The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1990

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-12

Chapters 13-16

Key Figures

Index of Terms

Themes

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Discussion Questions

Essay Topics

Explain what Bill Bryson means when he argues in Chapter 1 that English is “one of the world’s great growth industries” (3). For example, what role does English play in business and the entertainment industry?

Describe the evolutionary change that took place between Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons that allowed for more precise human speech. How does this evolutionary change relate to cultural changes such as the Great Vowel Shift?

Provide a historical example of a minority language being suppressed by their respective government. How is this language being treated today?