Blooming English: Observations on the Roots, Cultivation and Hybrids of the English LanguageEnglish is the most creative, changeable and imaginative of languages. Some words are invented to meet temporary needs and are quickly discarded; others carry meanings hundreds of years old. Language fascinates us, and we spend a lot of time playing with it, concocting everything from puns, riddles and secret languages to wonderful prose and poetry. We also worry about it a great deal, looking up and checking words in dictionaries and usage guides, occasionally arguing about definitions. This book celebrates our capacity to play with language, as well as examining the ways we use it: in slang and jargon, swearing, speaking the unspeakable, or concealing unpleasant or inconvenient facts. It is a book for browsing, for finding beguiling snippets about language, history and social customs, and for using as a formidable weapon in word games. |
Contents
Why a Garden? | 1 |
The Complexity of Language | 7 |
Language Change | 26 |
Word Creation | 43 |
Meaning Shifts | 56 |
Relics of Linguistic Change | 79 |
The Nature of Exotics | 85 |
Bad Language | 92 |
Sound Symbolism | 142 |
What is Correct English? | 154 |
Dictionaries Style Guides and Grammars | 164 |
Personal Names | 187 |
Dirty Words | 199 |
Taboo Language | 210 |
References | 230 |
Index | 234 |
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Blooming English: Observations on the Roots, Cultivation and Hybrids of the ... Kate Burridge No preview available - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
adjectives ain't apostrophe appear associated Australian English backformation become behaviour bloody borrowed century certainly clearly colour compounds consonants context course derives described dialects disappeared drop Dutch Dwight Bolinger dysphemism early euphemism euphemistic example expressions fact favourite female forms French garden Geoffrey Hughes give grammar guage happens hypercorrection infix involves Jack Jeff Kennett kind language change Latin linguistic look meant metaphor Modern English names nasal negative nonce words noun Nowadays offensive Old English once ordinary original Oxford English Dictionary past pattern perhaps person phonestheme phrase pig Latins plural probably pronounced pronunciation puddings rabbit refer remodelled rhyme schwa sense sexual Shakespeare simply singular slang social someone sometimes sort sound change speak speakers speech spelling stress swearing syllable taboo talk there's things tion tongue typically usage usually verb vocabulary vowel Welsh rabbit what's woman words writing yogh