A brilliant and fascinating exploration of the basic weapon by which man has advanced from savagery to civilization. With wit and learning, Mario Pei discusses the formation and development of language from the dawn of history to the mid-twentieth century.
Editorial Review(s)
"The best book of its kind available in English, an almost faultless popularization of a permanently fascinating subject. There is hardly any subdivision of his enormous field that Dr. Pei does not expose with charm, clarity, and non-dogmatic good humor...It is difficult to imagine anyone who will not find something of interest in this book. It sharpens one's sense of one's own control over language; and it is full of fresh and often surprising information about the words we use. Enjoyable merely to browse through, it is also valuable as a work of reference." --Clifton Fadiman, The Book-of-the-Month Club News
About the Author
Mario Pei (1901-1971), eminent linguist and author, was born in Italy and educated in America. He graduated magna cum laude from City College of New York in 1925, and received his Ph.D. in Romance philology and comparative linguistics from Columbia University in 1932. He taught linguistics at Columbia and was associate editor of Romantic Review and Symposium. He is the author of more than twenty books including All About Language, Language for Everybody, The Story of English, and The World's Chief Languages.
