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The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English
Hardback
Main Details
| Title |
The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English
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| Authors and Contributors |
By (author) Henry Hitchings
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| Physical Properties |
| Format:Hardback | | Pages:448 | | Dimensions(mm): Height 223,Width 140 |
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| Category/Genre | Historical and comparative linguistics |
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| ISBN/Barcode |
9780719564543
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| Classifications | Dewey:420.9 |
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| Audience | |
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Publishing Details |
| Publisher |
John Murray General Publishing Division
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| Imprint |
John Murray Publishers Ltd
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| Publication Date |
3 April 2008 |
| Publication Country |
United Kingdom
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Description
Communication is essential to our lives, but how often do we stop to think about where the words we use have come from? Have you ever thought about which words in English have been borrowed from Arabic, French or Dutch? Try admiral, landscape and marmalade just for starters. The Secret Life of Words is a wide-ranging account not only of the history of English, but also of how words witness history, reflect social change and remind us of our turbulent past. Henry Hitchings delves into our promiscuous language and reveals how and why it has absorbed words from more than 350 other languages many originating from the most unlikely of places, such as shampoo from Hindi and kiosk from Turkish. From the Norman Conquest to the present day, Hitchings narrates the story of English as an archive of our human experience and uncovers the secrets behind everyday words. This is a celebration of our language; after reading it, you will never again take the words we use for granted.
Author Biography
Henry Hitchings was born in 1974. Educated at the universities of Oxford and London, he is the author of Dr Johnsons Dictionary and has contributed to many newspapers and magazines.
Reviews'Hitching's excavation are a treat. He presents the best gleanings of academia in a winning, conversational style. Almost every spadeful yields an etymological nugget ... elegantly and entertainingly written' -- Financial Times 'A fascinating exploration of the rich borrowings, exchanges and couplings of the language' -- Ben Macintyre, The Times 'Hitchings has teased out the stories lurking behind the language to provide a most satisfying whole' -- Publishing News 'Much more than a collage of etymological trivia, this is a dense and thorough excavation of the stories that lie behind the words we say' -- Metro 'Quite how Hitchings has managed to wrestle this dizzying mountain of dense information into such an elegant narrative ... is a feat almost as admirable as that of the great lexicographer. His book is painstakingly detailed, closely argued and suffused with a contagious enthusiasm for the secrets woven into the fabric of our words -- Daily Telegraph 'This clever, persuasive, delightful book is studded with entertaining observations' -- Independent on Sunday 'Wearing his learning lightly, Hitchings has produced an impressive successor to his acclaimed account of Johnson's dictionary' -- Independent 'A wonderfully detailed history of the English language' -- Good Book Guide Kirkus Review US:Hitchings, who wrote earlier about Samuel Johnson's dictionary (Defining the World, 2005), again displays his astonishing knowledge of the English language's myriad roots.English has been and no doubt always will be a salmagundi, the author declares, blending words from many other tongues into one splendid, ever-changing linguistic dish. It's vocabulary that interests him here - grammar is far more resistant to change, he notes - and after some factual table-setting (approximately 350 languages have contributed to English) he serves his main courses one century at a time. Hitchings effortlessly blends world history with linguistic history, helping us see that we appropriate words for numerous reasons: trade, conquest, fashion, food, art and so on. The Anglo-Saxons, we learn, had more than 30 words for warrior. From Arabic we gained words for alchemy that then migrated into math and science, such as zero and cipher. Chaucer, the author writes, was "a literary magpie" who liberated the language. The rise of the printing press ignited another vocabulary explosion. In the 16th century, English conflicts with Spain brought an influx of Spanish words, among them armada, hammock and mosquito. Shakespeare is the first known user of some 1,700 words. From the New World came potato and tobacco; Capt. John Smith was the first to use adrift and roomy. Greek, avers Hitchings, has remained a source of high-culture (even highfalutin) words like deipnosophist and pathos. Many French words deal with culture, leisure and food (no surprise there); soiree first appeared in the fiction of Fanny Burney. The British occupation of India brought the words teapot, curry and pajamas. In later days, advertising, mass media, the Internet and the "global village" have all accelerated the growth and spread of English. Hitchings notes in several places the impossibility and undesirability of attempting to close and bar the doors of this eternally flexible and omnivorous tongue.Learned, wise and educative, though a bit weighty for the average nightstand. (Kirkus Reviews)
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