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Begat
http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Begat-David-Crystal/9780199695188
The King James Bible and the English Language
By
David Crystal
RRP $18.99 $14.18 Save 25%
Free shipping Australia wide Ships from UK supplier | Rating: | | | Format: | Paperback, 336 pages | | Published In: | United Kingdom, 18 August 2011 |
What do the following have in common? Let there be light - Whited sepulchres - A rod of iron - New wine into old bottles Lick the dust - How are the mighty fallen - A thorn in the flesh - Wheels within wheels They're all in the King James Bible. This astonishing book has 'contributed far more to English in the way of idiomatic or quasi-proverbial expressions than any other literary source.' wrote David Crystal in 2004. In Begat he returns to the subject: he asks how a work published in 1611 could have had such an influence on the language and looks closely at what that influence has been. He comes to some surprising conclusions. No other version of the Bible however popular (such as the Good News Bible) or imposed upon the church (like the New English Bible) has had anything like the same impact. David Crystal shows how its words and phrases got independent life in the work of poets, playwrights, novelists, and politicians, and how more recently they have been taken up by journalists, advertisers, Hollywood, and hip-hop. He reveals the great debt the King James Bible owes to its English forebears, especially John Wycliffe's in the fourteenth century and William Tyndale's in the sixteenth. He also shows that the revisions and changes made by King James's translators were crucial to its universal success. "A person who professes to be a critic in the delicacies of the English language ought to have the Bible at his finger's ends," Lord Macaulay advised Lady Holland in 1831. David Crystal shows how true this is. His book is a revelation. |
Table of ContentsPrologue 1; Prologue 2; 1. In the beginning; 2. Let there be light; 3. Be fruitful and multiply; 4. My brother's keeper?; 5. Two by two; 6. A coat of many colours; 7. Fire and brimstone; 8. Begat; 9. Thou shalt not; 10. Manna, milk, and honey; 11. Eyes, teeth, and loins; 12. What hath been wrought; 13. Bread alone; 14. How are the mighty fallen!; 15. The skin of one's teeth; 16. Out of the mouths of babes; 17. Pride goes before a fall; 18. Nothing new under the sun; 19. Fly in the ointment; 20. No peace for the wicked; 21. Be horribly afraid; Interlude; 22. Seeing the light; 23. Eyes, ears, cheeks; 24. Speaking, shouting, wailing, writing; 25. Shaking, turning, moving; 26. Many and few, first and last; 27. Fights, foes, fools, friends; 28. Praising famous men; 29. Sheep, goats, swine; 30. Money, wages, pearls, mites; 31. Blessed are the servants; 32. Heal thyself; 33. Times and seasons; 34. Birth, life, and death; 35. Countries, kingdoms, Armageddon; 36. Building houses, mansions, sepulchres; 37. Millstones, crosses, yokes, pricks; 38. Sowing seeds; 39. Salt and wine; 40. The law, judges, thieves, swords; 41. Love and charity; 42. Peace and patience, wrath, whore; Epilogue; Appendixes; Indexes About the Author
David Crystal is the foremost writer and lecturer on the English language, with a worldwide reputation and over 100 books to his credit. He is Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor, and was awarded the OBE for services to the English Language. His books include TheStories of English, The Fight for English, Words, Words, Words, and many more.
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| Publisher: | Oxford University Press | | ISBN: | 0199695180 |
| EAN: | 9780199695188 | | Dimensions: | 20.0 x 13.0 x 2.0 centimeters (0.41 kg) |
| Age Range: |
15+ years |
|
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