The story of English
by Robert McCrum · first published 1986
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3HN commenters
2010–2022first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
"Written for general readers, The Story of English presents a stimulating and comprehensive record of spoken and written English - from its Anglo-Saxon origins some two thousand years ago to the present day, when English is the dominant language of commerce and culture with more than one billion English speakers around the world. From Cockney, Scouse, and Scots to Gulla, Singlish, Franglais, and the latest African American slang, this sweeping history of the English language is the essential introduction for anyone who wants to know more about our common tongue."--BOOK JACKET.
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…Interpretation of Computer Programs. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ("SICP") Stoll, Clifford (1989) The Cuckoo's Egg. New York, NY: Doubleday. Linguistics: McCrum, Robert, Robert MacNeil, William Cran (1986). The Story of English. New York, NY: Viking. https://archive.org/details/storyofenglish000mccr Accounting: n/a
on “Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?” ↗…English by David Crystal http://www.amazon.com/Stories-English-David-Crystal/dp/15856... [2] The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson http://www.amazon.com/Mother-Tongue-Bill-Bryson/dp/B001W6RRF... [3] The Story of English by McCrum, Cran, and MacNeil http://www.amazon.com/Story-English-Third-Revised/dp/0142002... All of these make a delightful read, I especially like [2]. A number of factors combined to make English…
on “Why Chinese Is So Damned Hard” ↗Strangest borrowing claim I heard was that Germanic strong verbs (hence English) came from Semitic language verb forms. Columbia linguist McWhorter claims this his Story of English book.
on “Agriculture gave rise to one of world’s most mysterious language families” ↗