Rudi reviewed Our Language by Simeon Potter
Review of 'Our Language' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I've been meaning to learn more about English linguistics and grammar, and when I stumbled over this book, I thought it'd do for a neat introduction. I guess in that sense, I was a bit disapointed. It doesn't delve that far into the grammar, but rather touches upon several aspects of the (British) English language. But in the end, that probably made the book way more readable. It's obvious that Potter is aiming at a wide audience with this book, but that doesn't stop him from enjoying himself. In almost every chapter he has a section where he throws out a long list of examples of whatever he's talking about. These lists does break up the flow of reading, but it does brings his examples home.
The book is a bit dated, but most of what he writes probably still holds true. He makes some predictions that are a bit …
I've been meaning to learn more about English linguistics and grammar, and when I stumbled over this book, I thought it'd do for a neat introduction. I guess in that sense, I was a bit disapointed. It doesn't delve that far into the grammar, but rather touches upon several aspects of the (British) English language. But in the end, that probably made the book way more readable. It's obvious that Potter is aiming at a wide audience with this book, but that doesn't stop him from enjoying himself. In almost every chapter he has a section where he throws out a long list of examples of whatever he's talking about. These lists does break up the flow of reading, but it does brings his examples home.
The book is a bit dated, but most of what he writes probably still holds true. He makes some predictions that are a bit off the mark, but more often than not, his predictions are dead on.