Language Myths

Laurie Bauer, Peter Trudgill, Laurie Bauer

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English

Penguin Books Ltd
26 November 1998

linguistics; Literary essays

A unique collection of original essays by 21 of the world's leading linguists. The topics discussed focus on some of the most popular myths about language- The Media Are Ruining English; Children Can't Speak or Write Properly Anymore; America is Ruining the English Language. The tone is lively and entertaining throughout and there are cartoons from Doonesbury andThe Wizard of Id to illustrate some of the points. The book should have a wide readership not only amongst students who want to read leading linguists writing about popular misconceptions but also amongst the large number of people who enjoy reading about language in general.

By: Laurie Bauer
Edited by: Laurie Bauer, Peter Trudgill
Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 130mm, Spine: 12mm
Weight: 158g
ISBN: 9780140260236
ISBN 10: 0140260234
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 26 November 1998
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

"A Note on the ContributorsIntroduction Myth 1: The Meanings of Words Should Not be Allowed to Vary or Change: Peter Trudgill Myth 2: Some Languages Are Just Not Good Enough: Ray Harlow Myth 3: The Media Are Ruining English: Jean Aitchison Myth 4: French is a Logical Language: Anthony Lodge Myth 5: English Spelling is Kattastroffik: Edward Carney Myth 6: Women Talk Too Much: Janet Holmes Myth 7: Some Languages Are Harder than Others: Lars-Gunnar Andersson Myth 8: Children Can't Speak or Write Properly Any More: James Milroy Myth 9: In the Appalachians They Speak like Shakespeare: Michael Montgomery Myth 10: Some Languages Have No Grammar: Winifred Bauer Myth 11: Italian is Beautiful, German is Ugly: Howard Giles and Nancy Niedzielski Myth 12: Bad Grammar is Slovenly: Leslie Milroy Myth 13: Black Children are Verbally Deprived: Walt Wolfram Myth 14: Double Negatives Are Illogical: Jenny Cheshire Myth 15: TV Makes People Sound the Same: J. K. Chambers Myth 16: You Shouldn't Say ""It Is Me"" because ""Me"" is Accusative: Laurie Bauer Myth 17: They Speak Really Bad English Down South and in New York City: Dennis R. Preston Myth 18: Some Languages Are Spoken More Quickly than Others: Peter Roach Myth 19: Aborigines Speak a Primitive Lanugage: Nicholas Evans Myth 20: Everyone Has an Accent Except Me: John H. Esling Myth 21: America is Ruining the English Language: John Algeo Index"

Peter Trudgill and Laurie Bauer are both respected linguists. Trudgill has written many books for Penguin (including Sociolinguistics which has sold 130,000 copies since it was first published in 1974). Other contributors include Jean Aitchison (Professor of Language at Oxford), Lars Gunnar-Andersson (co-author of Bad Language with Trudgill) and Janet Holmes (Women, Men and Politeness, 1995, Longman). Peter Trudgill lives in Lausanne (and sometimes Norwich.) Laurie Bauer lives in New Zealand.

Reviews for Language Myths

If we think the Media Are Ruining English, or French Is a Logical Language, that Women Talk Too Much and Everyone Has an Accent but Me, we are wrong and 'prejudices based on the way other people speak are akin to racism and sexism'. The professional linguists who contribute to this book show that often these pet beliefs are what it was once politically permissible to call old wives' tales, or national or social snobberies with no linguistic justification. Some of these knock-down arguments are naturally more convincing than others, but this is a wide-ranging and lively collection. (Kirkus UK)