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About the Book

This volume is a people’s history of English in the United States, told by those who have transformed it: activists, teachers, immigrants, journalists, poets, dictionary makers, actors, musicians, playwrights, preachers, presidents, rappers, translators, singers, children’s authors, scientists, politicians, foreigners, students, homemakers, lexicographers, scholars, newspaper columnists, senators, novelists, and a slew of fanatics. It begins with the English used by the settlers in Plymouth Colony and concludes (for now) with John McWhorter’s tribute to punctuation that bends the rules.

The quest is to understand how an imperial language like English, with Germanic origins, whose spread resulted from the Norman conquest, came to be an intrinsic component of the most influential democratic experiment in the world. Edited by internationally renowned cultural commentator and consultant for the OED Ilan Stavans, it is organized chronologically and offers a banquet of letters, poems, essays, dictionary entries, stories, songs, legislative documents, and other evidence of verbal mutation. Immigrants have propelled these transformations. Hybrid dialects like Yinglish, Spanglish, and Hawaiian pidgin have flowered. Our linguistic and cultural multiplicity has sparked fierce national debates that play out in these pages—from the compulsory education (and deracination) of Native Americans, to the classification of Black Vernacular English (once celebrated and ridiculed as Ebonics), to the dictionary wars over prescriptive versus descriptive usage, to the push for “English only” mandates that persist to this day. What is clear is that as much as we try to corral it, American English gallops ahead to its own destiny. 

Driven by American innovators, English has become the global language of both business and entertainment—the medium of the laws that bind us, the art that inspires us, and the connections we forge across cultures. A compendium that is as rich and diverse as the country itself, The People’s Tongue helps us grapple with how English has become the world’s lingua franca.

Praise for The People’s Tongue

“The shrewdly selected offerings capture the kaleidoscopic variety of American English and attest to its power in shaping national identity. The result is a trenchant look at a nation perpetually in the process of making itself.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Stavans, a Mexican American author and academic, presents a broad spectrum of material, from the Pilgrims to the age of Twitter, tracking the evolution of American English….  A useful resource for the classroom and anyone interested in the history of American English.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“From Noah Webster’s first American dictionary and Paul Laurence Dunbar’s rendering of African American vernacular English as a poetic diction, to the multiplicity of ‘Englishes’ registered on social media today, our national language is loud, disjointed, and comprised of irresistibly rhythmic polyphonic beats. Ilan Stavans’ extraordinary anthology invites us to see and reassess our reservoir of words that define the full range of American English, from countless disciplinary perspectives. This volume is destined to become an essential companion to future generations. Stavans, whose work on Spanglish has opened new scholarly paths, has made a major contribution to the vibrant, and still unfolding history of the English language.” 

—Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

“All the contradictions and contests of American identity are right here, in American English. What a tremendous compendium this is, and what a story—the story, in word after word, of our glorious, polyglot democracy. Just fabulous!”

—Gish Jen, author of The Resisters and Thank You, Mr. Nixon

“After reading this incredible, historically deep, insightful collection The People’s Tongue, I want to run and forge a new poetry, a true all-encompassing, unabashed, language mural—heart-sharpened and nerve-inked—for all. I want to rhyme and stomp to the timbres and beats of Zora Neale Hurston, Natalie Diaz, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Chang-Rae Lee. I want to be the American I have always been, brother of all the Americans I have met on the Laureate road and heard singing in their own tongue on every soulful corner of every state of this nation. Bravo!”

—Juan Felipe Herrera, U.S. Poet Laureate Emeritus

“What a treat—we get to listen in at a gathering where Anne Winthrop talks to Kendrick Lamar while Noah Webster chats with Jhumpa Lahiri about what it means to be American. Anyone who’s passionate about language will love this account of 450 years of American English in all its swaggering, poetic, rowdy, multi-ethnic, funny, touching, vulgar, beautiful, angry, silly, and profound glory.”

—Jack Lynch, author of The Lexicographer’s Dilemma

“The People’s Tongue is a vibrant, eclectic ride through the English language. This vital anthology, which brings together over 500 years of poems, speeches, and arguments as well as rap lyrics, tweets, and comedy routines, will spark many rich discussions about the power of language and the nature of democracy, but more importantly, will connect readers to diverse voices with something to say. The People’s Tongue belongs in writing and literature courses, reading groups, book clubs, and in the hands of any reader who wants to build the future by reflecting on the past.”

—Grace Talusan, author of The Body Papers

“Ilan Stavan’s The People’s Tongue is a wonderful and vital addition to the often contentious debates around language. This brilliantly curated collection might be the most timely and important anthology to emerge out of these troubled times.”

—Dinaw Mengestu, author of All Our Names and The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears

“There are few remaining threads that bind Americans to each other and to their past. The English language is one of them. That too is contested, and in this invaluable and timely anthology, Ilan Stavans has chosen powerful examples—from our Founding Fathers to our finest novelists to our latest pundits—that confirm how central our ever-changing language is to our national character.”

—James Shapiro, Professor of English, Columbia University

“At a time when America is fractured and riven by dissolutions, here is a succulent feast of words for us all. An indispensable, amazing compendium of foundational texts that made me want to sing out, channeling Woody Guthrie, ‘this is your book and this is my book, this book was made for you and me.’”

—Ariel Dorfman, author of Death and the Maiden and How to Read Donald Duck

“What writer hasn’t felt the sting of purists who invoke the rulebook for correct English? In his highly accessible anthology, The People’s Tongue, Ilan Stavans does us all a tremendous service by documenting how the English language has been enriched through rapid evolution, constant innovation and an openness to the magnificent diversity of our culture.”

—Martin Baron, Executive Editor (Retired), The Washington Post 

“Like Igor Stravinsky, Frank Zappa, and Charlie Parker, Ilan Stavans is a machine of endless innovation. Now he brings us a jazzy anthology that will delight, surprise, and unsettle readers. The People’s Tongue is an invaluable guide through the history and understanding of American English, a language that glues together this motley nation of 330-plus million souls. It confirms what we always knew: that our language exists through improvisation.”

—Paquito D’Rivera, GRAMMY Award Winner and 2005 NEA Jazz Master

About the Editor

Ilan Stavans is the publisher of Restless Books and a passionate lover of dictionaries, with a collection of over three hundred now housed in his personal collection at the University of Pennsylvania. He has published an assortment of books about language, including Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language (2003), Dictionary Days: A Defining Passion (2005), Resurrecting Hebrew (2008), and How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish (2020). He serves as a consultant to the Oxford English Dictionary and lives in Amherst, Mass.

Book details

Hardcover • $35
ISBN: 9781632062659
eBook ISBN: 9781632062666
Publication date: Feb 14, 2023
6" x 9" • 512 pages
Anthology: American English / Linguistics / History / Multi-Genre
Rights: World English, Audio

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