description: The author of the acclaimed The Lost Continent now steers us through the quirks and byways of the English language. We learn why island, freight, and colonel are spelled in such unphonetic ways, why four has a u in it but forty doesn't, plus bizarre and enlightening facts about some of the patriarchs of this peculiar language.
title: The Mother Tongue
titlecomplete: The Mother Tongue
genres: Audiobook, Language, Science, Writing, Travel, Reference, Linguistics, Nonfiction, History, Humor
ratings_count: 41042
publisher: Books on Tape, Inc.