Word On The Street: Debunking The Myth Of A Pure Standard EnglishThough there is a contingent of linguists who fight the fact, our language is always changing -- not only through slang, but sound, syntax, and words' meanings as well. Debunking the myth of "pure" standard English, tackling controversial positions, and eschewing politically correct arguments, linguist John McWhorter considers speech patterns and regional accents to demonstrate just how the changes do occur. Wielding reason and humor, McWhorter ultimately explains why we must embrace these changes, ultimately revealing our American English in all its variety, expressiveness, and power. |
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... grammar, Shakespeare, and the search for a genderneutral pronoun. The third section will show how these principles shed new light for all of us on America's most controversial speech variety, Black English. PART ONE Language: A Living ...
... grammar, Shakespeare, and the search for a genderneutral pronoun. The third section will show how these principles shed new light for all of us on America's most controversial speech variety, Black English. PART ONE Language: A Living ...
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... grammar” they were taught in the schoolroom are vital to clarity and logic. Many people suspect that linguists are putting a dewyeyed egalitarianism over scientific rigor. Frankly, if I were not a linguist, I would feel the same way. In ...
... grammar” they were taught in the schoolroom are vital to clarity and logic. Many people suspect that linguists are putting a dewyeyed egalitarianism over scientific rigor. Frankly, if I were not a linguist, I would feel the same way. In ...
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... grammar” in our own lifetimes. Indeed, for a long time in each place where a Romance language is now spoken, Latin and the emerging new language coexisted, with the new language—the same one revered today as French, Spanish, Italian ...
... grammar” in our own lifetimes. Indeed, for a long time in each place where a Romance language is now spoken, Latin and the emerging new language coexisted, with the new language—the same one revered today as French, Spanish, Italian ...
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... GRAMMAR”. In sum, then, because (1) dialects develop through language change and language change is not decay; (2) standard English and nonstandard dialects all evolved in the same way from the same source; (3) that source is long dead ...
... GRAMMAR”. In sum, then, because (1) dialects develop through language change and language change is not decay; (2) standard English and nonstandard dialects all evolved in the same way from the same source; (3) that source is long dead ...
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Word On The Street: Debunking The Myth Of A Pure Standard English John Mcwhorter Limited preview - 2000 |
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