The Stories of English

David Crystal`s innovative, eye-opening, and vastly entertaining history of the English language concentrates not on what has been prescribed by experts over the centuries--not on what is known as Standard English --but on the language as it has actually been spoken, in all its variety of accent, dialect, vocabulary, and slang. Probing the influence of various ethnic groups on the language, as well as the influence of great and lesser writers and of such elements as religion, migration patterns, and the customs of the colonies of the British Empire, Crystal elucidates such questions as why we say you instead of thou, and explains the difference between johnnycake and cornbread. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.