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The Story of Be: A Verb's-Eye View of the English Language

by David Crystal

2020-12-31 18:26:41

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It''s the most simple, unassuming, innocent-looking verb: "to be" Yet it is jam-packed with more different meanings, forms, and uses than any other English word. As he reveals be''s multiple incarnations, David Crystal takes us to the heart of our fl... Read more
It''s the most simple, unassuming, innocent-looking verb: "to be" Yet it is jam-packed with more different meanings, forms, and uses than any other English word. As he reveals be''s multiple incarnations, David Crystal takes us to the heart of our flexible and changing language. He tells theintriguing story in 26 chapters, each linked to a particular usage. We meet circumstantial be ("how are you?"), numerical be ("two and two is four"), quotative be ("so I was like, ''wow"''), and ludic be ("oh no he isn''t!"), and a whole swarm of other meanings.Bringing the ideas to life are a host of examples from sources as varied as Beowulf, Jane Austen, pantomime, Hamlet (of course), and Star Wars, with cartoons from Ed McLachlan and Punch peppered throughout. Full of fascinating nuggets of information, it is a book to delight any lover of words andlanguage. Less

Book Details

File size9.21 X 6.14 X 0.48 in
Print pages228
PublisherWentworth Press
Publication date February 21, 2019
LanguageEnglish
ISBN9780198791096
autor-image
David Crystal
Author
David Crystal is Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. He has published over ninety books, most recently The Stories of English, and is the editor of The Penguin Encycl...

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