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History of Language
Anything related to Language
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
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The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3,197 ratings
score: 397,
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4 people voted
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| 2 |
|
What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves
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3.74 avg rating — 1,753 ratings
score: 394,
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4 people voted
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| 2 |
|
Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language
by
Gretchen McCulloch (Goodreads Author)
4.05 avg rating — 12,322 ratings
score: 394,
and
4 people voted
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| 4 |
|
Lingo: A Language Spotter's Guide to Europe
by
Gaston Dorren (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 4,598 ratings
score: 393,
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4 people voted
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| 5 |
|
The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language
by
Mark Forsyth (Goodreads Author)
4.23 avg rating — 12,180 ratings
score: 390,
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4 people voted
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| 5 |
|
Words on the Move: Why English Won't—and Can't—Sit Still
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4.14 avg rating — 1,926 ratings
score: 390,
and
4 people voted
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| 7 |
|
In the Land of Invented Languages: Adventures in Linguistic Creativity, Madness, and Genius
by
4.10 avg rating — 2,956 ratings
score: 386,
and
4 people voted
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| 8 |
|
Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries
by
Kory Stamper (Goodreads Author)
4.19 avg rating — 9,099 ratings
score: 385,
and
4 people voted
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| 9 |
|
The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
by
3.99 avg rating — 3,823 ratings
score: 380,
and
4 people voted
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| 10 |
|
Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing
by
Melissa Mohr (Goodreads Author)
3.88 avg rating — 2,286 ratings
score: 295,
and
3 people voted
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| 11 |
|
The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language
by
Steven Pinker (Goodreads Author)
4.01 avg rating — 22,360 ratings
score: 294,
and
3 people voted
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| 11 |
|
Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages
by
3.91 avg rating — 7,245 ratings
score: 294,
and
3 people voted
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| 13 |
|
The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention
by
4.22 avg rating — 4,008 ratings
score: 293,
and
3 people voted
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| 14 |
|
Swearing Is Good for You: The Amazing Science of Bad Language
by
Emma Byrne (Goodreads Author)
3.48 avg rating — 2,018 ratings
score: 291,
and
3 people voted
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| 15 |
|
The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way
by
3.91 avg rating — 43,767 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 16 |
|
Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It
by
4.08 avg rating — 12,526 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
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| 16 |
|
Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World
by
Ella Frances Sanders (Goodreads Author)
4.23 avg rating — 3,996 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
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| 16 |
|
Vulgar Tongues: An Alternative History of Slang
by
3.11 avg rating — 140 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
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| 19 |
|
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English
by
3.83 avg rating — 7,129 ratings
score: 198,
and
2 people voted
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| 20 |
|
How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention
by
3.43 avg rating — 987 ratings
score: 195,
and
2 people voted
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| 21 |
|
Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World
by
4.06 avg rating — 3,062 ratings
score: 191,
and
2 people voted
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| 22 |
|
The Horologicon: A Day's Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language
by
Mark Forsyth (Goodreads Author)
3.96 avg rating — 2,511 ratings
score: 189,
and
2 people voted
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| 23 |
|
Let's Bring Back: The Lost Language Edition: A Collection of Forgotten-Yet-Delightful Words, Phrases, Praises, Insults, Idioms, and Literary Flourishes from Eras Past
by
3.61 avg rating — 267 ratings
score: 186,
and
2 people voted
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| 23 |
|
The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
by
James Gleick (Goodreads Author)
4.04 avg rating — 16,915 ratings
score: 186,
and
2 people voted
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| 25 |
|
The Vulgar Tongue: Green's History of Slang
by
3.62 avg rating — 32 ratings
score: 174,
and
2 people voted
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| 26 |
|
Divided by a Common Language: A Guide to British and American English
by
3.66 avg rating — 155 ratings
score: 162,
and
2 people voted
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| 27 |
|
A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi: Words We Pinched From Other Languages
by
3.59 avg rating — 254 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 27 |
|
What Is Lojban?
by
Nick Nicholas (Editor)
3.60 avg rating — 30 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 27 |
|
The Word Detective: Searching for the Meaning of It All at the Oxford English Dictionary
by
3.83 avg rating — 468 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 27 |
|
The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization
by
3.92 avg rating — 1,856 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 27 |
|
The American Language
by
4.12 avg rating — 547 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 27 |
|
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
by
3.84 avg rating — 120,956 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 27 |
|
Babel
by
R.F. Kuang (Goodreads Author)
4.16 avg rating — 417,017 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 34 |
|
A Little Book of Language
by
3.75 avg rating — 2,296 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 34 |
|
Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything
by
3.78 avg rating — 2,770 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 34 |
|
How Language Began: Gesture and Speech in Human Evolution
by
4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 37 |
|
The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language
by
3.94 avg rating — 5,107 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 37 |
|
The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English
by
3.70 avg rating — 541 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 39 |
|
Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners
by
Michael Erard (Goodreads Author)
3.54 avg rating — 1,477 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 39 |
|
Passwords to Paradise: How Languages Have Re-invented World Religions
by
3.64 avg rating — 42 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 39 |
|
The Lexicographer's Dilemma: The Evolution of "Proper" English, from Shakespeare to South Park
by
4.05 avg rating — 672 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 42 |
|
The Stories of English
by
4.04 avg rating — 1,425 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 42 |
|
Bridge of Words: Esperanto and the Dream of a Universal Language
by
3.65 avg rating — 183 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 42 |
|
Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States
by
3.92 avg rating — 15,864 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 45 |
|
How to Learn Any Language: Quickly, Easily, Inexpensively, Enjoyably and on Your Own
by
3.81 avg rating — 861 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 45 |
|
Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human
by
3.79 avg rating — 773 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 47 |
|
Wordcatcher: An Odyssey into the World of Weird and Wonderful Words
by
Phil Cousineau (Goodreads Author)
3.57 avg rating — 185 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
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| 47 |
|
Written in Stone: A Journey Through the Stone Age and the Origins of Modern Language
by
3.25 avg rating — 197 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
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| 47 |
|
Genie: A Scientific Tragedy
by
3.92 avg rating — 1,117 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
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| 50 |
|
Words in Time and Place: Exploring Language Through the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary
by
3.96 avg rating — 49 ratings
score: 93,
and
1 person voted
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| 51 |
|
From Elvish to Klingon: Exploring Invented Languages
by
3.67 avg rating — 182 ratings
score: 92,
and
1 person voted
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| 51 |
|
The Emoji Code: The Linguistics Behind Smiley Faces and Scaredy Cats
by
Vyvyan Evans (Goodreads Author)
3.33 avg rating — 125 ratings
score: 92,
and
1 person voted
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| 53 |
|
Expletive Deleted: A Good Look at Bad Language
by
3.68 avg rating — 333 ratings
score: 89,
and
1 person voted
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| 53 |
|
The Loom of Language: An Approach to the Mastery of Many Languages
by
4.18 avg rating — 388 ratings
score: 89,
and
1 person voted
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| 55 |
|
The Illustrated Book of Sayings: Curious Expressions from Around the World
by
Ella Frances Sanders (Goodreads Author)
4.09 avg rating — 672 ratings
score: 88,
and
1 person voted
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| 56 |
|
In Praise of Profanity
by
3.30 avg rating — 100 ratings
score: 87,
and
1 person voted
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| 57 |
|
Will's Words: How William Shakespeare Changed the Way You Talk
by
Jane Sutcliffe (Goodreads Author)
4.21 avg rating — 426 ratings
score: 86,
and
1 person voted
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| 58 |
|
From Skedaddle to Selfie: Words of the Generations
by
3.47 avg rating — 49 ratings
score: 85,
and
1 person voted
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| 59 |
|
Sequoyah and His Talking Leaves: A Play about the Cherokee Syllabary
by
Wim Coleman (Goodreads Author)
3.52 avg rating — 23 ratings
score: 84,
and
1 person voted
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| 60 |
|
Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation
by
3.66 avg rating — 681 ratings
score: 82,
and
1 person voted
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| 61 |
|
Spell It Out: The Curious, Enthralling and Extraordinary Story of English Spelling
by
3.96 avg rating — 888 ratings
score: 81,
and
1 person voted
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| 62 |
|
Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends
by
3.46 avg rating — 349 ratings
score: 79,
and
1 person voted
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| 63 |
|
Alphabetical Order
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 10 ratings
score: 78,
and
1 person voted
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| 64 |
|
Righting the Mother Tongue: From Olde English to Email, the Tangled Story of English Spelling
by
David Wolman (Goodreads Author)
3.62 avg rating — 303 ratings
score: 77,
and
1 person voted
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| 65 |
|
Do You Speak American?
by
3.70 avg rating — 346 ratings
score: 76,
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1 person voted
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| 66 |
|
There's a Word for It: The Explosion of the American Language Since 1900
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3.66 avg rating — 32 ratings
score: 75,
and
1 person voted
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| 67 |
|
Found in Translation: How Language Shapes Our Lives and Transforms the World
by
Nataly Kelly (Goodreads Author)
3.81 avg rating — 773 ratings
score: 74,
and
1 person voted
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| 68 |
|
The Last Speakers: The Quest to Save the World's Most Endangered Languages
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3.87 avg rating — 452 ratings
score: 73,
and
1 person voted
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68 books ·
30 voters ·
list created October 29th, 2017
by deleted user.
Tags:
history-of-language
Brent
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~☆~Autumn
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50376 books
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Sarah
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267 friends
Kirsten
2010 books
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63 friends
Saturday's
2227 books
67 friends
67 friends
Taylor
1751 books
82 friends
82 friends
Madeline
3878 books
45 friends
45 friends
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