This is definitely a book I'm putting on my Christmas list! A biography of the Dutch language, written in English by Flemish linguist Roland Willemyns. I heard him being interviewed on Dutch language radio een (I think!) but I didn't quite understand the author's name so I was glad when I spotted an article in the English language paper 'Flanders Today'.The book, printed by Oxford University Press, covers the history of Dutch as well as the influence of Dutch today. For someone like me who is interested (obsessed?) by the etymology of the English language I think it's pretty indispensable. Part of the joy of this blog is spotting links between English and Dutch to help me remember what sometimes seem at first glance super-complex words. And of course as a learner of the Dutch language it'll be fairly interesting to see the development of the language; knowing the history will help me understand the grammar more. I hope.
Of course, I can't say too much about it as I haven't read it yet.
Maybe I'll move this from the Christmas list to my birthday list.
Or maybe I'll just buy it tomorrow….
