Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue

A Review of Bill Bryson's Book of English, "The Mother Tongue"

Oct 7, 2009

Bryson offers the reader comedy and scholarship in his history book, "The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way."

In The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way, Bill Bryson takes an in-depth walk through the history of our present day English. From the earliest origins of English in Indo-European roots, to the slang of today’s youth, Bill Bryson presents and explores every aspect of the English language in a clever and sometimes very humorous way. While Bryson does delve into the history of English, the book is also scattered with tidbits of knowledge, folklore, and culture as it has to relate to language. At times, this sprinkling of facts gets tedious and seemingly incoherent, but is meant as light-reading. If you are a lover of interesting information, you will enjoy the reading very much, even though the information can seem to be rattled off and without structure.

English History

Bryson lays out the book very logically, starting with a surface look at the English language, with some of its benefits and disadvantages. He then goes back in time to touch on the dawn of language altogether, and slowly winds his way from there through the history of English. While it seems that he researched the book well, his other books are stories and not scientific. He leaves hints in The Mother Tongue of where he draws his own conclusions, and does not actually follow the research as strictly.

Light-Reading and Research

With the vast amounts of information, the book can be tiring to read, but at the same time, very entertaining. He presents the information in a fresh way, keeping the reader engaged despite the volume of facts. While reading, one can laugh, smile, and frequently read aloud because of the references to other dialects, languages, and accents. It is amusing to see Bryson’s opinions on comparisons between British English, American English (and the sub-categories of South, West, New England, and North) and Australian. When comparing English to other major world languages, it seemed Bryson subtly argued that English was superior. It is unclear whether Bryson has a strong grasp on other languages and knows from experience that English is “better.” It seemed he had a strong bias towards the English language, and while it may not be a monocultural or ethnocentric perspective, it can get blatant and seemingly unnecessary in sections of the book. Despite these references of superiority, Bryson also gives a fair look at the drawbacks of English and how ridiculous some parts of our language is.

Bryson does an outstanding job of making the history of English an amusing and interesting topic. Because of his writing style and rhetoric, he makes the information enjoyable. While the book may not be the most scientific or professional, indeed it is not meant to be, it offers a treasure chest of knowledge to a language trivia seeker. This book can be appreciated for its ratio of humor and opinion with knowledge and scholarship.

Bryson, Bill. The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way. Harper Perennial. September, 1991. ISBN 978-0380715435

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