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The Story of Be: A Verb´s-Eye View of the English Language
David Crystal
€ 18.99
€ 14.59
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Description for The Story of Be: A Verb´s-Eye View of the English Language
Hardback. .
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 the intriguing 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 ... 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 the intriguing 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 ... Read more
Product Details
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Format
Hardback
Publication date
2017
Condition
New
Number of Pages
208
Place of Publication
Oxford, United Kingdom
ISBN
9780198791096
SKU
V9780198791096
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 4 to 8 working days
Ref
99-4
About David Crystal
David Crystal is known throughout the world as a writer, editor, lecturer, and broadcaster on language. He has published extensively on the history and development of English, including The Stories of English (2004), Evolving English (2010), Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language (2010), The Story of English in 100 Words (2011), Spell It Out: The Singular Story ... Read more
Reviews for The Story of Be: A Verb´s-Eye View of the English Language
The Story of Be does a brilliant job: it offers a language enthusiast an entertaining overview of the history of be along with social changes affecting its use, dialect features, and much more.
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