Outside of a Dog: Bryson, Bill: Mother Tongue, The

greythistle

greythistle wrote on February 23, 2004 at 12:36 PM:

My only problem with Bryson is that his threshold for rigor differs from mine. He is entertaining, though, and someone ought to write about words for non-specialist audiences.... (Yes, audiences plural.)

Kate

Kate wrote on February 23, 2004 at 10:51 PM:

Yes, I'm not really equipped to say how much rigor he brings to the topic. His books appear to be well-researched, and whenever he says "oh by the way, X thing that everyone claims isn't really so," it gives me the feeling that he knows lots about what he's talking about--but I imagine for someone who knows a lot about the subject, the effect is much like my watching _Law and Order_ episodes.

Therese

Therese wrote on March 6, 2004 at 7:09 PM:

The Scandinavian "y" sound is very much unlike any sound in English. It's related to u-umlaut in German, and the ue in the French rue, but pronounced even further to the front of the mouth, and with the lips pursed even more. If I was a linguist, I could tell you more.

Not being a Dane, I would pronounce the word [hard h][ue in rue, but short and stressed][hard g, not toning][hard short e, stressed less, but still stressed]

David Tate

David Tate wrote on September 19, 2005 at 3:11 PM:

(Another very late comment from Dr. Dave…)

Greythistle nailed it: Bryson lacks rigor. I had heard good things about this book, and I tried to read it, but after about the fifth time Bryson presented as fact something that I know is either false or hotly disputed, I gave up.

Counter-recommendation: if you want a book along these lines, an erudite partisan paean to the English language, I strongly recommend Richard Claiborne’s Our Marvelous Native Tongue. Long out of print, I’m afraid, but still unmatched. Claiborne’s at least honest when he disagrees with the professionals (e.g. concerning the location of the homeland of Proto-Indoeuropean), and why. He’s also a more entertaining writer, at least to my eye.