登入選單
返回Google圖書搜尋
The Story of Be
David Crystal
其他書名
A Verb's-Eye View of the English Language
出版Oxford University Press, 2017-04-28
主題Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / SociolinguisticsLanguage Arts & Disciplines / GeneralLanguage Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / Historical & ComparativeHistory / Social History
ISBN01925086369780192508638
URLhttp://books.google.com.hk/books?id=gjHADgAAQBAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api
EBookSAMPLE
註釋It's the most simple, unassuming, innocent-looking verb: 'to be'. Yet it is jam-packed with more different meanings, forms, and uses than any other English word. As he reveals be's multiple incarnations, David Crystal takes us to the heart of our flexible and changing language. He tells the intriguing story in 26 chapters, each linked to a particular usage. We meet circumstantial be ('how are you?'), numerical be ('two and two is four'), quotative be ('so I was like, "wow"'), and ludic be ('oh no he isn't!'), and a whole swarm of other meanings. Bringing the ideas to life are a host of examples from sources as varied as Beowulf, Jane Austen, pantomime, Hamlet (of course), and Star Wars, with cartoons from Ed McLachlan and Punch peppered throughout. Full of fascinating nuggets of information, it is a book to delight any lover of words and language.