Ozymandian Lesson. "Blooming English: Observations on the Roots, Cultivation and Hybrids of the English Language" by Kate Burridge and "Speak: A Short History of Languages" by Tore Janson. [review]

Abstract

These two books differ greatly in scope and style, but they are both highly interesting and enjoyable. Tore Janson is concerned with the history of languages over the past 40,000 years and (in a brief coda to his argument) into the next two thousand years. Kate Burridge deals primarily with the present state of English, although, on many occasions, when she is explaining the present state of things, she examines the English of earlier periods.