Talon2Claw reviewed The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
Review of 'The Mother Tongue' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Interesting, but it gets a little bogged down with examples at time.
272 pages
English language
Published Sept. 1, 1991 by Harper Perennial.
Kevin B. O'Brien reviewed The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
Review of 'The Mother Tongue' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This was my "read on the plane" book for our trip to Europe, and I rather enjoyed it. I am not at all certain that everything he said is accurate, but I generally enjoy Bryson's writing, and I was not looking for a scholarly dissertation on linguistics anyway. So as long as you know that it is a discursive and have the right expectations you might enjoy this as well.
This was my "read on the plane" book for our trip to Europe, and I rather enjoyed it. I am not at all certain that everything he said is accurate, but I generally enjoy Bryson's writing, and I was not looking for a scholarly dissertation on linguistics anyway. So as long as you know that it is a discursive and have the right expectations you might enjoy this as well.
Elizabeth Morgan reviewed The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
None
3 stars
I really appreciate that I started this book after taking Latin lessons, because now I understand what things like participles and prefixes and even first-person singular verbs are. I appreciate it even further after learning from Bryson that some of the most ridiculous grammar rules and spellings are based on Latin, despite having nothing to do with Latin in the first place.
It’s not all about the Latin, though, I’m just focusing on it because I’ve been learning Latin grammar this past year. In fact, I found a book full of interesting trivia, like most of Bryson’s books.
Although I read some reviews from Actual Linguists slamming this book, I find Bryson’s style completely readable and enjoyable and I’m happy to go along with it, knowing that if I want to know more detailed information I’m going to have to go digging for it.
Michael @ Knowledge Lost reviewed Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
Review of 'Mother Tongue' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Recently I read ‘Made In America’ by Bill Bryson, so I thought it would be appropriate to read ‘Mother Tongue’ as well. Though there was a fair chunk of similar information in both books, ‘Mother Tongue’ is just more relevant. While ‘Made in America’ focused on the history of English in America; ’Mother Tongue’ focuses mainly on the history of English in general. Trying to cover questions like, “Why is there a ‘u’ in four and not in forty?” or “Why do we tell a lie and tell the truth?”
Bill Bryson does a great job of teaching and keeps the book interesting and sometimes humorous. Though the format and the style of the books are similar, I would recommend ‘Mother Tongue’ over ‘Made in America’ simply because the information is more relevant and covers all aspects of the English language.
Recommended for all English geeks, this book will give …
Recently I read ‘Made In America’ by Bill Bryson, so I thought it would be appropriate to read ‘Mother Tongue’ as well. Though there was a fair chunk of similar information in both books, ‘Mother Tongue’ is just more relevant. While ‘Made in America’ focused on the history of English in America; ’Mother Tongue’ focuses mainly on the history of English in general. Trying to cover questions like, “Why is there a ‘u’ in four and not in forty?” or “Why do we tell a lie and tell the truth?”
Bill Bryson does a great job of teaching and keeps the book interesting and sometimes humorous. Though the format and the style of the books are similar, I would recommend ‘Mother Tongue’ over ‘Made in America’ simply because the information is more relevant and covers all aspects of the English language.
Recommended for all English geeks, this book will give you a deeper understanding of the language as well as grammatical structures like amphibology. My wife might also be happy to hear that the book covers the topic of onomatopoeia.
markm reviewed The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
Review of 'The Mother Tongue' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Entertaining, informative, occasionally erroneous. I looked into his comment indicating that non-human animals can't choke on food and that this is a price we pay for speech. I found the source in Google books, and discussed it with Perry Habecker at New Boulton - almost certainly false.
Entertaining, informative, occasionally erroneous. I looked into his comment indicating that non-human animals can't choke on food and that this is a price we pay for speech. I found the source in Google books, and discussed it with Perry Habecker at New Boulton - almost certainly false.
RHoltslander reviewed The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
Review of 'The Mother Tongue' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Bryson is amusing as always.
Subjects
- English language -- History