en-US Mon, 15 Jul 2019 19:06:54 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 286363
In A Gateway to Sindarin , David Salo has created a volume that is a serious look at an entertaining topic. Salo covers the grammar, morphology, and history of the language. Supplemental material includes a vocabulary, Sindarin names, a glossary of terms, and an annotated list of works relevant to Sindarin. What emerges is an homage to Tolkien's scholarly philological efforts.]]> 456 David Salo 0874809126 Kay 0 3.75 2004
author: David Salo
name: Kay
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/07/15
shelves: to-read, own, tolkien, must-read, language
review:

]]> 19661852 ��
“A brilliant and thoroughly modern guide to learning new languages.”—Gary Marcus, cognitive psychologist and author of the ��New York Times ��bestseller�� Guitar Zero
��
At thirty years old, Gabriel Wyner speaks six languages fluently. He didn’t learn them in school—who does? Rather, he learned them in the past few years, working on his own and practicing on the subway, using simple techniques and free online resources—and here he wants to show others what he’s discovered.
��
Starting with pronunciation, you’ll learn how to rewire your ears and turn foreign sounds into familiar sounds. You’ll retrain your tongue to produce those sounds accurately, using tricks from opera singers and actors. Next, you’ll begin to tackle words, and connect sounds and spellings to imagery rather than translations, which will enable you to think in a foreign language. And with the help of sophisticated spaced-repetition techniques, you’ll be able to memorize hundreds of words a month in minutes every day.��
��
This is brain hacking at its most exciting, taking what we know about neuroscience and linguistics and using it to create the most efficient and enjoyable way to learn a foreign language in the spare minutes of your day.]]> 326 Gabriel Wyner Kay 0 to-read, 2019, own, language 4.07 2014
author: Gabriel Wyner
name: Kay
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/07/14
shelves: to-read, 2019, own, language
review:

]]> 52357 259 Unknown 0393320979 Kay 5
]]> 3.46 1000
author: Unknown
name: Kay
average rating: 3.46
book published: 1000
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/06/02
shelves: own, language, r-whoosh, r-woosh
review:
I don't know who this "anonymous" guy is but he sure does write some fantastic books. I'll be sure to check his books his other stuff in future.


]]> 998330 Don't expect Comma Sense to be a dry, academic tome. On the contrary, the authors show how each mark of punctuation--no matter how seemingly arcane--can be effortlessly associated with a great American the underrated yet powerful period with Seabiscuit; the jazzy semicolon with Duke Ellington; even the rebel apostrophe with famed outlaw Jesse James. But this book is way more than a flight of whimsy. When you've finished Comma Sense, you'll not only have mastered everything you need to know about punctuation through Lederer and Shore's simple, clear, and right-on-the-mark rules, you'll have had fun doing so. When you're done laughing and learning, you'll be a veritable punctuation whiz, ready to make your marks accurately, sensitively, and effectively.]]> 160 Richard Lederer 0312342543 Kay 0 to-read, language 3.63 2000
author: Richard Lederer
name: Kay
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/04/30
shelves: to-read, language
review:

]]> 135611
The author of 'The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid' isn't, after all, a Shakespeare scholar, a playwright, or even a biographer.

Reading 'Shakespeare The World As Stage', however, one gets the sense that this eclectic Iowan is exactly the type of person the Bard himself would have selected for the task.

The man who gave us 'The Mother Tongue' and 'A Walk in the Woods' approaches Shakespeare with the same freedom of spirit and curiosity that made those books such reader favorites. A refreshing take on an elusive literary master.]]> 199 Bill Bryson 0060740221 Kay 0 to-read, language 3.80 2007
author: Bill Bryson
name: Kay
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/01/13
shelves: to-read, language
review:

]]> 29
From its mongrel origins to its status as the world's most-spoken tongue; its apparent simplicity to its deceptive complexity; its vibrant swearing to its uncertain spelling and pronunciation; Bryson covers all this as well as the many curious eccentricities that make it as maddening to learn as it is flexible to use.

Bill Bryson's classic Mother Tongue is a highly readable and hilarious tale of how English came to be the world's language.]]> 270 Bill Bryson 0380715430 Kay 0 to-read, language 3.91 1990
author: Bill Bryson
name: Kay
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1990
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/01/13
shelves: to-read, language
review:

]]> 25486041
Wherever you go in the English-speaking world, there are linguistic riches from times past awaiting rediscovery. All you have to do is choose a location, find some old documents, and dig a little.

In The Disappearing Dictionary, linguistics expert Professor David Crystal collects together delightful dialect words that either provide an insight into an older way of life, or simply have an irresistible phonetic appeal. Like a mirror image of The Meaning of Liff that just happens to be true, The Disappearing Dictionary unearths some lovely old gems of the English language, dusts them down and makes them live again for a new generation.

dabberlick [noun, Scotland]

A mildly insulting way of talking about someone who is tall and skinny. 'Where's that dabberlick of a child?'

fubsy [adjective, Lancashire]

Plump, in a nice sort of way.

squinch [noun, Devon]

A narrow crack in a wall or a space between floorboards. 'I lost sixpence through a squinch in the floor'.]]> 320 David Crystal 1447282809 Kay 0 to-read, language 3.79 2015
author: David Crystal
name: Kay
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/08/12
shelves: to-read, language
review:

]]> 23590 influenced Tolkien's creative use of language in his fictional world.
Here three senior editors of the OED offer an intriguing exploration of Tolkien's career as a lexicographer and illuminate his creativity as a word user and word creator. The centerpiece of the book is a wonderful collection of "word studies" which will delight the heart of Ring fans and word
lovers everywhere. The editors look at the origin of such Tolkienesque words as "hobbit," "mithril, "Smeagol," "Ent," "halfling," and "worm" (meaning "dragon"). Readers discover that a word such as "mathom" (anything a hobbit had no immediate use for, but was unwilling to throw away) was actually
common in Old English, but that "Mithril," on the other hand, is a complete invention (and the first "Elven" word to have an entry in the OED). And fans of Harry Potter will be surprised to find that "Dumbledore" (the name of Hogwart's headmaster) was a word used by Tolkien and many others (it is a
dialect word meaning "bumblebee").
Few novelists have found so much of their creative inspiration in the shapes and histories of words. Presenting archival material not found anywhere else, The Ring of Words offers a fresh and unexplored angle on the literary achievements of one of the world's most famous and best-loved
writers.]]> 234 Peter Gilliver 0198610696 Kay 4 own, language, tolkien 4.11 2006
author: Peter Gilliver
name: Kay
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2006
rating: 4
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date added: 2017/07/29
shelves: own, language, tolkien
review:

]]> 16045004 328 David Crystal 1250003474 Kay 0 to-read, language 3.91 2012
author: David Crystal
name: Kay
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/01/15
shelves: to-read, language
review:

]]> 10652318 The Language Wars examines the present state of the conflict, its history, and its future. Above all, it uses the past as a way of illuminating the present. Moving chronologically, the book explores the most persis­tent issues to do with English and unpacks the history of "proper" us­age. Where did these ideas spring from? Who has been on the front lines in the language wars?

The Language Wars examines grammar rules, regional accents, swearing, spelling, dictionaries, political correctness, and the role of electronic media in reshaping language. It also takes a look at such details as the split infinitive, elocution, and text messaging. Peopled with intriguing characters such as Jonathan Swift, Lewis Carroll, and Lenny Bruce, The Language Wars is an essential volume for anyone interested in the state of the English language today or its future.]]> 408 Henry Hitchings 0374183295 Kay 0 to-read, language 3.68 2011
author: Henry Hitchings
name: Kay
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/01/15
shelves: to-read, language
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]]> 207742 The Story of English is the first book to tell the whole story of the English language. Originally paired with a major PBS miniseries, this book presents a stimulating and comprehensive record of spoken and written English—from its Anglo-Saxon origins some two thousand years ago to the present day, when English is the dominant language of commerce and culture with more than one billion English speakers around the world. From Cockney, Scouse, and Scots to Gulla, Singlish, Franglais, and the latest African American slang, this sweeping history of the English language is the essential introduction for anyone who wants to know more about our common tongue.]]> 468 Robert McCrum 0142002313 Kay 0 to-read, language 4.10 1986
author: Robert McCrum
name: Kay
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1986
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/01/15
shelves: to-read, language
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]]> 207741 584 David Crystal 1585677191 Kay 0 to-read, language 4.06 2004
author: David Crystal
name: Kay
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/01/15
shelves: to-read, language
review:

]]> 6552456 224 Fritz Spiegl 185626484X Kay 4 language 2.33 2004
author: Fritz Spiegl
name: Kay
average rating: 2.33
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2012/10/14
date added: 2016/02/26
shelves: language
review:

]]> 12870068 252 Mark Forsyth Kay 5 language 4.25 2011
author: Mark Forsyth
name: Kay
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/04/02
shelves: language
review:

]]> 529410 277 Linda Flavell 1856265641 Kay 4 language 3.78 1995
author: Linda Flavell
name: Kay
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2013/01/06
date added: 2013/01/06
shelves: language
review:

]]> 3574441 Beowulf, Waldhere and Deor. The later epics include The Battle of Maldon, a panegyric on the warriors of Essex and their commander, Byrhtnoth, who were killed in action over nine and a half centuries ago.

Almost the entire contents of the famous Exeter and Vercelli manuscripts are translated and Professor Gordon has rendered into modern English many of the better known religious poems, including Genesis, Exodus, Daniel and the Dream of the Rood, which date from before the Danish invasion; and six of the finer elegies, among them The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Wife's Lament and The Ruin, which seem to foreshadow the characteristic English poetic vein which persisted down to the eighteenth century and later. There is also a generous selection from the old riddles and charms which are undateable bur obviously derived from traditions of pagan times, and contain themes recognizable in nursery stories and popular tales down to the present day.]]> 334 Robert K. Gordon 0460007947 Kay 5 own, language 4.00 1926
author: Robert K. Gordon
name: Kay
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1926
rating: 5
read at: 2011/12/23
date added: 2011/12/23
shelves: own, language
review:

]]> 2634538 270 John Michael Cohen 014058529X Kay 3 language 3.93 1952
author: John Michael Cohen
name: Kay
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1952
rating: 3
read at: 2011/03/06
date added: 2011/05/05
shelves: language
review:

]]>