A Mouthful of Air: Language, Languages-- Especially English

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W. Morrow, 1992 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 416 pages
The author of more than 50 books--including the classic A Clockwork Orange--presents a fascinating survey of language: how it reached its present situation; how it operates now; and how it will develop in the future. Anthony Burgess covers everything from Shakespeare's pronunciation, to the politics of speech, to the place of English in the world, and more.

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Contents

Signals in the Dark
19
The Science of Language
37
Language in Action
48
Copyright

32 other sections not shown

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About the author (1992)

Anthony Burgess was born in 1917 in Manchester, England. He studied language at Xaverian College and Manchester University. He had originally applied for a degree in music, but was unable to pass the entrance exams. Burgess considered himself a composer first, one who later turned to literature. Burgess' first novel, A Vision of Battlements (1964), was based on his experiences serving in the British Army. He is perhaps best known for his novel A Clockwork Orange, which was later made into a movie by Stanley Kubrick. In addition to publishing several works of fiction, Burgess also published literary criticism and a linguistics primer. Some of his other titles include The Pianoplayers, This Man and Music, Enderby, The Kingdom of the Wicked, and Little Wilson and Big God. Burgess was living in Monaco when he died in 1993.

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