Don't Believe a Word: The Surprising Truth About Language - Hardcover

Shariatmadari, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1324004258 ISBN 13: 9781324004257

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2020

Synopsis

An entertaining and highly informed guide to what languages are and how they function.

Everyone likes to think they know a bit about language:
There are some words that you simply can’t translate into English.
The origin of a word tells you how it should be used.
A dialect is inferior to a language.

The problem is, none of these statements are true. In Don’t Believe a Word, linguist David Shariatmadari explodes nine common myths about language and introduces us to some of the fundamental insights of modern linguistics. By the end of this eye-opening tour, readers will understand that grammatical “errors” are in fact the foundation of modern English; that the meaning of a word is not what a dictionary says, but how it’s used; and that the difference between what gets labelled a “language” or “dialect” is political, rather than scientific.

Don’t Believe a Word offers an accessible and thorough introduction to the science behind one of the most essential aspects of our daily life.

5 illustrations

About this title

About the Author

David Shariatmadari studied linguistics at the University of Cambridge and the University of London. He is an editor at the Guardian and writes on language, politics, and culture. He lives in London.

Review

“Wonderful. David Shariatmadari wears his deep learning with such an admirable and alluring lightness of touch. You finish Don’t Believe a Word more alive than ever to the enduring mystery and miracle of that thing that makes us most human, the gift of language.”
- Stephen Fry

“David Shariatmadari ... makes us look afresh at the language we speak and how it structures our intimacies, our thoughts, and our identities. Wry and immensely intelligent, Don't Believe a Word awakens us to complexities of communication that we too readily ignore, and it does so with both deep scholarship and a light touch.”
- Andrew Solomon, author of Far From the Tree

“Come for the myth-busting, stay for the lighthearted introduction to linguistics. David Shariatmadari ably demonstrates that there are plenty of fascinating things to learn about language without indulging in sensationalist headlines.”
- Gretchen McCulloch, author of Because Internet

“An illuminating and thought-provoking journey through language.”
- Dean Burnett, best-selling author of The Idiot Brain and The Happy Brain

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2020
• ISBN 10: 1324004258
• ISBN 13: 9781324004257
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336