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A Mouthful of Air Anthony Burgess

A Mouthful of Air By Anthony Burgess

A Mouthful of Air by Anthony Burgess


$40.99
Condition - Very Good
Only 4 left

Summary

W.B. Yeats wrote of a poem that he "made it out of a mouthful of air". All literature and indeed language, Burgess argues, is made this way - an oral rather than a visual medium. Burgess goes on to present a survey of the history, development and cross-fertilization of languages.

A Mouthful of Air Summary

A Mouthful of Air: Language and Languages, Especially English by Anthony Burgess

W.B. Yeats wrote of a poem that he "made it out of a mouthful of air". All language, argues the author, is made this way. Although we tend to think of literature as scratching of signs on paper, the essence of language from which it derives is primarily so much air, a mouthful at a time - an oral rather than a visual medium. Burgess goes on to present a broad survey of the history, development and cross-fertilization of languages - with all its quirks and delights. He discusses whistled languages, translation and dialect, and linguistic peculiarities, such as the Abkhaz language which has only two vowels. He recounts literary anecdotes, including the time he conversed in Old English with Jorge Luis Borges. Burgess is well-known as a novelist, reviewer and lecturer. In his "A Clockwork Orange", he actually invented a new language.

Additional information

GOR001538871
9780091774158
0091774152
A Mouthful of Air: Language and Languages, Especially English by Anthony Burgess
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Cornerstone
1992-10-01
352
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

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