A Handbook of the English Language

In 1851, a radical proposition: English does not belong to Britain. R.G. Latham's groundbreaking handbook traces the language we speak today not to the hills of Wessex or the moors of Yorkshire, but to the Germanic tribes of continental Europe, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes whose migrations reshaped the British Isles and gave birth to something entirely new. This is philology as adventure narrative, following sound changes and migration patterns across centuries to answer a deceptively simple question: where did our words actually come from? Latham navigates the thorny evidence of early historical records with Victorian rigor, acknowledging uncertainties while constructing a compelling case for English as a borrowed tongue, enriched by Celtic survivors and classical imports. For readers who have ever wondered why English spells words it doesn't pronounce, or why 'sheep' and 'mutton' occupy the same animal, this handbook offers luminous answers embedded in a sweeping account of linguistic survival and transformation.