Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English (Used Paperback) - John McWhorter

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 book" instead of "I read a book"? Why do we say "do" at all? Delving into our jumbled language, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history.

Linguist John McWhorter breaks down the unique syntax of English and explains why no other language is like it. He looks at how English grammar and sentence construction has changed more over the centuries than related Germanic languages, and traces these tics to the survival of Celtic grammatical forms after the Germanic tribes first invaded Britain. He outlines the differences between written and spoken English, and explains how this has misled our understanding of English's evolution.

McWhorter also tackles the issues of grammatical "rules," and points out how silly it is to become upset by sentences that end in prepositions or by split infinitives. The entire history of English is one of rules being broken, as this is the way a language evolves. He investigates the claim that English is "easy," and affirms that, compared to other languages, it actually is. He also demolishes the claim that a people's culture is reflected in its language, and concludes by looking at the interesting prehistory of English.

A rollicking tour through English's many perambulations, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue is a rousing celebration of our language.