The Prodigal Tongue: Dispatches from the Future of English [Hardcover]

Mark Abley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 20, 2008

An exhilarating exploration of how the world's languages are likely to transform and be transformed by their speakers

Mark Abley, author of Spoken Here, takes the reader on a global journey like no other—from Singapore to Tokyo, from Oxford to Los Angeles, through the Internet and back in time. As much a travel book as a tour of words at play, The Prodigal Tongue goes beyond grammar and vocabulary to discover how language is irrevocably changing the people of the world in far-reaching ways.
On his travels, Abley encounters bloggers, translators, novelists, therapists, dictionary makers, hip-hop performers, and Web-savvy teens. He talks to a married couple who corresponded passionately online before they met in “meatspace.” And he listens to teenagers, puzzling out the words they coin in chat rooms and virtual worlds.
Everywhere he goes, he asks what the future is likely to hold for the ways we communicate. Abley balances a traditional concern for honesty and accuracy in language with a less traditional delight in the sheer creative energy of new words and expressions.
Provocative, perceptive, and often hilarious, this is a book for everyone who cherishes the words we use.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Prodigal Tongue takes the reader on an informative and frequently entertaining journey."
-- "Edmonton Journal
"
"[A] witty and well-documented treatise on the ways -- some of them alarming -- in which the English language is changing."
-- "Winnipeg Free Press
""As a poet, journalist, editor, intrepid traveller, scholar and endlessly curious spirit, Abley brings an appropriately eclectic perspective to the subject. ... Writing as an inquisitive, bemused Everyman, Abley leads us on a lively intellectual journey through uncharted territory, his comfort in the zone of ambiguity making him the ideal travel guide."
-- "The Gazette" (Montreal)
"Well written . . . provocative."
-- William Safire, "The New York Times"
"Attuned to pop culture as well as to scholarship, Abley proves a deft social anthropologist."
-- "The Daily Telegraph"

"From the Hardcover edition." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Mark Abley, an award-winning journalist, writes for the Montreal Gazette, the Times Literary Supplement, and other publications. He speaks English, French, and a little Welsh. His previous book, Spoken Here, was named a Best Book of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle and Discover magazine. He won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005 for work on language change and the future.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; First Printing edition (June 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618571221
• ISBN-13: 978-0618571222
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,456,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Explosion of English, July 4, 2008

By 

Jon Hunt "musician, teacher" (Old Greenwich, Ct. USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Prodigal Tongue: Dispatches from the Future of English (Hardcover)

One might say that the English language is like a weed...it roots itself and takes over. "The Prodigal Tongue", Mark Abley's terrific new book, investigates where English stands today, through a multi-cultured and societal approach. It's a revealing portrait.

Abley looks at the spread of English around the globe...Singapore, Japan, etc., and includes the Americas where black and Latino influences loom large. It's not so much language diversity that the author seems intrigued by, but the fractured nature of it. He mentions a fact that often Quebec films have French subtitles (Swiss audiences have long had German subtitles, too) which might suggest that not long in the future this may be a standard feature in America, given the changing nature of English in our own backyard.

Perhaps the most dynamic section of "The Prodigal Tongue" has to do with cybertalk. There is certainly a generational split as the typed word has taken on its own meaning, far from the understanding of most of us, who happen to be around the author's age, as am I. This is a highly recommended book, especially for Abley's breadth of inquiry and suppositions of how new words and phrases will continue to propagate.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a sex book, November 7, 2010

By 

Hande Z (Singapore) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Prodigal Tongue: Dispatches from the Future of English (Hardcover)

Mark Abley reports on the transformation and use of English, but by the time the reader reaches the end of the book he will be left wondering what English is. he will most certainly, doubt whether there is such a thing as "Standard English" anymore. Right in the first chapter he introduces us to a group of young school children who uses words that they know and the adults don't - and most of those words are not in any dictionary. That sets the tone for the rest of the book. 30 to 40 years ago guardians of "Standard English" and "BBC English" were a strong, stern army protecting the language of the Empire. They are now dispersed and fighting a losing battle against Japlish, Singlish, Manglish and even English itself. He quotes a British teacher in Singapore, "We spend most of our time trying to teach standard British grammar to people who never use standard British grammar outside the classroom."

With the connection of the internet, Mongolians are chatting with Jamaicans and Japanese in English - or what appears to be English. The continued spread and transformation in the use of English indicates that eventually, "English" may just be a synonym for "Earthlish" and the last English grammarian with have found peace in the grave. "The Prodigal Tongue" is a well-researched, well-written, but depressing book to those who think that they can convert the world to speaking good English. It does not seem like the world is receptive to their efforts. The point left to be pondered (Abley is neutral) is, is that a bad thing? The language is spoken by and for the generation that uses it. I must confess that nostalgia for "BBC English" drives me to tears; partly because even the BBC does not speak BBC English anymore.