed the vowels I and U in their vicinity into A and the consequences of the phenomenon.

The next appendix elaborates on the complicated Semitic verbal templates with reference to how reflexives, intensives, causatives, passives & passive reflexive forms originated. Appendix D looks at how the ambiguity of pronouns as to referent may be solved; for example, by harnessing the emphatic `self' to function as a reflexive.

The final appendix, The Turkish Mirror, deals with the convergence of all languages into two opposing word-order camps. Joseph Greenberg made this discovery in the 1960s. The word-order arrangement results from the positioning of one particular couple, the verb and the object. The early choice between VO or OV determines whether pre- or postpositions will be employed and ripples throughout the entire structure of a language to determine, amongst others, the possessive construction where the two nouns arrange themselves to correspond with pre- or post-positions.

I also recommend On the Origin of Languages & A Guide to the World's Languages by Merritt Ruhlen, A Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler and the work of that great pioneer of language classification, Professor Joseph Greenberg, especially Language Universals & Indo-European and Its Closest Relatives: The Eurasiatic Language Family.


Excellent over-view of stylistics, 12 Jul 2008
Although Mick Short is sometimes prone to stating the obvious (did we really need an illustration of two chairs to illustrate deixis? I think most people know the difference between 'that' chair and 'this' chair depends upon where they are..) this is otherwise an excellent book about stylistic analysis, with useful exercises, and checklists to help with carrying out one's own analyses.



Interesting book about our language, 20 Nov 2008
I read the bulk of this all the way through although I skipped the odd fews pages here and there when I was getting bored with a topic.

This is an interesting account of how our language was formed.

A wonderful book, 20 Sep 2008
I have come late to English having only just scraped a pass at O level 35 years ago. I was sitting on a plane and saw someone on the seat opposite the aisle reading this book. From the little I could see it looked interesting and at the end of the flight when he stopped reading, I fortunately glimpsed the cover as he put it away. I was then straight onto Amazon and located it.

This is a wonderful book, incredibly illuminating and authoritative but at the same time straightforward and attention gripping. However it's not for the faint-hearted having many, many pages of small text. It took me several months to read cover to cover - but I'm glad I did...

Excellent Read, 26 Jun 2008
Another excellent book by the Language Expert, David Crystal. This was on the recommended reading list for a module of my English degree course, and found it both a fascinating and useful read. Would recommend to anyone studying Linguistics or for anyone who has a general interest in the English Language.

Interesting read!, 02 Jun 2005
This book is really helping me with my A2 English Language module on the development and change of language. It is really factual but easy to read - I am remembering and learning so much through reading the book! If you are interested in our language then no doubt you'll treasure it forever!

Masterpiece, 24 Jan 2005
David Crystal is quite probably the best authority there is on the English language past and present, and in "The Stories of English" he has visibly excelled himself. From "Beowulf" and the earliest documents in Old English right up to the specific features of text-messaging, and looking beyond to the twenty-first-century English-speaking world of his grandchildren, here is an impeccably researched history of the language.
The title gives an immediate clue to the originality of this book, throughout which Professor Crystal is at pains to show that, alongside "standard English", there are all the other varieties of the language which, in the name of a purism which he skilfully shows to be misplaced, have most often been either denigrated or ignored by other historical works of this kind.
Perhaps David Crystal's major achievement is that he succeeds in being scholarly without ever being pedantic. His attention to detailed research is impressive, and yet the reader never once gets bogged down in theoretical linguistics. The writer's approach is resolutely of a sociolinguistic nature, and he constantly draws attention to the links between language and society and the way in which the evolution of one is always conditioned by the evolution of the other. He is particularly good on the language of Shakespeare, and unsparing in his criticism of the "absolute rubbish" propagated on the subject of the bard by "enthusiastic linguistic amateurs".
But David Crystal's book really makes its major point in the way in which prescriptive norms are demonstrated to be arbitrary - however necessary they may also be. The book sets out an unanswerable counter-argument to all those who earnestly equate "good" English with good behaviour, and even with morality. The writer points out, with wonderful deadpan humour, that "some of the most respectable people I know speak nonstandard grammar; and conversely, there are several villains around whose standard grammar is impeccable."
Professor Crystal's book reads like a novel, and in a sense it is both an adventure story and a love story. The hardback is a work of art, with an index and very complete bibliographical sources. And, as far as I could see, not a single printing mistake. And not a syllable out of place, either.
If you're interested in the history of the English language, don't wait for the paperback, splash out £25 and get this. It's worth every penny.

First class, easy to use and thorough, 14 Jan 2008
This book crams a lot into its relatively few pages by focusing on key concepts and following its own advice on presentation.

It covers a range of needs from CVs, email and letters to presentations (my interest area).

I found the whole approach on narrative style vs. others; reasons why we communicate and the easy guide to structuring material. As one who is involved in training this has added a lot to my repertoire of material.

Very Interesting (and not stupid), 19 Aug 2008
Has a comprehensive bibliography for future research, and two sets of indicies so can be used as a text book. However you can also read it as a story book. I was surprised just how fascinating the history and development of the concepts behind each of the words described turned out to be.

Enjoyable and serious, 13 Apr 2008
This is a fluently written and interesting account of English's adoption of words from other languages - ranging from the obvious ones, like French, to the less obvious (Persian, Dutch, Portuguese). It is, as such, a history of English vocabulary, but also, more compellingly, a history of British relationships with other cultures. The subject matter might sound quite academic, but this is an engaging read, lit up by lots of memorable examples. It's a fascinating and thought-provoking take on history.

Useful, 03 Dec 2008
This book is useful to have with you if like me you are starting things like Open University and it helps remaind you of all the things you may have forgotten since leaving school.

A good quick reference, 09 Aug 2005
The grammar is a little patchy but the punctuation entries are excellent as quick guides (to solve problems when writing or teaching without having to plough through hundreds of pages of 'exceptions' to rules).

A fascinating read, 17 Dec 2008
What have "women and sticks" to do with "cats and dogs" ? What do "which" and "want" have in common? What is a corpus, and why does it matter ? The answers to these - and many more - questions are all to be found in this gem of a book.

Jeremy Butterfield writes with wit, style and authority on the elusive mysteries of the English language - a subject to which he has dedicated the bulk of his working life. The book is a fascinating and highly informative analysis of how our language is used and how it is evolving.

Highly recommended.

Wow! So that's how it works!, 10 Dec 2008
A tour de force! Not only has Deutscher produced a rigorous and compelling model of the way languages evolve and mutate, but he communicates this in fluid prose that means this is a great read with none of the linguistic clumsiness we have become accustomed to from the likes of Steve Pinker.

Charles Darwin for the 21st Centtury, 09 Dec 2008
The more one reads about Evolutionary Psychology the more one realises that the critical difference between our species and all others is our language ability. Thus a model for how language might have evolved could tell us a great deal about how our minds have developed. This author presents a coherent and fascinating account of the development of language across the World, from the "me-Tarzan" stage to the present day where there is widespread bemoaning of the destruction of the so called purity of our language. I found it impossible to put down, and is without doubt the most interesting book in the field of evolution that I have read.

Accessible exploration of why we speak as we do, 12 Jan 2008
Very readable account of how language developed, the author has an engaging style and a good way with metaphors which helps the casual reader get a handle on the more complex linguistic stuff. Some slow chapters and it seemed to end rather abruptly, but cleared up a lot of "why do we..?" type questions nicely.

Analysing the uninvented invention, 18 Jul 2005
The author calls language an "uninvented invention". This highly engaging, witty book is an attempt to uncover at least some of the secrets of language and to dismantle the stated paradox. He explains the meaning of `structure', argues that the present is the key to the past & explains why languages do not remain static. By drawing on recent discoveries in linguistics, he explores the forces of destruction, creation and the innate structure of language. It is revealed that the source of grammatical elements like case markers, pre- & post-positions and tense markers is the mundane words like inter alia `hand' and `go'.

Chapter One: Castles In The Air, takes a close look at the structure of language, whilst the following chapter: Perpetual Motion, demonstrates linguistic development and change with particular reference to English, German, French and the Indo-European language family as a whole. Chapter Three: Forces Of Destruction, is a further investigation of how and why changes in sound and meaning take place, with many examples from Indo-European.

Chapter Four examines interesting verbs like "to have/to hold" and the concepts of space & time in linguistic expression. All languages use spatial terms to describe temporal relations, revealing that space-time is deeply entrenched in human cognition. A metaphor is a way of describing something by comparing it to something else, and is an indispensable element in thought-processing. The stream of metaphors flowing through language moves from the concrete to the abstract. Language consists of layer upon layer of metaphors that are as common in plain conversation as in sublime poetics.

Chapter Five: Forces Of Creation, is a discussion of how new words and structures arise, how meanings change and the multiple ways in which languages are enriched by these developments. It was interesting to learn, for example that the conjunction `but' derives from Old English `be-utan' ("by the outside").

Chapter Six looks at the need for order in languages and contains lots of interesting information on the intricate Semitic verbal system. In essence, the effects of erosion interact with the mind's craving for order. There is thus a constant search for regular patterns and spontaneous analogical innovations arise. This is based on erosion + expressiveness and erosion + analogy.

The final chapter brings it all together and includes detailed discussions of the common sources out of which possessives, quantifiers, plural markers & articles may develop, the various interactions of verbs & nouns, and the nuances of action like tenses (past, present, future, continues & completed), and modality (should, ought, etc.). Adverbs and subordinate clauses are also discussed.

In the Epilogue, Deutscher revisits the mind's desire for order and the fact that innovation is based on a principle of recycling. He also discusses the movement towards simplification in the word structure of the Indo-European languages over thousands of years in terms of cyclical & linear time. Proto Indo-European had eight cases for nouns in the singular, dual & plural while the modern daughter languages have few left and there is a marked decline in the fusion of words.

This highly entertaining read is accessible to the non-linguist and explains many fascinating features of language and its structure. There are five appendices, copious notes, a bibliography and glossary of terms. The book concludes with an index. The text is enhanced by figures, illustrations and photographs, including an aerial view of the ruins of & an artist's impression of Hattusa in its heyday plus portraits of the Brothers Grimm and Sir William Jones who discovered the relationship of Sanskrit to Greek & Latin.

Appendix A provides more info on the flipping of word categories with reference to the word `go' which functions both as a verb and an auxiliary marking the future tense. Appendix B revisits the role of laryngeal consonants in the Semitic languages that changed the vowels I and U in their vicinity into A and the consequences of the phenomenon.

The next appendix elaborates on the complicated Semitic verbal templates with reference to how reflexives, intensives, causatives, passives & passive reflexive forms originated. Appendix D looks at how the ambiguity of pronouns as to referent may be solved; for example, by harnessing the emphatic `self' to function as a reflexive.

The final appendix, The Turkish Mirror, deals with the convergence of all languages into two opposing word-order camps. Joseph Greenberg made this discovery in the 1960s. The word-order arrangement results from the positioning of one particular couple, the verb and the object. The early choice between VO or OV determines whether pre- or postpositions will be employed and ripples throughout the entire structure of a language to determine, amongst others, the possessive construction where the two nouns arrange themselves to correspond with pre- or post-positions.

I also recommend On the Origin of Languages & A Guide to the World's Languages by Merritt Ruhlen, A Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler and the work of that great pioneer of language classification, Professor Joseph Greenberg, especially Language Universals & Indo-European and Its Closest Relatives: The Eurasiatic Language Family.


Excellent over-view of stylistics, 12 Jul 2008
Although Mick Short is sometimes prone to stating the obvious (did we really need an illustration of two chairs to illustrate deixis? I think most people know the difference between 'that' chair and 'this' chair depends upon where they are..) this is otherwise an excellent book about stylistic analysis, with useful exercises, and checklists to help with carrying out one's own analyses.



Interesting book about our language, 20 Nov 2008
I read the bulk of this all the way through although I skipped the odd fews pages here and there when I was getting bored with a topic.

This is an interesting account of how our language was formed.

A wonderful book, 20 Sep 2008
I have come late to English having only just scraped a pass at O level 35 years ago. I was sitting on a plane and saw someone on the seat opposite the aisle reading this book. From the little I could see it looked interesting and at the end of the flight when he stopped reading, I fortunately glimpsed the cover as he put it away. I was then straight onto Amazon and located it.

This is a wonderful book, incredibly illuminating and authoritative but at the same time straightforward and attention gripping. However it's not for the faint-hearted having many, many pages of small text. It took me several months to read cover to cover - but I'm glad I did...

Excellent Read, 26 Jun 2008
Another excellent book by the Language Expert, David Crystal. This was on the recommended reading list for a module of my English degree course, and found it both a fascinating and useful read. Would recommend to anyone studying Linguistics or for anyone who has a general interest in the English Language.

Interesting read!, 02 Jun 2005
This book is really helping me with my A2 English Language module on the development and change of language. It is really factual but easy to read - I am remembering and learning so much through reading the book! If you are interested in our language then no doubt you'll treasure it forever!

Masterpiece, 24 Jan 2005
David Crystal is quite probably the best authority there is on the English language past and present, and in "The Stories of English" he has visibly excelled himself. From "Beowulf" and the earliest documents in Old English right up to the specific features of text-messaging, and looking beyond to the twenty-first-century English-speaking world of his grandchildren, here is an impeccably researched history of the language.
The title gives an immediate clue to the originality of this book, throughout which Professor Crystal is at pains to show that, alongside "standard English", there are all the other varieties of the language which, in the name of a purism which he skilfully shows to be misplaced, have most often been either denigrated or ignored by other historical works of this kind.
Perhaps David Crystal's major achievement is that he succeeds in being scholarly without ever being pedantic. His attention to detailed research is impressive, and yet the reader never once gets bogged down in theoretical linguistics. The writer's approach is resolutely of a sociolinguistic nature, and he constantly draws attention to the links between language and society and the way in which the evolution of one is always conditioned by the evolution of the other. He is particularly good on the language of Shakespeare, and unsparing in his criticism of the "absolute rubbish" propagated on the subject of the bard by "enthusiastic linguistic amateurs".
But David Crystal's book really makes its major point in the way in which prescriptive norms are demonstrated to be arbitrary - however necessary they may also be. The book sets out an unanswerable counter-argument to all those who earnestly equate "good" English with good behaviour, and even with morality. The writer points out, with wonderful deadpan humour, that "some of the most respectable people I know speak nonstandard grammar; and conversely, there are several villains around whose standard grammar is impeccable."
Professor Crystal's book reads like a novel, and in a sense it is both an adventure story and a love story. The hardback is a work of art, with an index and very complete bibliographical sources. And, as far as I could see, not a single printing mistake. And not a syllable out of place, either.
If you're interested in the history of the English language, don't wait for the paperback, splash out £25 and get this. It's worth every penny.

First class, easy to use and thorough, 14 Jan 2008
This book crams a lot into its relatively few pages by focusing on key concepts and following its own advice on presentation.

It covers a range of needs from CVs, email and letters to presentations (my interest area).

I found the whole approach on narrative style vs. others; reasons why we communicate and the easy guide to structuring material. As one who is involved in training this has added a lot to my repertoire of material.

Excellent Adventure, 16 Jul 2008
Having a copy of the King James Bible and copy of the William Tyndale version of the New Testament, I was very interested to find out where the English language as we know it came from.

This book did not dissappoint me. It took me right from the Anglo Saxon and Norse of the six century, which made up Old English, right through to the Modern English that we all speak today and how it is spoken in the former colonies of the British Empire. It is very well written and very informative. I enjoyed a great deal the chapters about the influence of French on our language under William the Conquerer, and how increased trade in the Middle Ages and William Shakespeare helped turn the Middle English of William Tyndale into the Early Modern English of the King James Bible.

I think that what I really like about this book is the fascinating little facts contained in it's pages. About some of the mistakes in Dr Johnson's Dictionary, or the fact that Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" was the first English novel, or how an African slave would be "sold down the river" to another plantation, where the conditions were harsher, as a punishment. This book is absolutely bursting with such little gems of information. They can barely be numbered.

It is not entirely perfect - as afew of it's passages tend to be a bit long winded and need to read twice to get the full understanding. However, it is a very, very enjoyable read and it finishes with a chapter about what the future of our language might be.

I'll conclude by saying that if you are in any way interested in the origins, influence and amazing success of our mother tongue then read this book. I can't recommend it enough.

Fascinating - nearly excellent, 03 Apr 2008
The evolution of our language is a fascinating story, well told by Melvyn Bragg.

My only very slight complaint is that it's obviously a book aimed at adults, and the squeamish ***ing of swear-words struck me as inappropriate. They're a part of our language like any other and their history deserves to be told without mollycoddling the reader.

(I don't like it when people complain about 'bad language' when it's used appropriately and in context, and I think it's the duty of the rest of us to complain when certain words are shied away from unnecessarily.)

Don't be put off..., 25 Feb 2008
...by the title. This is not a specialist work for the linguist. Any intelligent reader will enjoy it.

Very good book - fades towards end, 16 Oct 2007
This excellently written book takes a backwards look at the 'success' of English as a language both for the English and now for much of the world. From the treatment of the roots of the language, why it contains little from the Roman / pre-Roman to how it survived the Normans this book mainly achieves its purpose of presenting the language as something living that survived despite the odds.

As the narrative moves to the Reformation, the impact of print, Chaucer and Shakespeare the text becomes more and more gripping. I also now finally have a reason to tell my children why English spelling makes no sense (as opposed to American English).

As recent centuries rush buy it becomes a global Cooks tour and degenerates into short chapters along the lines of 'went to West Indies / Australia / India ...' and picked up lots of words including these couple of dozen used every day. Presumably the changes to the language are not well enough embedded to say more on. Perhaps Melvyn's descendants will update the text in a few hundred years.

Despite this complaint the overall book well rewards the read.

Superb, 16 Sep 2007
One can always rely on Melvyn Bragg for quality, no matter what the medium, and he lives up to his reputation here. This book is a trully fine companion to the excellent TV series.

As a one-stop history of the English language this book is as good as you could get. There are a lot of books similar to this one, but Bragg's is the most original and readable I have come across. He gives many examples and word lists to exempliy his story, and original anecdotes embellish his approach. A novel angle is to tell the story of English as if one were telling the life of an individual, and so instil a personal interest in the reader. In many ways languages are like people in that they evolve and change in response to their life experience. Bragg shows how it is this ability of English to eveolve and change more than all other languages that has led to it becoming the global language.

Very Interesting (and not stupid), 19 Aug 2008
Has a comprehensive bibliography for future research, and two sets of indicies so can be used as a text book. However you can also read it as a story book. I was surprised just how fascinating the history and development of the concepts behind each of the words described turned out to be.

Enjoyable and serious, 13 Apr 2008
This is a fluently written and interesting account of English's adoption of words from other languages - ranging from the obvious ones, like French, to the less obvious (Persian, Dutch, Portuguese). It is, as such, a history of English vocabulary, but also, more compellingly, a history of British relationships with other cultures. The subject matter might sound quite academic, but this is an engaging read, lit up by lots of memorable examples. It's a fascinating and thought-provoking take on history.

Useful, 03 Dec 2008
This book is useful to have with you if like me you are starting things like Open University and it helps remaind you of all the things you may have forgotten since leaving school.

A good quick reference, 09 Aug 2005
The grammar is a little patchy but the punctuation entries are excellent as quick guides (to solve problems when writing or teaching without having to plough through hundreds of pages of 'exceptions' to rules).

A fascinating read, 17 Dec 2008
What have "women and sticks" to do with "cats and dogs" ? What do "which" and "want" have in common? What is a corpus, and why does it matter ? The answers to these - and many more - questions are all to be found in this gem of a book.

Jeremy Butterfield writes with wit, style and authority on the elusive mysteries of the English language - a subject to which he has dedicated the bulk of his working life. The book is a fascinating and highly informative analysis of how our language is used and how it is evolving.

Highly recommended.

Wow! So that's how it works!, 10 Dec 2008
A tour de force! Not only has Deutscher produced a rigorous and compelling model of the way languages evolve and mutate, but he communicates this in fluid prose that means this is a great read with none of the linguistic clumsiness we have become accustomed to from the likes of Steve Pinker.

Charles Darwin for the 21st Centtury, 09 Dec 2008
The more one reads about Evolutionary Psychology the more one realises that the critical difference between our species and all others is our language ability. Thus a model for how language might have evolved could tell us a great deal about how our minds have developed. This author presents a coherent and fascinating account of the development of language across the World, from the "me-Tarzan" stage to the present day where there is widespread bemoaning of the destruction of the so called purity of our language. I found it impossible to put down, and is without doubt the most interesting book in the field of evolution that I have read.

Accessible exploration of why we speak as we do, 12 Jan 2008
Very readable account of how language developed, the author has an engaging style and a good way with metaphors which helps the casual reader get a handle on the more complex linguistic stuff. Some slow chapters and it seemed to end rather abruptly, but cleared up a lot of "why do we..?" type questions nicely.

Analysing the uninvented invention, 18 Jul 2005
The author calls language an "uninvented invention". This highly engaging, witty book is an attempt to uncover at least some of the secrets of language and to dismantle the stated paradox. He explains the meaning of `structure', argues that the present is the key to the past & explains why languages do not remain static. By drawing on recent discoveries in linguistics, he explores the forces of destruction, creation and the innate structure of language. It is revealed that the source of grammatical elements like case markers, pre- & post-positions and tense markers is the mundane words like inter alia `hand' and `go'.

Chapter One: Castles In The Air, takes a close look at the structure of language, whilst the following chapter: Perpetual Motion, demonstrates linguistic development and change with particular reference to English, German, French and the Indo-European language family as a whole. Chapter Three: Forces Of Destruction, is a further investigation of how and why changes in sound and meaning take place, with many examples from Indo-European.

Chapter Four examines interesting verbs like "to have/to hold" and the concepts of space & time in linguistic expression. All languages use spatial terms to describe temporal relations, revealing that space-time is deeply entrenched in human cognition. A metaphor is a way of describing something by comparing it to something else, and is an indispensable element in thought-processing. The stream of metaphors flowing through language moves from the concrete to the abstract. Language consists of layer upon layer of metaphors that are as common in plain conversation as in sublime poetics.

Chapter Five: Forces Of Creation, is a discussion of how new words and structures arise, how meanings change and the multiple ways in which languages are enriched by these developments. It was interesting to learn, for example that the conjunction `but' derives from Old English `be-utan' ("by the outside").

Chapter Six looks at the need for order in languages and contains lots of interesting information on the intricate Semitic verbal system. In essence, the effects of erosion interact with the mind's craving for order. There is thus a constant search for regular patterns and spontaneous analogical innovations arise. This is based on erosion + expressiveness and erosion + analogy.

The final chapter brings it all together and includes detailed discussions of the common sources out of which possessives, quantifiers, plural markers & articles may develop, the various interactions of verbs & nouns, and the nuances of action like tenses (past, present, future, continues & completed), and modality (should, ought, etc.). Adverbs and subordinate clauses are also discussed.

In the Epilogue, Deutscher revisits the mind's desire for order and the fact that innovation is based on a principle of recycling. He also discusses the movement towards simplification in the word structure of the Indo-European languages over thousands of years in terms of cyclical & linear time. Proto Indo-European had eight cases for nouns in the singular, dual & plural while the modern daughter languages have few left and there is a marked decline in the fusion of words.

This highly entertaining read is accessible to the non-linguist and explains many fascinating features of language and its structure. There are five appendices, copious notes, a bibliography and glossary of terms. The book concludes with an index. The text is enhanced by figures, illustrations and photographs, including an aerial view of the ruins of & an artist's impression of Hattusa in its heyday plus portraits of the Brothers Grimm and Sir William Jones who discovered the relationship of Sanskrit to Greek & Latin.

Appendix A provides more info on the flipping of word categories with reference to the word `go' which functions both as a verb and an auxiliary marking the future tense. Appendix B revisits the role of laryngeal consonants in the Semitic languages that changed the vowels I and U in their vicinity into A and the consequences of the phenomenon.

The next appendix elaborates on the complicated Semitic verbal templates with reference to how reflexives, intensives, causatives, passives & passive reflexive forms originated. Appendix D looks at how the ambiguity of pronouns as to referent may be solved; for example, by harnessing the emphatic `self' to function as a reflexive.

The final appendix, The Turkish Mirror, deals with the convergence of all languages into two opposing word-order camps. Joseph Greenberg made this discovery in the 1960s. The word-order arrangement results from the positioning of one particular couple, the verb and the object. The early choice between VO or OV determines whether pre- or postpositions will be employed and ripples throughout the entire structure of a language to determine, amongst others, the possessive construction where the two nouns arrange themselves to correspond with pre- or post-positions.

I also recommend On the Origin of Languages & A Guide to the World's Languages by Merritt Ruhlen, A Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler and the work of that great pioneer of language classification, Professor Joseph Greenberg, especially Language Universals & Indo-European and Its Closest Relatives: The Eurasiatic Language Family.


Excellent over-view of stylistics, 12 Jul 2008
Although Mick Short is sometimes prone to stating the obvious (did we really need an illustration of two chairs to illustrate deixis? I think most people know the difference between 'that' chair and 'this' chair depends upon where they are..) this is otherwise an excellent book about stylistic analysis, with useful exercises, and checklists to help with carrying out one's own analyses.



Interesting book about our language, 20 Nov 2008
I read the bulk of this all the way through although I skipped the odd fews pages here and there when I was getting bored with a topic.

This is an interesting account of how our language was formed.

A wonderful book, 20 Sep 2008
I have come late to English having only just scraped a pass at O level 35 years ago. I was sitting on a plane and saw someone on the seat opposite the aisle reading this book. From the little I could see it looked interesting and at the end of the flight when he stopped reading, I fortunately glimpsed the cover as he put it away. I was then straight onto Amazon and located it.

This is a wonderful book, incredibly illuminating and authoritative but at the same time straightforward and attention gripping. However it's not for the faint-hearted having many, many pages of small text. It took me several months to read cover to cover - but I'm glad I did...

Excellent Read, 26 Jun 2008
Another excellent book by the Language Expert, David Crystal. This was on the recommended reading list for a module of my English degree course, and found it both a fascinating and useful read. Would recommend to anyone studying Linguistics or for anyone who has a general interest in the English Language.

Interesting read!, 02 Jun 2005
This book is really helping me with my A2 English Language module on the development and change of language. It is really factual but easy to read - I am remembering and learning so much through reading the book! If you are interested in our language then no doubt you'll treasure it forever!

Masterpiece, 24 Jan 2005
David Crystal is quite probably the best authority there is on the English language past and present, and in "The Stories of English" he has visibly excelled himself. From "Beowulf" and the earliest documents in Old English right up to the specific features of text-messaging, and looking beyond to the twenty-first-century English-speaking world of his grandchildren, here is an impeccably researched history of the language.
The title gives an immediate clue to the originality of this book, throughout which Professor Crystal is at pains to show that, alongside "standard English", there are all the other varieties of the language which, in the name of a purism which he skilfully shows to be misplaced, have most often been either denigrated or ignored by other historical works of this kind.
Perhaps David Crystal's major achievement is that he succeeds in being scholarly without ever being pedantic. His attention to detailed research is impressive, and yet the reader never once gets bogged down in theoretical linguistics. The writer's approach is resolutely of a sociolinguistic nature, and he constantly draws attention to the links between language and society and the way in which the evolution of one is always conditioned by the evolution of the other. He is particularly good on the language of Shakespeare, and unsparing in his criticism of the "absolute rubbish" propagated on the subject of the bard by "enthusiastic linguistic amateurs".
But David Crystal's book really makes its major point in the way in which prescriptive norms are demonstrated to be arbitrary - however necessary they may also be. The book sets out an unanswerable counter-argument to all those who earnestly equate "good" English with good behaviour, and even with morality. The writer points out, with wonderful deadpan humour, that "some of the most respectable people I know speak nonstandard grammar; and conversely, there are several villains around whose standard grammar is impeccable."
Professor Crystal's book reads like a novel, and in a sense it is both an adventure story and a love story. The hardback is a work of art, with an index and very complete bibliographical sources. And, as far as I could see, not a single printing mistake. And not a syllable out of place, either.
If you're interested in the history of the English language, don't wait for the paperback, splash out £25 and get this. It's worth every penny.

First class, easy to use and thorough, 14 Jan 2008
This book crams a lot into its relatively few pages by focusing on key concepts and following its own advice on presentation.

It covers a range of needs from CVs, email and letters to presentations (my interest area).

I found the whole approach on narrative style vs. others; reasons why we communicate and the easy guide to structuring material. As one who is involved in training this has added a lot to my repertoire of material.

Excellent Adventure, 16 Jul 2008
Having a copy of the King James Bible and copy of the William Tyndale version of the New Testament, I was very interested to find out where the English language as we know it came from.

This book did not dissappoint me. It took me right from the Anglo Saxon and Norse of the six century, which made up Old English, right through to the Modern English that we all speak today and how it is spoken in the former colonies of the British Empire. It is very well written and very informative. I enjoyed a great deal the chapters about the influence of French on our language under William the Conquerer, and how increased trade in the Middle Ages and William Shakespeare helped turn the Middle English of William Tyndale into the Early Modern English of the King James Bible.

I think that what I really like about this book is the fascinating little facts contained in it's pages. About some of the mistakes in Dr Johnson's Dictionary, or the fact that Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" was the first English novel, or how an African slave would be "sold down the river" to another plantation, where the conditions were harsher, as a punishment. This book is absolutely bursting with such little gems of information. They can barely be numbered.

It is not entirely perfect - as afew of it's passages tend to be a bit long winded and need to read twice to get the full understanding. However, it is a very, very enjoyable read and it finishes with a chapter about what the future of our language might be.

I'll conclude by saying that if you are in any way interested in the origins, influence and amazing success of our mother tongue then read this book. I can't recommend it enough.

Fascinating - nearly excellent, 03 Apr 2008
The evolution of our language is a fascinating story, well told by Melvyn Bragg.

My only very slight complaint is that it's obviously a book aimed at adults, and the squeamish ***ing of swear-words struck me as inappropriate. They're a part of our language like any other and their history deserves to be told without mollycoddling the reader.

(I don't like it when people complain about 'bad language' when it's used appropriately and in context, and I think it's the duty of the rest of us to complain when certain words are shied away from unnecessarily.)

Don't be put off..., 25 Feb 2008
...by the title. This is not a specialist work for the linguist. Any intelligent reader will enjoy it.

Very good book - fades towards end, 16 Oct 2007
This excellently written book takes a backwards look at the 'success' of English as a language both for the English and now for much of the world. From the treatment of the roots of the language, why it contains little from the Roman / pre-Roman to how it survived the Normans this book mainly achieves its purpose of presenting the language as something living that survived despite the odds.

As the narrative moves to the Reformation, the impact of print, Chaucer and Shakespeare the text becomes more and more gripping. I also now finally have a reason to tell my children why English spelling makes no sense (as opposed to American English).

As recent centuries rush buy it becomes a global Cooks tour and degenerates into short chapters along the lines of 'went to West Indies / Australia / India ...' and picked up lots of words including these couple of dozen used every day. Presumably the changes to the language are not well enough embedded to say more on. Perhaps Melvyn's descendants will update the text in a few hundred years.

Despite this complaint the overall book well rewards the read.

Superb, 16 Sep 2007
One can always rely on Melvyn Bragg for quality, no matter what the medium, and he lives up to his reputation here. This book is a trully fine companion to the excellent TV series.

As a one-stop history of the English language this book is as good as you could get. There are a lot of books similar to this one, but Bragg's is the most original and readable I have come across. He gives many examples and word lists to exempliy his story, and original anecdotes embellish his approach. A novel angle is to tell the story of English as if one were telling the life of an individual, and so instil a personal interest in the reader. In many ways languages are like people in that they evolve and change in response to their l