Research Catalog

Title

The prodigal tongue : dispatches from the future of English / Mark Abley.

Author

Abley, Mark

Publication

[Toronto] : Random House Canada, c2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

262 p.; 24 cm.

Summary

The Prodigal Tongue takes a look at the wild, wacky and sometimes baffling road our language - English and others - is taking in its evolution. Where in the world will it end up? Mark Abley, author of Spoken Here, has created an entertaining and informative exploration of the way that languages - English, Japanese, French, Arabic and other major tongues - are likely to transform and be transformed by their speakers during the twenty-first century. Grammar and vocabulary are just the beginning; more importantly, this book is about people. In places like Los Angeles, Tokyo, Singapore and Oxford, Abley encounters hip-hop performers and dictionary makers, bloggers and translators, novelists and therapists. He talks to a married couple who were passionately corresponding online before they met in "meatspace." And he listens to teenagers, puzzling out the words they coin in chatrooms and virtual worlds. Everywhere he goes, he asks what the future is likely to hold for the ways we communicate. Abley balances a traditional concern for honesty and accuracy in language with an untraditional delight in newly minted expressions. Lively, evocative, passionate and playful, this is a book for everyone who cherishes the words we use.

Subject

• English language > History > 21st century
• English language > Social aspects
• Sociolinguistics
• Historical linguistics
• Oral communication
• Anglais (Langue) > Histoire > 21e siècle
• Anglais (Langue) > Aspect social
• Sociolinguistique
• Linguistique historique
• Communication orale

Genre/Form

History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-248) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1. Roarific: the power of language change -- 2. Bouncebackability: how words are created and organized -- 3. Throw away your dictionaries: Asian English -- 4. Your rule will soon be here: global English -- 5. Hippu hangu: lanuage in Japan -- 6. Radiante: languages in Los Angeles -- 7. Every single trend: Black English and hip-hop -- 8. Words@future.now: language in cyberspace -- 9. Whoa, how very: words and the fictional future -- 10. The soul's ozone: keeping language real.

ISBN

• 9780679311027
• 0679311025

OCLC

184738469

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library