Part 2: The Mother Tongue

 
World Languages = World People

So far, The Mother Tongue has been very insightful and interesting. It has educated me on the pros and cons of the English language, the origins of English, how English words came to be, and much, much more. Bryson's style is informative and succinct, and very easy to comprehend. While I was still in the stage of reading the beginning of the book, I had a reminiscent feeling of a book I had read not too long ago. In fact, that book was David and Goliath. Just as Bryson's writing flowed naturally and was easily comprehensible, Gladwell's writing was comprised of short sentences that made his books easy to read. They both include evidence and research (quotes, citations, etc.), and they analyze the evidence. The only difference between the two authors, is that Bryson incorporates some of his small, joking remarks within parentheses, as shown below:

"What a Briton calls a blizzard would, in Illinois or Nebraska, be a flurry, and a British heat wave is often a thing of merriment to much of the rest of the world. (I still treasure a London newspaper with the banner headline: BRITAIN SIZZLES IN THE SEVENTIES!)" (Bryson 15)

These humorous comments are what may be written off by Mr. P as "style errors", but to the reader, especially in a book dense with information and facts, these parenthetical phrases are positively refreshing. In my opinion, humor is always good. 

Additionally, Bryson provides the reader with dumbfounding information about English that the reader, if English is his or her mother tongue, will most definitely open their mouths in complete awe. Please consider the following:

 "But perhaps the single most notable characteristic of English--for better and worse--is its deceptive complexity. Nothing in English is ever quite what it seems. Take the simple word what. We use it every day--indeed, every few sentences. But imagine trying to explain to a foreigner what what means. It takes the Oxford English Dictionary five pages and almost 15,000 words to manage the task...As native speakers, we seldom stop to think just how complicated and illogical English is. Every day we use countless words and expressions without thinking about them--often without having the faintest idea what they really describe or signify." (Bryson 19)

If someone asked me what what means, I would try to explain its meaning without getting much farther than "It's a question word...Ugh just use Google translate." But come to think of it, this is true of our language. We go about our daily lives, using words that we probably don't even fully understand (what's really crazy is that Oxford English Dictionary had to use 15,000 words to explain the word what...)! So readers, as a fun little activity, please consider the meaning of the word "the" and comment what you think the meaning is WITHOUT LOOKING IT UP! No cheating!

While The Mother Tongue, yes, blows my mind with its amazingly incredible insight, it also includes great writing and yet, more incredible insight:

"And yet it survived. If there is one uncanny thing about the English language, it is its incredible persistence. In retrospect it seems unthinkable, to us now that it might have been otherwise, but we forget just how easily people forsake their tongues...It is a cherishable irony that a language that succeeded almost by stealth, treated for centuries as the inadequate and second-rate tongue of peasants, should one day become the most important and successful language in the world." (Bryson 56)

Our language and its survival skills truly amaze. It's hard to imagine a time when English was only used by the lower-class, now that English is practically the World's Language. Also, take note of Bryson's writing. As I mentioned earlier, it is very streamlined, easy to read, and informative at the same time. I love his use of vocabulary: "forsake their tongues", "cherishable irony", etc. His style makes this book an enjoyable read!

Almost my last post for this project! Thanks for reading, guys!

My beautiful-word-definition of the day:

Picture source ("languages"): http://facultywp.ccri.edu/panaccione/files/2011/10/poster.jpg
Picture source ("la douleur exquise"): http://editorial.designtaxi.com/news-notranslate0608/5.gif