Beyond Language
 | |
| Author | Dmitri Borgmann |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Published | 1967 |
| Publisher | Charles Scribner's Sons |
| Publication place | USA |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 338 |
| OCLC | 655067975 |
| Preceded by | Language on Vacation: An Olio of Orthographical Oddities |
Beyond Language: Adventures in Word and Thought is a 1967 book written by Dmitri Borgmann.
Content
Like Borgmann's first book, Language on Vacation: An Olio of Orthographical Oddities, Beyond Language is a treatise on recreational linguistics, and indeed is based in part on material excised from early drafts of Language on Vacation.[1] Unlike its predecessor, however, it is presented as a series of 137 self-contained "problems" with accompanying "hints" and "resolutions". In some cases the problems are bona fide word puzzles, such as challenges to deduce orthograhic, phonetic, or etymological patterns in word lists. More often than not, however, the format is simply a conceit which enables the author to expound the results of his lexicographic and logological discoveries. For example, problem 94 challenges the reader to trace the origin of the word FEAMYNG, a purported collective noun for ferrets. Borgmann's solution, which spans four pages, shows the term to be the result of a centuries-long chain of typographical errors (from BUSYNESS to BESYNESS to FESYNES to FESNYNG to FEAMYNG) propagated through various dictionaries.
The book's appendices contain an extensive bibliography of books and periodicals covering logology.
Reception and legacy
Beyond Language was not as great a success as Language on Vacation but it still attracted favourable reviews.[2] Kirkus Reviews called Borgmann's puzzles "unique" and "challenging", noting that "the persistent can spend a pleasant year in figuring out such problems".[3] TIME recommended the book "for the tired scientist, mathematician or logician", emphasizing the intellectual effort needed to solve some of Borgmann's more esoteric challenges.[4]
In the years since its publication, some of the claims made by the book have been challenged and debunked. Of note is a 2003 study by Darryl Francis which investigated Borgmann's assertion that Torpenhow Hill was a quadruple tautology. It concluded not only that Borgmann's etymology may be incorrect, but also that the hill does not even exist.[5]
References
- ^ Eckler, Jr., A. Ross (November 2005). "The Borgmann Apocrypha". Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics. 38 (4): 258–260.
- ^ Eckler, Jr., A. Ross (February 2013). "Damn mad boring trifler?". Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics. 46 (1): 35–42.
- ^ "Beyond Language". Kirkus Reviews. May 31, 1967.
- ^ "!!PppppppP!!!". TIME. 90 (7): 100. August 18, 1967.
- ^ Francis, Darryl (2003). "The Debunking of Torpenhow Hill". Word Ways. 36 (1): 6–8.