The Life of Language

The Life of Language: The Fascinating Ways Words are Born, Live & Die by Sol Steinmetz and Barbara Ann Kipfer

Though this book is well structured, each chapter could easily be read independently. There are explorations of various ways that works enter the English language. Some words are formed by moving existing words to a new part of speech. Others are coined, come from foreign languages or come from proper names. There are many other sources for words. The book provides details on how words enter the language and provides abundant examples. English is especially flexible. While it has Anglo-Saxon roots, there have been various waves of strong influence, such as Viking and Norman French. The language does not have a governing body, and thus is very flexible in adding new words that are found useful. The global spread of the language helped to allow words get adopted from many sources. Words continue to be added from many sources, such as technology. Some words gradually lose popularity as they have "better" words for their use. (However, retronyms are common to refer to items such as "acoustic guitars" that need modern clarification.)