John McWhorter
Author
Language
English
Description
"Acclaimed linguist and award-winning writer John McWhorter argues that an illiberal neoracism, disguised as antiracism, is hurting Black communities and weakening the American social fabric. Americans of good will on both the left and the right are secretly asking themselves the same question: how has the conversation on race in America gone so crazy? We're told read books and listen to music by people of color but that wearing certain clothes is...
Author
Language
English
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Description
"Superb." —Steven Pinker"An explanation, a defense, and, most heartening, a celebration. . . . McWhorter demonstrates the 'legitimacy' of Black English by uncovering its complexity and sophistication, as well as the still unfolding journey that has led to its creation. . . . [His] intelligent breeziness is the source of the book's considerable charm." —New Yorker"Talking Back, Talking Black is [McWhorter's]...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
A bestselling linguist takes us on a lively tour of how the English language is evolving before our eyes — and why we should embrace this transformation and not fight it
Language is always changing — but we tend not to like it. We understand that new words must be created for new things, but the way English is spoken today rubs many of us the wrong way. Whether it's the use of literally to mean "figuratively" rather
Author
Language
English
Description
Until recently, poetry had a central role in American culture. Why has this distinctive form of elevated language declined, and how has poetry itself changed? Chart this transformation in poets from Longfellow and Edna St. Vincent Millay to Billy Collins and Kurt Cobain.
Author
Language
English
Description
Do the shortcuts and informality of e-mail and text messages represent bad writing? Probe this controversy in light of the unique niche filled by these new forms of expression. Until the advent of e-mail and texting, there was no truly conversational form of writing analogous to conversational speech.
Author
Language
English
Description
Having seen that Proto-Germanic was streamlined into Old English, which was streamlined into Modern English, discover that Black English takes this process a step further. What some regard as bad grammar is language evolution, analogous to the shift from biblical Hebrew to modern Hebrew.
Author
Language
English
Description
Investigate the illogicality of English by looking at everything from the use of the definite article, the, which is difficult to teach to nonnative speakers, to the blatantly ungrammatical "aren't I," which is the contraction for "are not I" and is preferred over the more logical "ain't I."
Author
Language
English
Description
Many languages have a huge gap between the spoken, colloquial form and what's considered appropriate for formal or written communication. Trace the evolution of that gap in English by comparing how people actually talked in the past with how they expressed themselves on the page.
Author
Language
English
Description
Trace the evidence that English derives from a language that was incompletely learned by invaders of northern Europe more than 2,000 years ago. Where were these people from? An analysis of sound changes in their language, Proto-Germanic, leads to an intriguing hypothesis.
Author
Language
English
Description
See how writing styles have changed by comparing typical school reading assignments in the United States from the beginning and end of the 20th century. Then search out the reasons for this marked shift. One clue is that Americans in the past often spoke of a fine style as "good English."
Author
Language
English
Description
English has a more interesting history after the Anglo-Saxon period than was previously thought. See how the evidence is in grammatical constructions you use every day. For example, the reason you say "I'm building a house" rather than "I build house" traces to Celtic influences.
Author
Language
English
Description
Consider the role of logic in language and why double negatives are the default in French, Russian, and many other languages, including every dialect of English except the standard form. Dangling participles pose a similar problem of seeming illogical while being rarely misunderstood.
Author
Language
English
Description
Public speaking in English is currently trending toward a more informal style. Contrast speeches given in the old oratorical style with the more colloquial approach that took hold in the 1960s. Paradoxically, this loss of rhetorical polish has not meant a loss of eloquence.
Author
Language
English
Description
Focus on fascinating discoveries about grammar in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, an authoritative guide to usage written by linguists. Learn that English doesn't have a future tense, and analyze the peculiar function of up in such expressions as "clean up."
Author
Language
English
Description
Begin a new section of the course that focuses on your own relationship with language. In this lecture, trace the origin of "correct" usage to Robert Lowth, an 18th-century bishop who wrote an influential textbook on grammar that is the leading source of prescriptivist rules still promoted today.
Author
Language
English
Description
In a sentence such as "Tell each student to hand in their paper," no ambiguity arises, but prescriptivists insist that the singular form of the pronoun be used: his, her, or his or her. Ponder that pronouns' behavior is unpredictable and ever-changing in all languages.
Author
Language
English
Description
How did Old English develop from Proto-Germanic? And why did people in Britain end up speaking the language of the Germanic invaders? Discover that the traditional explanation that English was brought to England by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in the 5th century A.D. is vastly oversimplified.
Author
Language
English
Description
Is English going to the dogs? Embark on an exploration of myths and controversies about our native tongue - where it came from, where it's going, and its unusual place among the world's 6,000 languages. Begin your investigation by looking at the purported epidemic of English abuse.