The secret life of words is a wide ranging account of the transplanted stolen bastardized words weve come to know as the english languag its a history of english as a whole and of the thousands of individual words from more than 350 foreign tongues that trickled in gradually over hundreds of years of trade colonization and diplomacy henry hitchings narrates the story from the norman . The secret life of words how english became english henry hitchings 9780719564550 books amazonca. Henry hitchings explores this phenomenon in the secret life of words where he examines how the encounters between people who speak english and people who speak other languages have shaped and influenced english over its long history along the way he spouts a veritable fountain of word. The secret life of words how english became english item preview remove circle share or embed this item embed embed for the secret life of words how english became english by hitchings henry 1974 publication date 2009 topics english language etymology english language lexicography history english language lexicography publisher new york farrar straus and giroux . The secret life of words how english became english henry hitchings edition 1st picador ed imprint new york picador 2009 c2008 description 440 p isbn 0312428561 9780312428563 formats book back 0 marked mark options refworks print link email cite request get help