In Stock
William Tyndale and the English language
Hardback
€30.00
Collect 90 Reward Points
- Free Delivery from
- This Book Is Available Online Only
- Book Synopsis
- 'Dearly beloved', 'say the word', 'the powers that be', 'for ever and ever' - these familiar phrases and many more were set down in print for the first time by William Tyndale. For his groundbreaking English translation of the Bible, he deliberately chose to write in a way that could be understood by the widest possible audience. In the first half of this pioneering exploration of the extraordinary impact Tyndale's writing had on the development of the English language, David Crystal provides an analysis of his prose style, demonstrating its character as a novel genre of 'written speech', and bringing to light the remarkable number of cases where Tyndale is the first recorded user of a word or phrase in English. He also draws attention to the hitherto unrecognised role of Tyndale as an early lexicographer. The second half of the book is a linguistic detective story, devising an innovative lexical and grammatical metric to investigate the often-stated claim that eighty per cent of later biblical translations display Tyndale's influence. The result is a fascinating exploration of the work of the Father of the English Bible.
- About The Author
- David Crystal is a writer, editor, lecturer, and broadcaster on language. His books include The Stories of English (2004), Wordsmiths and Warriors: The English-Language Tourist's Guide to Britain (with Hilary Crystal, 2013), The Oxford Dictionary of Original Shakespearean Pronunciation (2016) and The Story of Be: A Verb's-Eye View of the English Language (2017).
- Product Details
-
- ISBN
- 9781851246656
- Format
- Hardback
- Publisher
- Bodleian Library Publishing, (13 March 2026)
- Number of Pages
- 248
- Language
- English
- Dimensions
- 234 x 156 mm
- Categories: