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Okrent, Arika.
Subjects
English language -- Orthography and spelling -- History.
English language -- Pronunciation.
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by author:
Okrent, Arika.
by title:
Highly irregular : w...
by call number:
421.52 O41h
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Okrent, Arika.
English language -- Orthography and spelling -- History.
English language -- Pronunciation.
MARC Display
Highly
irregular
:
why
tough
,
through
, and
dough
don
't
rhyme-and
other
oddities
of the
English
language
/ Arika Okrent ; illustrated by Sean O'Neill.
by
Okrent, Arika.
Oxford University Press, 2021.
Call #:
421.52 O41h
Subjects
English
language
-- Orthography and spelling -- History.
English
language
-- Pronunciation.
ISBN:
9780197539408 (hc)
Description:
viii, 264 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
Bibliography:
Includes bibliographical references (p. [251]-254) and index.
Summary:
"Maybe you've been speaking
English
all your life, or maybe you learned it later on. But whether you use it just well enough to get your daily business done, or you're an expert with a red pen who never omits a comma or misplaces a modifier, you must have noticed that there are some things about this
language
that are just weird. Perhaps you're reading a book and stop to puzzle over absurd spelling rules (
Why
are there so many ways to say '-gh'?), or you hear someone talking and get stuck on an expression (
Why
do we say How dare you but not How try you?), or your kid quizzes you on homework (
Why
is it eleven and twelve instead of oneteen and twoteen?). Suddenly you ask yourself, Wait,
why
do we do it this way? You think about it, try to explain it, and keep running into walls. It doesn'
t
conform to logic. It doesn'
t
work the way you'd expect it to. There doesn'
t
seem to be any rule at all. There might not be a logical explanation, but there will be an explanation, and this book is here to help. In
Highly
Irregular
, Arika Okrent answers these questions and many more. Along the way she tells the story of the many influences--from invading French armies to stubborn Flemish printers -- that made our
language
the way it is today. Both an entertaining send-up of linguistic
oddities
and a deeply researched history of
English
,
Highly
Irregular
is essential reading for anyone who has paused to wonder about our marvelous mess of a
language
."--Publisher.
Other authors:
O'Neill, Sean, 1968-
Holds:
1
Copy/Holding information
Location
Collection
Call No.
Item type
Status
Due Date
Central Library
Adult Nonfiction
421.52 O41h
Core Collection - Adult
Checked out
Jun 28, 2024
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