You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity [Hardcover]

Robert Lane Greene (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 8, 2011

"An insightful, accessible examination of the way in which day-to-day speech is tangled in a complicated web of history, politics, race, economics and power." - Kirkus


What is it about other people’s language that moves some of us to anxiety or even rage? For centuries, sticklers the world over have donned the cloak of authority to control the way people use words. Now this sensational new book strikes back to defend the fascinating, real-life diversity of this most basic human faculty.

With the erudite yet accessible style that marks his work as a journalist, Robert Lane Greene takes readers on a rollicking tour around the world, illustrating with vivid anecdotes the role language beliefs play in shaping our identities, for good and ill. Beginning with literal myths, from the Tower of Babel to the bloody origins of the word “shibboleth,” Greene shows how language “experts” went from myth-making to rule-making and from building cohesive communities to building modern nations. From the notion of one language’s superiority to the common perception that phrases like “It’s me” are “bad English,” linguistic beliefs too often define “us” and distance “them,” supporting class, ethnic, or national prejudices. In short: What we hear about language is often really about the politics of identity.

Governments foolishly try to police language development (the French Academy), nationalism leads to the violent suppression of minority languages (Kurdish and Basque), and even Americans fear that the most successful language in world history (English) may be threatened by increased immigration. These false language beliefs are often tied to harmful political ends and can lead to the violation of basic human rights. Conversely, political involvement in language can sometimes prove beneficial, as with the Zionist  revival of Hebrew or our present-day efforts to provide education in foreign languages essential to business, diplomacy, and intelligence. And yes, standardized languages play a crucial role in uniting modern societies.

As this fascinating book shows, everything we’ve been taught to think about language may not be wrong—but it is often about something more than language alone. You Are What You Speak will certainly get people talking.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A correspondent for the Economist and a self-professed lover of language, Greene takes on language "mythologizers" of all forms, like bestselling author Lynne Truss and other language "sticklers" for whom the superiority of "their" language also represents the superiority of "their" people. Greene asserts that language is about communication rather than just rules and that debates about language and its rules are often really about politics. Defending Black English as a dialect with strict rules of its own, Greene also relates how the imposition of Afrikaans, the symbol of South African apartheid, on the black majority sparked the violent riots that marked the beginning of the end of apartheid, and how the father of modern Turkey criminalized the writing of Turkish in Arabic script. In the end, he argues, simplicity in a language doesn't denote its "decline"; rather, languages become simpler and more flexible in order to spread and succeed. Though Greene argues perceptively and passionately, his controversial arguments still won't, for the most part, persuade traditionalists who bemoan the deterioration of English. (Mar.)
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About the Author

Robert Lane Greene is an international correspondent for The Economist, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, on Slate, and in other publications. He also wrote a biweekly column for The New Republic from 2002 to 2004. Greene is a frequent television and radio commentator on international affairs, an adjunct assistant professor in the Center for Global Affairs at New York University, and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He speaks nine languages and was a Marshall Scholar at Oxford University, where he earned a M.Phil. in European politics and society. Robert Lane Greene lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Eva, and his son, Jack.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; 1St Edition edition (March 8, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553807870
• ISBN-13: 978-0553807875
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #157,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Lane Greene is a journalist based in New York. He is a correspondent for The Economist and writes for the magazine's Johnson blog on language. His book on the politics of language around the world, You Are What You Speak, was published by Delacorte (Random House) in Spring 2011. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, Slate and other publications, and he wrote a biweekly column for the New Republic from 2002-2004. He is a frequent television and radio commentator, an advisor to Freedom House, an adjunct assistant professor in the Center for Global Affairs at New York University, and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Greene was born in Johnson City, Tennessee and grew up in Marietta, Georgia. He graduated with honors from Tulane University in 1997, receiving a B.A. in International Relations and History. He won a Marshall Scholarship and completed an M.Phil. in European Politics and Society at the University of Oxford in 1999. He is fluent in German, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Danish, and conversant in Russian, Arabic, and Italian. He joined The Economist in 2000, lives in Brooklyn, is married to Eva Høier Greene, and has two sons.

(Photo credit: Nephi Niven)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 66 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful insight into language; great fun to read March 14, 2011

By Laurence R. Bachmann VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Do you split infinitives and dare to think yourself reasonably intelligent? Do you regularly end sentences with prepositions and refuse to believe the end of civilization is nigh? Are you or are you not threatened by ebonics or worried (or not) that Spanish is going to swamp English? This is the book for you.

Lane Green's You Are What You Speak is sharp, funny and filled with insight into the politics and pretense of languages' guardians and scolds. Cutting right to the chase, Green gives us a brief history of grammar grouches from Cicero and John Dryden to modern day cranks like David Foster Wallace and that queen of cranks, Lynne Truss. In doing so, Green not only reassures us that language isn't going to hell in a hand basket--only a small minority have ever thought so--but that it is flourishing as it should, from the speakers' needs.

More importantly, his considerable depth of learning debunks many myths. The split infinitive police are supported not by facts but early grammarians who based their rules on their knowledge of Latin (where it is impossible to split one-word infinitives). In English though, it is possible to do so and only undesirable when it creates confusion. As for dangling preps, Green says, by all means do. There is no reason not to, and for clarity's sake, plenty of reasons to go ahead. He provides some delightful examples of when following the dangling prep rule is preposterous.

The author makes the important point that a few grouches have forgotten that language created writing not vice-versa. Hilarious criticisms of England's great poets and writers by grammarians cinches Green's argument that the scolds have lost all sense of perspective and proportion. Throughout the book he advocates clarity of thought and precision, not some hind bound adhesion to a rule established by a finger wagging grumpus. Bravo.

Subsequent chapters deal with the link between nation-building and national language, the politics of language and the sub rosa agenda of politicians when they deride and decry Black English or the "rise" of Spanish speaking Americans. The French Academy's efforts to stem the tide of English seems rather like herding cats, and an explanation of Chinese and Japanese alphabets instills a new respect for the often caricatured Asian nerd.

You Are What You Speak is the very best sort of language exercise: clear, entertaining and educative. Absolutely terrific!

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction and surprisingly funny March 21, 2011

By Brooklyn_transplant

Format:Hardcover

Greene gives a very useful and interesting overview of the major schools of thinking and controversies in modern linguistics, which is useful for anybody who wants to know more about why we speak the way that we do and what science thinks of that. However, this book really shines when he applies that knowledge to modern political situations and contemporary culture, illuminating some of the common missteps politicians and civilians often engage in, when they try to control and harness language to their own ends.
His good-natured crusade against sticklers really struck a chord with me, however, it's not like the author's is some dippy free-for-all grammar hippie - Greene clearly loves language and the most endearing and ultimately interesting point of this book was, to me, how he convincingly argues that language should be celebrated and cherished for its diversity, not ranked and looked down upon (or snobbily aspired upwards to by the socially ambitious). I personally have no real background in linguistics (just a love of languages) and I learned so much - next time I find myself in a discussion about language and politics, or culture I will feel infinitely more confident because of this book! Interesting, thorough, surprising, I really loved it!

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This Deserves at Least Three More Stars March 26, 2011

By C. E. Selby

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you are a Lynn Truss fan--you know the lady, the sticklerist who rants in her books ("Eats, Shoots and Leaves") about the ways English is being destroyed by its speakers and writers--then you may not want to read this book. On the other hand, you absolutely must because this is one of those I-simply-cannot-put-it-down books.
I teach writing part time at a local college. And before retiring and taking up this job in Miami with its vast population of ESL speakers, I taught high school English. And I recoiled at the misuse of so-called grammar books by far too many of my colleagues. (By the way, the best grammar book out there isn't one. But should be: "Woe Is I" by Patricia O'Conner with its simple, humorous direct approach including "comma sultra.") And this amazing work by Robert Lane Greene only confirms what I know, except not with his knowledge, about the way language evolves. I cringe at all the hyped-up media rhetoric about Hispanics taking over. In my opinion they add to the flavor of a mixture of their language with mine, which is English.
But--note that I have begun this sentence with a no-no in the eyes of some--what I have to deal with in my classes are the absolutely stupid number of "rules" these new-to-English speakers have learned. They have to wade through six thick workbooks of English grammar rules, many of which quite simply have absolutely nothing to do with how we speak and write our language when we write and speak it well. And I am one of those who is only too delighted to have "whom" take its place in the repository of words we simply do not need.
All of this is to say that if you are looking for a book that really gets into the substance of how languages have formed and how they work, they don't hesitate any longer. Greene even takes on Strunk and White, "Elements of Style." Now that takes courage, far more courage than Ms. Truss. "There is really only one way to learn good writing: through good reading and extensive writing and revising. If students in college and high school are exposed to high-quality, well-edited writing year after year, some will develop into competent and even good writers. Many will not. But writing is, ultimately, an artistic skills, not the mechanistic application of rules." (page 43)
Amen, Brother Greene! My best writers are always students who also read a lot. But yet here in this state students in public schools read very little because, after all, they have to write zillions of five-paragraph essays to pass the FCAT!
But back to E. B. White: One linguist "catches E. B. White using a 'which' to introduce a restrictive clause in the second paragraph of 'Stuart Little,' something White himself prohibits in 'Elements of Style.'" To which White would have acknowledged his "error" instead of acknowledging that it matters little whether or not a set of commas do or do not set that clause off.
And this sentence on page 112 is significant for its truth: "English has the most difficult alphabetic spelling in the world." Try explaining to Spanish speakers--remember their language is totally phonetic--"were" from "where" or "since" from "sense" to name of two of hundreds of crazy spellings.
So who knew? Who knew that the Hebrew language spoken and written in Israel today is so new as a secular spoken and written language. Certainly I did not. Dr. Greene provides the most fascinating explanation of how the holy language was taken up as a one-man cause in the late 19th century and within a few decades became the official language of Israel, ending Yiddish, what little was left after Hitler did the most of end it his the Nazi ovens.
This is just one of those books that quite clearly needs at least two more stars than the five amazon.com allows . Make it three.