The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/786024
This is quite a remarkable book, not least as it is listed as a Penguin, and therefore more weighty than their traditional offering. It introduces us (literally) to a range of superb medieval manuscripts as if they are people, and goes on to describe not only their history in enormous detail but also a lot of fascinating anecdotes, many of which revolve around the author's quest, over the years, to meet them in libraries all over the world. Each chapter deserves close attention, as the medieval illustrations come to life before you. You might admire a tiny illuminated capital or margin illustration, and then read the commentary on the page and realise how much you have missed – from God holding a glass globe containing the whole world, through to soldiers bombarding an enemy ship with bottles containing poisonous snakes. It is not a book to be read systematically from cover to cover, but rather to be dipped into and savoured page by page, and it is even a pleasure to note that, within the 632 pages, there are more than 50 pages of notes. These are unusual in that they have been written not with the specialist in mind so much as the general reader who simply wants to find out more about these superb manuscripts and the people who wrote them. Christopher De Hamel has clearly brought a lifetime's study to this work and he delights Allen Lane, 2006, 632 pp; ISBN 978-0-241- 00304-6 Hardback £30 in recounting stories about the libraries and archives that he has visited over the years, and the idiosyncracies of the people who work or study there. In fact, he has adopted a deliberately conversational style, which makes the details so much more accessible. He actually notes that the book is as close to being a conversation as a published book could be. The author admires the modern brutalist architecture of the Royal Library in Copenhagen, notes the daunting style of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, and is gently satirical about the Getty Center in Los Angeles. As he meets new people or greets old friends, we almost feel as if we are there with him. The quality of production for this book is striking. It is well bound, with high-quality paper, and is full of illustrations whose colours have been carefully reproduced. What an unusual book! A weighty tome, as befits the mighty volumes that it covers, it is studded with jewels that are just as ornate as some of the works it describes, and just as sparkling. Professor Tim Connell FCIL CIOL Vice-President Michael O'Mara Books Ltd 2015, 191pp; ISBN 978-1- 78243-472-6 Hardback £9.99 at school. The living components of a language and the way in which they develop are fully explored, though this is really a book to dip into and is certainly not a textbook, as the style is lively and deliberately accessible. Each chapter covers a specific area that has relevance to modern everyday life – the entertainment business, politics, technology, transport, lifestyle choices and so on. Though neologisms abound, it is curious to see how words have developed and changed their meaning over the centuries. It is also interesting to consider that some modernisms have passed into the vernacular, possibly as a form of shorthand or because they are words that are regularly used, while others have emerged and then faded away: 'sitcom' is widely used in television review pages, though 'simulcast' (whereby something is being shown in more than one medium) somehow has not taken off, even though the term was first recorded in 1948. Portmanteau words, of the sort so loved by Lewis Carroll, seem to abound. Terms ranging from 'smog' to 'breathalyzer' have entered the language, whereas others seem to serve a particular purpose only for a time. 'Brexit' is certainly proving to be useful, while its predecessor, 'Grexit' (when Greece was thought to be on the point of leaving the EU), has quietly faded away. Others, such as 'staycation' (a holiday in your home country) or 'mockney' (an affected cockney accent) are rather self-conscious and have not taken off in the same way. It is curious too, in this interconnected world, that some terms develop with diverse meanings. Thongs worn in public in Australia or America would apparently not cause as much comment as they might in Europe, being footwear on the one hand and underwear on the other. The book is unusually well produced, the hardback printed on fine quality paper from sustainable forests, with an e-version also available. As the book market becomes more constricted, are publishers taking more care by producing even modest works in an appealing style and format? I rather hope so. Tim Connell FCIL Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts Christopher de Hamel New Words for Old Caroline Taggart 24 The Linguist Vol/56 No/1 2017 www.ciol.org.uk REVIEWS Caroline Taggart's latest offering continues to look at the English language today from a variety of angles. Subtitled 'Recycling our language for the modern world', this is definitely the book to give anyone who says that they were bored by languages