The Roots of English: A Reader's Handbook of Word Origins
- ISBN-10
- 0812917162
- ISBN-13
- 9780812917161
- Pages
- 335
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1989
- Publisher
- Times Books
- Author
- Robert Claiborne
Description
Like Joseph T. Shipley's Origins of English Words ( LJ 6/1/84), but in briefer compass, this book gives an entertaining and enlightening glimpse into the many fascinating word histories hidden in our English vocabulary. For anyone who even wondered how``tooth'' and ``dentist'' could be from the same source, or what ``futile'' has to do with ``funnel,'' Claiborne suggests sources for learning more. An index of English words gives access to the main listing of Indo-European roots in alphabetical order, each with its descendants in English--via Greek, Latin, French, or German. Uncertain or controversial etymologies are identified as such. A book that word buffs, linguists, and language teachers will enjoy.-- Catherine V. von Schon, SUNY at Stony Brook -Library Journal.
