Never Say "I Love You" Again (Mother Tongue - Bill Bryson)

Member Name: SlyClone2k

Product:	Mother Tongue - Bill Bryson
Date:	22/07/03 (303 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny, Interesting, Edu-ma-cational

Disadvantages: Possibly inaccurate, Not holiday reading material

For quite a while I’ve held a little interest in the origins of language. Not only how we managed to develop speech, but what has shaped our language into that we use today, perhaps you are the same?

If you watched the recent “Walking with Cavemen” on BBC not so long ago you may have satisfied one aspect of that interest, the Robert Winston show presented the facts of human evolution and how communication began. Bill Bryson takes us a little further, perhaps to the tune of around 148,000 years (man is believed to have achieved complex speech around 150,000 years ago!) to begin educating us on how our English language has developed over the last couple of millennia.

Mother Tongue is one of Bryson’s earliest forays into the writing market. First published in 1991 (that’s some five years before the better known Notes from a Small Island) the book carries us through several interesting periods of development and subject of our own special tongue.

Throughout the book Bryson provides some fascinating insights, and as you might expect they are laced with substantial humour, some contrived from the blunders of peoples past and some have been specially added by Bryson.

The early chapters cover a great deal of information that doesn’t necessarily relate to English, the development of ancient languages, and the history of language. He tells of how English has become a conglomeration of the languages of others, for example English has no word for “macho” and for all its glamour can’t match the Danish “hygge” (instantly satisfying and cosy). A section takes us through the interesting methods languages use to develop words, like how Welsh seems to try and avoid vowels if possible, but it becomes surprising how many of our own words are comprised for foreign looking parts; “like tchst, sthm and tchph..” naturally they would appear unpronounceable to us English, “
;..yet we use them everyday in words such as matchstick, asthma and catchphrase”

Further on we are introduced to the birth of words and there are some truly fascinating aspects here, particularly how words switch meanings or how upon the creation of a literary piece a few hundred years old a faux pas could be created and we might now giggle at some of the words used such as when” Dickens writes “Sir Leicester leans back in his chair, and breathlessly ejaculates”.” See what I mean? You don’t get imagery like that anymore.

The book takes us through spelling and grammar, for me some parts of this section were hard going, you’d have thought that spelling wouldn’t be an issue for someone that creates ops of such a spectacular quality, but when Bryson challenges the reader to see whether a selection of words including; supercede, anomoly and grafitti, and then tells us that in fact all of them are incorrect (although I had trouble misspelling because of Words delightful auto-correct which knew supercede was wrong but couldn’t find a word to replace it with!) it becomes clear just how poor we can be.

The grammar section, whilst interesting in places is also somewhat difficult to grasp without an understanding of how English grammar actually works. I’ve always hard difficulties with the definition of noun, verb and adjectives, but getting into past tense participles and split infinitives and I really begin to struggle. Perhaps it’s no wonder I struggle for, as is illustrated, it becomes clear that we don’t particularly abide by our own rules anyway! For example “Breaking is a present tense participle but as often as not is used in a past tense sense (He was breaking the window when I saw him). Broken, on the other hand, is a past tense participle but as often as not it is employed in a present tense (I think I’ve just broken my toe)”

Another section
is entirely devoted to the differences that the English form has taken. Not, as you might expect, just between US English and UK English but the way our language has developed into factions of the Pennsylvania Dutch and Cajun or how in Appalachia Elizabethan (Shakespearean) English is still spoken. As with most of the other chapters packed with fascinating snippets of information. Further we are taken through how many languages have adopted our words. Telephone is pretty much known as a telephone the world over, but then many English words do derive from their source (America!). How many places have you been where you’ve found an airport or hotel even when in a completely foreign country?

For a time we deviate slightly away from the Mother Tongue. The chapters Names and Swearing are both fascinating but I suspect overall lack of material in the fields meant a little searching outside of our own language. Perhaps, not surprisingly, much of the material may seem familiar. I guess people occasionally discuss the likely origins of certain surnames, Fletcher and Butcher but what about deviation of accent on a name that might once have been the same? Hill, Hull and Hall? Names doesn’t just cover peoples names but how the names of places may have developed, providing some fascinating into the bizarre naming convention that bedevils our public houses. Ever wondered why we get such odd names as “The Goose and Gridiron” or “The Two Necked Swan”? Such information is covered here, and it’s well worth knowing too, though I’m not going to spoil it by telling you. (Though if you want to know you can ask in my guestbook!)

Swearing is thoroughly amusing section, there are some truly impressive snippets here, that might just allow you to pass off saying some extremely rude words while at the dinner table. You might say, “Tits!” obviously there is going to be a stunned silence which it is important you fol
low up with, “did you know that tits is a word that has been used since that days of the Anglo Saxons?” There by not only allowing you to swear but also shaping the conversation in to new and dynamic ways and allowing you to startle your guests with your new found knowledge! But whilst the staple swear words are covered here had you ever given any thought to such gems as Gadzooks may once have been ruder than the -f- word? You’ll never be short of a cuss again, and as many foreign language speakers know, you may even discover the true meaning of something that you know to be awful, but just seems mild to the cuss’ed! Though I truly doubt that much beats the ring of “I fart at thee.”

The penultimate chapter, word play, also helped to educate me. I’m terrible with anagrams, lipograms, rebuses (4U2P) and palindromes, and the ability to understand cryptic crosswords is as foreign to me as Russian. But we are given a little insight into the complexities of the English language and how it one of the rare languages to use word play, and even fewer use so many different types.

Lastly we delve into the future of English. While this wasn’t the most appealing section it makes a good finale, covering the issues facing countries that don’t speak English, problems arising from racism or xenophobia for areas that are adjacent to English speaking places. I guess the final notes about concerns that English may ultimately fragment in to new languages means that we are left to consider the nature of our tongue for a little while after we finish reading.

It is wholly unlikely the book can be used as an accurate and true account of how our language compares to others or even whether it is correct in some of the assumptions that are made. Although a great deal of the information contained within is sourced at the back, much of the material may have been gained from urban legend or presumption. Not being a
particularly adept linguist (as opposed to one of the cunning kind at which I’m most adept *Ahem*) or a great scholar in the history of language (that’d be why I’m reading the book) I didn’t notice any glaring errors, in fact I didn’t notice any errors at all. But I wasn’t looking for reasons not to enjoy the book. It may be that in the future I’ll be responsible for the propagation of Bryson’s errors in conversation but on the whole I don’t care. Such legends are the stuff that languages are made of!

Given that the book is now 12 years old it has dated extremely well and will undoubtedly provide entertainment for any that should choose to pick it up. Personally I found the subjects within enjoyable, some of the information extremely amusing, and a number of the facts, accurate or not, fascinating. That said I took to reading this book during my holidays, and lightweight beach reading it is not. There is no story line, no plot twists and definitely no murder or romance. A book to peruse through, perhaps a chapter here or there, will be enough for most people. On the whole Bryson provides a remarkable insight in to our language and the influences that forged it and continue to mould it into a form that is estimated to be understood to some degree by nearly a third of the world population.

The price below is the cover price, but Amazon currently have it on sale for £3.99
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The title, for perhaps those wishing to express the feeling but not wanting to say the words, might instead utilise "Isle of View". Its incredible how two things sets of things can sound so similar, go on try it on your next intended victim!

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