''A Mouthful of Air: Language and Languages, Especially English'' is a book on
linguistics by
Anthony Burgess published in 1992.
Topics
Topics covered in the book include:
* the mechanics of linguistic sounds;
* the development of the
English language, and its connections with other languages;
* the making of dictionaries;
* the importance of
slang;
* the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic transcription, phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standa ...
;
* the role of
dialect;
* the best way to learn a foreign language;
* and a look at specific languages, (including
Russian,
Japanese, and
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mouthful of Air, A
Books by Anthony Burgess
Linguistics books
1992 non-fiction books
Hutchinson (publisher) books
book-stub