The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got that Way

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Bryson, Bill (3 July 2014). "Interview: Bill Bryson". nursinginpractice.com. Interviewed by Jenny Chou. Cogora Ltd. Having lived in Britain and the U.S., I have noticed the following for years and couldn’t agree more with Bill Bryson: The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way, written by renowned linguist Bill Bryson, is a captivating exploration into the origins, evolution, and peculiarities of the English language. Published in 1990, this seminal work provides readers with a comprehensive and engaging account of how English became the global phenomenon it is today. In November 2006, Bryson interviewed then British prime minister Tony Blair on the state of science and education. [25] Bryson's writing style is known for its wit, humor, and accessibility, making The Mother Tongue an enjoyable read for both language enthusiasts and casual readers. He effortlessly combines extensive research, real-life anecdotes, and personal experiences, creating a narrative that is both informative and entertaining.

Then again, he seems to think that Pennsylvania Dutch is a form of pidgin English, so perhaps that’s unsurprising! Bryson was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Bill Bryson Sr., a sports journalist who worked for 50 years at the Des Moines Register, and Agnes Mary (née McGuire), the home furnishings editor at the same newspaper. [8] [9] His mother was of Irish descent. [10] He had an older brother, Michael (1942–2012), and a sister, Mary Jane Elizabeth. In 2006, Bryson published The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, a humorous account of his childhood years in Des Moines. [9] In 2006 Frank Cownie, the mayor of Des Moines, awarded Bryson the key to the city and announced that 21 October 2006 would be "Bill Bryson, The Thunderbolt Kid, Day." [11]anmerkung: ich bin sowohl englisch als auch deutsch muttersprachlich (bzw vatersprachlich) aufgewachsen, aber auch ich hab wörter nicht verstanden.) For all the little anecdotes and copious bits of trivia it contains, I really want to like the book more than I do. Unfortunately once it becomes clear that many of these factoids won't stand up to closer scrutiny -- Bryson doesn't even blink as he repeats the age-old and very disputed claim that the Eskimos have 50 words for snow -- it becomes hard to believe anything the book claims. He worked as a journalist, first for the Bournemouth Evening Echo, eventually becoming chief copy editor of the business section of The Times and deputy national news editor of the business section of The Independent.

By the end of The Mother Tongue, readers gain a deeper appreciation for the complexity, beauty, and pragmatism of the English language. Bryson's exploration of its history, evolution, and cultural significance brings to light the incredible journey of English, from its humble beginnings to its status as a global force. a b "Bill Bryson breaks retirement to record Christmas audiobook". The Guardian. 27 September 2022 . Retrieved 13 December 2022.In 2005, Bryson was appointed chancellor of Durham University, [23] succeeding the late Sir Peter Ustinov. [31] He had praised Durham as "a perfect little city" in Notes from a Small Island. And the clue is right there in the term ‘Latin alphabet’ that it wasn’t originally crafted for use by English speakers, either.) a b c "Writer Bill Bryson remembers his Iowa roots". Ames Tribune. Gannett Co. 28 October 2013 . Retrieved 31 January 2020.

Seeing Further – The Story of Science and the Royal Society". The Royal Society. 28 January 2010 . Retrieved 5 December 2022. In 2012, he received the Kenneth B. Myer Award, from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience, in Melbourne, Australia. [ citation needed] Germans talk about ein image problem or das Cash Flow, Austrians eat Big Mäcs, Japanese spread a blanket and have a pikunikku, drink kohi (coffee) or miruku (milk), speak through a maiku (microphone), shop in a depaato (department store), and put on meeku (make-up). Poles watch telewizja and French shop at le drugstore. I found Bill Bryson about a month ago when I read hilarious In a Sunburned Country. I liked that one a lot and decided to try out his other book. And I liked this one too, but unfortunately not as much as In a Sunburned Country. And there are several reasons for that. Including the one that it can be at least partly my fault.

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The middle portion of the book gets very involved in examining the evolution of English spellings and pronunciations as it moved from Old English to Modern English, and the further hiving off of American English from British English. Some of this was really illuminating, but the parts discussing the minute details of spelling and grammatical shifts were slow-going unless you are truly a student of the language and I found somewhat less interesting. We naturally lament the decline of these languages, but it's not an altogether undiluted tragedy. Consider the loss to English literature, if Joyce, Shaw, Swift, Yeats, Wilde, and Ireland's other literary masters have written in what inescapably a fringe language, their work will be as little known to us as those poets in Iceland or Norway, and that would be a tragedy indeed. No country has given the word incomparable literature per head of population than Ireland, and for that reason alone we might be excused to a small, "selfish" celebration that English was the language of her greatest writers.” It must have been a blow to the Celts, overrun by primitive, unlettered warriors, because they were far more literate, sophisticated people.

niveau/anspruch: dazu muss man wissen, dass bryson ein sehr hohes bildungs- und sprachniveau hat, das merkt man natürlich auch in seiner schreibweise. er verwendet (fach)vokabular, das man tw nicht einmal in der muttersprache kennen würde. darauf sollte man sich einstellen. So how many grains of salt would I need to swallow the declaration that immediately followed? An unhealthy amount, I’m sure.For much of the history of the language, however, words defied standard spelling, with even Shakespeare offering a bewildering array of different and inconsistent spellings for the same words throughout his works. The first steps toward standardization only began with the invention of the printing press in the 15th century and the gradual spread of written works (and thus, literacy) throughout England.