Global Wording: The Fascinating Story of the Evolution of English

by Charles Hodgson

In the same engaging style and humor that has attracted 4.5
million downloads of the Podictionary podcast, Global Wording traces the development of our language using easily recognizable
milestones such as Beowulf, William the Conqueror, Chaucer and
Shakespeare. Rather than relying on scores of dates and boring facts, Hodgson instead punctuates his story with anecdotes about why these characters were so memorable, as well as interesting details on how we know what we know and the conditions of life over the years as they affected the growth of our language.

Genres: Language, Audiobook, Nonfiction

1 pages, Audio CD

First published May 27, 2008

Reviews

[Shhhhh Ahhhhh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating stuff. I found it interesting from both a sociological and data science perspective. I've long viewed linguistics as the product of both systems thinking and root cause analysis applied to the 'soft' subject of verbal and written communication and this treatment of english definitely solidified that perspective for me. I'd love to read more books from this author about etymology.

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice, but nothing out of the ordinary.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! A quick and informative outline of the way our language has grown and changed over the centuries. Told in a light and airy style that nevertheless was packed with information. I recommend this one to anyone who loves words.

First Read 21 August 2009

[Mignon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best overview I've seen or heard of why languages change over time