Books like Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John McWhorter

A guide of Greek myths paired with the English words they inspired, engaging young readers with stories and linguistic insights.

McWhorter traces the surprising and random evolution of English, from Celtic and Welsh roots through Viking raids and the Norman Conquest to modern slang, revealing how history and foreign contact shaped our tongue.

A concise survey of English word formation, focusing on Greek and Latin roots, with explanations of meanings and usage.

A beautifully illustrated edition of selected Canterbury Tales, featuring the Pardoner's Tale and the Wife of Bath's Tale, brought to life by Barbara Cohen’s prose and Trina Schart Hyman’s color illustrations.

"There are approximately six thousand languages on Earth today, each a descendant of the tongue first spoken by Homo sapiens some 150,000 years ago. How did they all develop? What happened to the first language?". "In this tour of territory too often claimed by stodgy grammarians, linguistics professor John McWhorter ranges across linguistic theory, geography, history, and pop culture to tell the fascinating story of how thousands of very different languages have evolved from a single, original source in a natural process similar to biological evolution. While laying out how languages mix and mutate over time, he reminds us of the variety within the species that speaks them, and argues that, contrary to popular perception, language is not immutable and hidebound, but a living, dynamic entity that adapts itself to an ever-changing human environment.". "Full of humor and imaginative insight, The Power of Babel draws its illustrative examples from languages around the world, including pidgins, creoles, and nonstandard dialects. McWhorter also discusses current theories on what the first language might have been like, why dialects should not be considered "bad speech," and why most of today's languages will be extinct within one hundred years.". "The first book written for the layperson about the natural history of language, The Power of Babel is a dazzling tour de force that will leave readers anything but speechless."--BOOK JACKET.