Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue

The Untold History of English

By: John McWhorter

Narrated by: John McWhorter

Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar. Why do we say "I am reading a catalog" instead of "I read a catalog"? Why do we say "do" at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history.

Covering such turning points as the little-known Celtic and Welsh influences on English, the impact of the Viking raids and the Norman Conquest, and the Germanic invasions that started it all during the fifth century A.D., John McWhorter narrates this colorful evolution with vigor.

Drawing on revolutionary genetic and linguistic research, as well as a cache of remarkable trivia about the origins of English words and syntax patterns, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue ultimately demonstrates the arbitrary, maddening nature of English - and its ironic simplicity due to its role as a streamlined lingua franca during the early formation of Britain. This is the book that language aficionados worldwide have been waiting for. (And no, it's not a sin to end a sentence with a preposition.)

©2008 John McWhorter (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"McWhorter's iconoclastic impulses and refreshing enthusiasm makes this worth a look for anyone with a love for the language." (Publishers Weekly)

"McWhorter’s energetic, brash delivery of his own spirited and iconoclastic text will appeal to everyone who appreciates the range and caliber of today’s audio production. In some ways, audio is superior to printed text in portraying tone, attitude, values, and in this case, a discussion whose theme is the sound and grammar of words." (AudioFile magazine)

His lectures are better

Although his writing is good, when John McWhorter reads his writing it is way less engaging than when he gives a lecture. This is a good listen, but check out his lectures on Great Courses because they are so much more fun. Based on what I've heard from his works, I think that John would totally agree with me that writing just isn't the same as the spoken language. In his lectures they guy is witty and goofy and thoroughly engaging. His course on language families is awesome and it'll hit some of the same ideas as this book.

Absolute genius!

Where does Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Fascinating insight into the workings of the English language. The most interesting part of this is the section on the influence of the Celtic languages. Really easy to listen to; the author is both witty and self-effacing. Pleasant voice to listen to. The section on the purported influence of the Phoenician languages was a bit of a stretch and of questionable relevance, but the rest was very insightful. High recommended.

magnificent bastard book.... about the English...

the once and future language of civilized planet Earth... no really, 20 words??? OK Then



Earth...

Who knew!

This is a wonderful tour thru the roots of our present day English language. At times a bit erudite for this science major but generally quite interesting and very well delivered. The fact that I am considering a second listen conveys my interest in this fascinating topic.

Interesting take on the evolution of our language

The book describes the "untold" side of the evolution of English, which fascinates me as someone who grew up in the Caribbean (surrounded by a mix of Caribbean Standard English, dialect, American English and British English) and has lived on the West Coast of the USA and in Europe.

It focuses on grammar, and makes some provocative links and conclusions. The author is also the reader, which allows him to show his enthusiasm and passion for the material and convey his meaning in a way that I think would have been hard even anyone else to deliver. Listening to the pronunciation of the many foreign words and phrases provided a much more authentic experience than I would have had if I had opted for the print edition.

At times I found he was a bit repetitive in his presentation of the arguments against some more-accepted or conventional theories. I had already bought into his hypothesis, and didn't need more convincing, but in a couple cases, the discussion continued well after I was "sold".

Putting that aside, I enjoyed the book a great deal and learned a lot from it. I would recommend it for anyone interested in knowing more about where some of the unique features of English come from. (Hey, isn't that a preposition at the end of that sentence?) It also makes me question what the future might bring, with so many people learning English as a second language: does this have greater similarity to the Celts learning English and "stewing" elements into it, or to the Vikings agressive simplification of it? Or will it give rise to a different effect altogether?

A well hashed topic given new life

This is a subject I've studied and read about for
much of my given renewed vivacity and unique new viewpoints. A master work.

Informative and thought-provoking

I've read a few books on the history and development of English. In a way, Mr. McWhorter diagnosed how most of those were written, as 'travelogues' in search of where the words in English came from. But not really information about how or why.

This book 'fixes' that. The author wasn't afraid to state directly his thesis as to how and why English became what English became. I won't include spoilers but some of his suppositions are certainly surprising.

But he laid out much information of which I was unaware. I've studied Latin, German and Spanish, but am not fluent in any. However I understand the ideas of verb conjugation across cases, noun endings and word ordering to appreciate how odd English really is. And now I better appreciate WHY I had the issues I did in studying these non-native (to me) languages.

I'd actually recommend this book to anyone who plans to study non-English languages. It might give you some warning of pitfalls.

Fun and eye-opening

While a bit Academica times and soamewhat hard to follow from time to time as an audiobook this was a very interesting and compelling set of theories and evidence for the evolution of the English language. I highly recommend it if you have any interest of what English really came Fromm

So interesting!

I truly learned a lot and very much enjoyed the vernacular of the author. An excellent read.

An enjoyable listen

I love this type of book. Explorations of the English language, grammar, and how our language has evolved fascinate me. This book doesn't disappoint, although I don't think I would attempt to tackle reading this book because of the authors extensive translations of the languages we have 'borrowed' from. It would drive me to distraction not to be able to pronounce the foreign languages. I finished this book in two days and would probably re-listen to it.