A Mouthful of Air: Language and Languages, Especially English is a book on linguistics by Anthony Burgess published in 1992. Topics Topics covered in the book include: the mechanics of linguistic sounds; the development of the English language, and its connections with other languages; the making of dictionaries; the importance of slang; the International Phonetic Alphabet; the role of dialect; the best way to learn a foreign language; and a look at specific languages, (including Russian, Japanese, and Malay). References Books by Anthony Burgess Linguistics books 1992 non-fiction books Hutchinson (publisher) books