We have a wide range of interviews discussing books on language, languages and linguistics. Paul McMullen chooses his best books on learning ancient Greek and Harry Mount his best books on learning Latin. Meanwhile Chris Livaccari chooses his best books on China for those studying Chinese. Qiu Xialong chooses his best books of classical Chinese poetry in English translation. Award winning translator, Edith Grossman chooses her best books on translation.
Turning to philology and the philosophy of language, the historian, James Turner, chooses his best books on philology and explains why the subject is the mother of all the humanities. The linguist Daniel L Everett chooses his best books on language and thought. Scott Soames chooses his best books on the philosophy of language and Lane Green discusses language and the mind. Nicholas Ostler chooses his best books on the history and diversity of language.
Peter Gulliver, editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, chooses his best books on that work, while the journalist and author Robert McCrum chooses his best books on US and UK English. Mark Nichol chooses his best books on grammar and punctuation. Peter Lilley chooses his best books on Samuel Johnson.
Author Sophie King and professor Andrew Cowan both choose their best books on creative writing, while the journalist and author, Eric Olsen, chooses his best books on how to write. James Twining discusses writing a great thriller.
Jonathon Green chooses his best books on slang and Melissa Mohr her top books on swearing. Clarence B Jones discusses the best speeches of all time and Simon Garfield considers typefaces.
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1
Hieroglyphs: A Very Short Introduction
by Penelope Wilson -
2
Hieroglyphics: The Writings of Ancient Egypt
by Maria Betro -
3
The Myth of Egypt and Its Hieroglyphs in European Tradition
by Erik Iversen -
4
Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts
by Andrew Robinson -
5
The Dawning Moon of the Mind: Unlocking the Pyramid Texts
by Susan Brind Morrow
The best books on Hieroglyphics, recommended by Diane Greco Josefowicz
The best books on Hieroglyphics, recommended by Diane Greco Josefowicz
Reading the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt reveals much about the worldview of a civilisation that rose to prominence 5000 years ago and flourished for thousands of years. Here, intellectual historian Diane Greco Josefowicz—whose book, The Riddle of the Rosetta, co-written with Jed Buchwald, tells the story of how the meaning of the hieroglyphs was deciphered in 19th century France—recommends the best books to learn more about hieroglyphics.
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1
Complete Spanish: A Teach Yourself Program
by Juan Kattan-Ibarra -
2
Short Stories in Spanish: New Penguin Parallel Text
ed. John L King -
3
Short Stories in Spanish for Beginners
by Olly Richards -
4
Mastering Spanish Vocabulary
by Axel J Navarro Ramil & Jose Maria Navarro -
5
Lonely Planet Spanish Phrasebook & Dictionary
by Cristina Hernandez Montero & Marta Lopez
The Best Books for Learning Spanish, recommended by Benny Lewis
The Best Books for Learning Spanish, recommended by Benny Lewis
Which are the best books for learning Spanish? Benny Lewis, polyglot and author of the popular language-learning blog Fluent in Three Months, recommends his top five. He explains why beginners should be wary of grammar, and why forcing yourself to make mistakes is the key to success in any language.
The best books on Linguistics, recommended by David Adger
Which linguistics books give a good sense of what the field is about? David Adger, Professor of Linguistics at Queen Mary University of London and the current president of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain, recommends some of his own favourite books on the science of language, including a sci-fi novel.
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1
Swearing: A Social History of Foul Language, Oaths and Profanity in English
by Geoffrey Hughes -
2
What the F: What Swearing Reveals about Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves
by Benjamin K Bergen -
3
The F-Word
by Jesse Sheidlower -
4
Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word
by Randall Kennedy -
5
The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
by Steven Pinker
The best books on Swearing, recommended by Melissa Mohr
The best books on Swearing, recommended by Melissa Mohr
Linguistically, swear words are unique—they can shock and offend, are processed differently in the brain, and saying them may allow you to withstand pain for longer. But where do they get their distinctive power? And how has this changed over time? Melissa Mohr gives us a badmouthed tour of the best fucking books on swearing . . .
Books every Chinese Language Learner Should Read, recommended by Chris Livaccari
China covers a vast territory, and is far more ethnically and culturally diverse than many outsiders assume. Chris Livaccari, a veteran Chinese language teacher, recommends books he believes every Chinese language learner should read.
Grammar Books That Prove What They Preach, recommended by Lane Greene
Most grammar books say ‘do this, and that’s that.’ But who says? How do they know? Real rules are grounded in the facts of actual standard usage. Here are five grammar books that show their work, telling you not only what to do but why, and how they know. Accept nothing less.
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1
Caught in the Web of Words: James Murray and the Oxford English Dictionary
by K. M. Elisabeth Murray -
2
The Collected Papers of Henry Bradley
by Robert Bridges -
3
The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Oxford English Dictionary
by Simon Winchester -
4
The Study of Language in England, 1780-1860
by Hans Aarsleff -
5
The Scholar's Daughter
by Beatrice Harraden
The best books on The Oxford English Dictionary, recommended by Peter Gilliver
The best books on The Oxford English Dictionary, recommended by Peter Gilliver
It's a dictionary that seeks to document any word that exists—or ever existed—in the English language and track its evolution over time. Lexicographer Peter Gilliver chooses books to help understand the enormous undertaking that is the Oxford English Dictionary.
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1
Garner's Modern English Usage
by Bryan A. Garner -
2
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
by Merriam-Webster -
3
Spunk & Bite: A Writer's Guide to Bold, Contemporary Style
by Arthur Plotnik -
4
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
by Jane Straus -
5
The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications
by Amy Einsohn
The Best Grammar and Punctuation Books, recommended by Mark Nichol
The Best Grammar and Punctuation Books, recommended by Mark Nichol
In the age of the internet, we are all writers. Correct grammar and punctuation are key to making a good impression. Grammar geek Mark Nichol, a writer at Daily Writing Tips, picks five of the best grammar and punctuation books, and tells us why bad grammar leads to anarchy.
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1
Ptolemaic Alexandria
by P.M. Fraser -
2
Joseph Scaliger: A Study in the History of Classical Scholarship
by Anthony Grafton -
3
Prolegomena to Homer
by Friedrich August Wolf -
4
Lectures on the Religion of the Semites
by William Robertson Smith -
5
The Liberal Education of Charles Eliot Norton
by James Turner
The best books on Philology, recommended by James Turner
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1
Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech
by Edward Sapir -
2
Language In Relation To A Unified Theory Of The Structure Of Human Behaviour
by Kenneth Pike -
3
Aspects of the Theory of Syntax
by Noam Chomsky -
4
On Understanding Grammar
by Talmy Givón -
5
Making It Explicit: Reasoning, Representing & Discursive Commitment
by Robert Brandom
The best books on Language and Thought, recommended by Daniel L. Everett
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1
Franklin D Roosevelt’s inaugural address, 4 March 1933
by Various authors -
2
John F Kennedy’s inaugural address, 20 January 1961
by Various authors -
3
Laurence Olivier’s Oscar Acceptance Speech (1979)
by YouTube video -
4
Dr Martin Luther King, Jr’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, 28 August 1963
by Martin Luther King -
5
Nelson Mandela’s inaugural address as President of South Africa, 10 May 1994
by David Elliot Cohen
The Best Speeches of All Time, recommended by Clarence B Jones
The Best Speeches of All Time, recommended by Clarence B Jones
Which were the best speeches ever made? Clarence B Jones, lawyer, friend and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr—and contributor to the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech—chooses his top five, and explains what is that makes these famous speeches so good.
The best books on Language and the Mind, recommended by Lane Greene
Does the world look different in other languages? Are there words that cannot be translated? Is it OK to say disinterested when you mean uninterested? Lane Greene, who writes the Economist’s “Johnson” column on language, dispels some of the popular but misguided ideas many of us have about language.
The best books on Samuel Johnson, recommended by Peter Lilley
Samuel Johnson, author of the 1755 A Dictionary of the English Language, was not a hard-hearted Tory caricature, but a champion of the poor and enslaved, according to Margaret Thatcher’s Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Peter Lilley.