A review by robinwalter
Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English by Philip Durkin

informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

Outstanding! Scholarly work presented accessibly, without dilution or any kind of pandering. FULL of reassuring caveats that stress the challenges and limitations of the kind of research being considered, this book was an absolute treasure trove. Extra points for its well-reasoned and presented section on Māori loanwords. That section did also serve to highlight my only real 'gripe' with the book - its age. It was published in 2014, and drew from sources available up to and including 2012. An updated version would be fascinating, both for having more of the OED3 available to draw on and for  data on the continuation of a process of change discussed as potentially underway when this edition was first released.