solitude sunday at the whimsey project. it's our day to spend time with a book. what are you reading?
my reading of the history of english by bill bryson continues with chapter three. the blending of various languages due to movement of various groups of people helped form english. and that's all i have to offer about chapter four. favorite tidbits from chapter four:
the very first sentence in english: this she-wolf is a reward to me kinsman.
as with formal latin versus spoken latin, english was the language of peasants.
1582, richard mulcaster stated of the english language: "the english tongue is of small account, stretching no further than this island of ours, nay not there over all."
Great book! I like his book about American English, too. I think it's called "Made in America." Not quite as entertaining as "The Mother Tongue," though.
ReplyDeletethat's what i'm reading, the mother tongue. i liked his a walk in the woods, about hiking the appalachian trail!
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