Listen and read

Step into an infinite world of stories

  • Listen and read as much as you want
  • Over 400 000+ titles
  • Bestsellers in 10+ Indian languages
  • Exclusive titles + Storytel Originals
  • Easy to cancel anytime
Details page - Device banner - 894x1036
Cover for The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way

The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way

66 Ratings

3.9

Duration
10H 45min
Language
English
Format
Category

Non-Fiction

With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson—the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent—brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.

© 2015 William Morrow (Audiobook): 9780062458537

Release date

Audiobook: 15 December 2015

Others also enjoyed ...

  1. Shakespeare: The World as Stage
    Shakespeare: The World as Stage Bill Bryson
  2. The Peregrine
    The Peregrine J. A. Baker
  3. Shakespeare: The World as a Stage
    Shakespeare: The World as a Stage Bill Bryson
  4. Living Planet: The Web of Life on Earth
    Living Planet: The Web of Life on Earth David Attenborough
  5. Life on Earth
    Life on Earth David Attenborough
  6. The Sparsholt Affair
    The Sparsholt Affair Alan Hollinghurst
  7. The Emperor of All Maladies
    The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee
  8. The Genius of Birds
    The Genius of Birds Jennifer Ackerman
  9. The Trials of Life: A Natural History of Animal Behaviour
    The Trials of Life: A Natural History of Animal Behaviour David Attenborough
  10. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
    Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain Oliver Sacks
  11. An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist
    An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist Richard Dawkins
  12. The Old Patagonian Express
    The Old Patagonian Express Paul Theroux
  13. Extraordinary Insects: Weird. Wonderful. Indispensable. The ones who run our world.
    Extraordinary Insects: Weird. Wonderful. Indispensable. The ones who run our world. Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson
  14. Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change
    Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change Elizabeth Kolbert
  15. You Say Potato: A Book About Accents
    You Say Potato: A Book About Accents Ben Crystal
  16. Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
    Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? Frans de Waal
  17. I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
    I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life Ed Yong
  18. Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain
    Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain Maryanne Wolf
  19. World Travel: An Irreverent Guide
    World Travel: An Irreverent Guide Anthony Bourdain
  20. Metazoa: Animal Minds and the Birth of Consciousness
    Metazoa: Animal Minds and the Birth of Consciousness Peter Godfrey-Smith
  21. She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity
    She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity Carl Zimmer
  22. Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution
    Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution Richard Dawkins
  23. Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet
    Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet Noam Chomsky
  24. The Revolutionary Genius of Plants: A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior
    The Revolutionary Genius of Plants: A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior Stefano Mancuso
  25. A People's History of the United States
    A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn
  26. Languages Are Good For Us
    Languages Are Good For Us Sophie Hardach
  27. Oaxaca Journal
    Oaxaca Journal Oliver Sacks
  28. Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life
    Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life Peter Godfrey-Smith
  29. Seeing Voices
    Seeing Voices Oliver Sacks
  30. Stephen Fry In America
    Stephen Fry In America Stephen Fry
  31. Sentient: What Animals Reveal About Our Senses
    Sentient: What Animals Reveal About Our Senses Jackie Higgins
  32. The Heretics: Adventures with the Enemies of Science
    The Heretics: Adventures with the Enemies of Science Will Storr
  33. A Little History of the World
    A Little History of the World E. H. Gombrich
  34. The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language
    The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language Mark Forsyth
  35. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
    American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer Martin J. Sherwin
  36. A Short History of the World According to Sheep
    A Short History of the World According to Sheep Sally Coulthard
  37. Fight of the Century: Writers Reflect on 100 Years of Landmark ACLU Cases
    Fight of the Century: Writers Reflect on 100 Years of Landmark ACLU Cases Michael Chabon
  38. Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis
    Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis Jared Diamond
  39. The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia
    The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia Paul Theroux
  40. Knowledge and information: The Potential and Peril of Human Intelligence
    Knowledge and information: The Potential and Peril of Human Intelligence Martin Ingvar
  41. Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm
    Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm Isabella Tree
  42. The Breath of a Whale: The Science and Spirit of Pacific Ocean Giants
    The Breath of a Whale: The Science and Spirit of Pacific Ocean Giants Leigh Calvez
  43. Notes on Resistance
    Notes on Resistance Noam Chomsky
  44. The Life of Birds
    The Life of Birds David Attenborough
  45. The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes On the Disaster Capitalists
    The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes On the Disaster Capitalists Naomi Klein
  46. Children’s Stories by Oscar Wilde Volume 2
    Children’s Stories by Oscar Wilde Volume 2 Oscar Wilde
  47. The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life
    The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life David Quammen
  48. Time for Socialism: Dispatches from a World on Fire, 2016-2021
    Time for Socialism: Dispatches from a World on Fire, 2016-2021 Thomas Piketty
  49. The Story of Work: A New History of Humankind
    The Story of Work: A New History of Humankind Jan Lucassen
  50. The Seabird’s Cry: The Lives and Loves of Puffins, Gannets and Other Ocean Voyagers
    The Seabird’s Cry: The Lives and Loves of Puffins, Gannets and Other Ocean Voyagers Adam Nicolson
  51. Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science
    Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science Richard Dawkins
  52. Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds
    Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds Bernd Heinrich
  53. The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures
    The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures Louis Theroux
  54. Pity the Reader: On Writing With Style
    Pity the Reader: On Writing With Style Kurt Vonnegut
  55. River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life
    River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life Richard Dawkins
  56. The Rise of Yeast: How the Sugar Fungus Shaped Civilization
    The Rise of Yeast: How the Sugar Fungus Shaped Civilization Nicholas P. Money
  57. A Whiff of Wilde, a Pinch of Poe, and a Frisson of Frost: A Dab of Dickens, Vol. 3; Selections from A Dab of Dickens & a Touch of Twain,Literary Lives from Shakespeare’s Old England to Frost’s New England
    A Whiff of Wilde, a Pinch of Poe, and a Frisson of Frost: A Dab of Dickens, Vol. 3; Selections from A Dab of Dickens & a Touch of Twain,Literary Lives from Shakespeare’s Old England to Frost’s New England Edgar Allan Poe
  58. A (Very) Short History of Life On Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Chapters
    A (Very) Short History of Life On Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Chapters Henry Gee
  59. Society in Crisis: Our Capacity for Adaptation and Reorientation
    Society in Crisis: Our Capacity for Adaptation and Reorientation Johan Hakelius
  60. The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present
    The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present Eric R. Kandel
  61. Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong
    Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong Paul A. Offit MD
  62. Creation: How Science is Reinventing Life Itself
    Creation: How Science is Reinventing Life Itself Adam Rutherford
  63. The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us
    The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us Steve Brusatte
  64. Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power
    Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power Noam Chomsky
  65. Gratitude
    Gratitude Oliver Sacks
  66. A Zoo in My Luggage
    A Zoo in My Luggage Gerald Durrell
  67. The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate
    The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate Peter Wohlleben
  68. The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us
    The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us Steve Brusatte
  69. How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention
    How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention Daniel L. Everett
  70. Classics: A Very Short Introduction
    Classics: A Very Short Introduction Mary Beard
  71. A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shogun and Zen– The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun: Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun
    A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shogun and Zen– The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun: Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun Jonathan Clements
  72. Everything in Its Place: First Loves and Last Tales
    Everything in Its Place: First Loves and Last Tales Oliver Sacks
  73. Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved
    Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved Frans de Waal
  74. An Atlas of Extinct Countries: The Remarkable (and Occasionally Ridiculous) Stories of 48 Nations that Fell off the Map
    An Atlas of Extinct Countries: The Remarkable (and Occasionally Ridiculous) Stories of 48 Nations that Fell off the Map Gideon Defoe
  75. Almost Human: The Astonishing Tale of Homo naledi and the Discovery That Changed Our Human Story
    Almost Human: The Astonishing Tale of Homo naledi and the Discovery That Changed Our Human Story Lee Berger
  76. Honeybee Democracy
    Honeybee Democracy Thomas D. Seeley
  77. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: The Sunday Times Bestseller, The Untold Story of a Lost World
    The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: The Sunday Times Bestseller, The Untold Story of a Lost World Steve Brusatte
  78. Baudolino
    Baudolino Umberto Eco
  79. On Color
    On Color David Scott Kastan
  80. David Mitchell: Back Story
    David Mitchell: Back Story David Mitchell
  81. Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music
    Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music Alex Ross
  82. Fury
    Fury Salman Rushdie