Why We Talk Funny - The Real Story Behind Our Accents

A fun, smart and surprising dive into the past, present and future of accents – and the enduring power of sounding different Accents have long held our fascination. As far back as the 7th century BCE, Egyptian pharaohs experimented with babies to test out theories about the “original” accent and the Old Testament relays how a small difference in the pronunciation of “s” became a fatal litmus test of tribal belonging. Still today, from dinner parties to job interviews, you’ll find people kicking up dust about things like where and how to pronounce a ‘t,’ as in, never in “often,” but with proper British poshness, as in “t(y)une.”;; In The story of language is the story of humanity, and as Fridland reminds us, the funny sounds we make – whether from the mouths of ancient ancestors or the tongues of screenbound teens;– all come from the same powerful desire to communicate and belong.

Info autore

Valerie Fridland is the author of Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English, and a professor of linguistics in the English Department at the University of Nevada, Reno. She writes a popular language blog on Psychology Today called "Language in the Wild," and is a professor in The Great Courses series.

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Valerie Fridland
• Editore: Viking USA
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Pubblicazione: 21.04.2026
• EAN: 9780593830482
• ISBN: 978-0-593-83048-2
• Pagine: 320
• Dimensioni: 152 mm x 229 mm x 21 mm
• Categorie: Scienze umane, arte, musica > Scienze linguistiche e letterarie > Linguistica generale e comparata; Popular Culture, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Popular Culture, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Sociolinguistics, Sociolinguistics, Historical & comparative linguistics, Historical and comparative linguistics