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001			3551646x
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005			20190114224221.0
008			131127s2013 enk 001 0 eng d
015			_aGBB380464 _2bnb
019			_a000052244439
020			_a9781848548862 (hbk.)
020			_a1848548869 (hbk.)
020			_z9781848548879 (e-book)
040			_aUKMGB _beng _cUKMGB _dOCoLC _dQBCL _dWLB
082	0	4	_a411 _223
099			_a411 _bROS
100	1		_aRosen, Michael, _d1946- _934489
245	1	0	_aAlphabetical : _bhow every letter tells a story / _cMichael Rosen.
260			_aLondon : _bJohn Murray, _c2013.
300			_axv, 431 p. ; _c23 cm.
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520			_aLANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS. From minding your Ps and Qs to wondering why X should mark the spot, Alphabetical is a book for everyone who loves words and language. Whether it's how letters are arranged on keyboards or Viking runes, textspeak or zip codes, this book will change the way you think about letters for ever. How on Earth did we fix upon our twenty-six letters, what do they really mean, and how did we come to write them down in the first place? Michael Rosen takes you on an unforgettable adventure through the history of the alphabet in twenty-six vivid chapters, fizzing with personal anecdotes and fascinating facts. Starting with the mysterious Phoenicians and how sounds first came to be written down, he races on to show how nonsense poems work, pins down the strange story of OK, traces our five lost letters and tackles the tyranny of spelling, among many, many other things.
650		0	_aAlphabet. _934490
650		0	_aAlphabet _xHistory. _934491
650		0	_aLanguage and languages. _934492
907			_a.b3551646x _lp _c-
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