内容简介
ThisbestsellingtextbyCharlesBarber,withupdatingcontributionsfromJoanC.BealandPhilipA.Shaw,recountsthehistoryoftheEnglishlanguagefromitsremoteancestrytothepresentday.Usingdozensoffamiliartexts,includingtheEnglishofKingAlfred,ShakespeareandChaucer,theEnglishlanguageisexploredintermsofwhereitcamefrom,whereitisgoingandtheglobalimpactithashad,takingintoaccountthemanyvarietiesofEnglishthatnowexist.Stimulatingandinteresting,itisnotonlywrittenforspecialistsonlanguageandlinguistics,butalsoforgeneralreaderswhotakeaninterestinthesubject.