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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... speaking one language as many Americans do. Like continental drift and heliocentrism, these basic truths about language are largescale phenomena that are barely perceptible within our daily experience. They only become clear through ...
... speaking one language as many Americans do. Like continental drift and heliocentrism, these basic truths about language are largescale phenomena that are barely perceptible within our daily experience. They only become clear through ...
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... speak language also naturally reinforces our sense that our personal perceptions of it are correct. We cannot help but be a bit skeptical that a linguist has any grounds for judging casual speech, whatever their facility with foreign ...
... speak language also naturally reinforces our sense that our personal perceptions of it are correct. We cannot help but be a bit skeptical that a linguist has any grounds for judging casual speech, whatever their facility with foreign ...
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... speak the English we speak today is due to nothing other than the ceaseless change that all languages undergo over time. Of course, the change is gradual. For example, here is Middle English as it was spoken in about 1300: Fader oure ...
... speak the English we speak today is due to nothing other than the ceaseless change that all languages undergo over time. Of course, the change is gradual. For example, here is Middle English as it was spoken in about 1300: Fader oure ...
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... speak Romanian rather than English. In fact, they made an unintentional blunder, because what the characters would ... speaking “English.” Moreover, new slang and technical terms would be the least of our worries—more to the point, the ...
... speak Romanian rather than English. In fact, they made an unintentional blunder, because what the characters would ... speaking “English.” Moreover, new slang and technical terms would be the least of our worries—more to the point, the ...
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... speak Plural, when they should Singular.... Come you Priests and Professors, have you not learnt your Accidence? Of course, here on the other side of this change, this man is but a cartoon; it is he who seems the unmannerly “ideot” and ...
... speak Plural, when they should Singular.... Come you Priests and Professors, have you not learnt your Accidence? Of course, here on the other side of this change, this man is but a cartoon; it is he who seems the unmannerly “ideot” and ...
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Word On The Street: Debunking The Myth Of A Pure Standard English John Mcwhorter Limited preview - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
actually African Americans AfricanAmerican children AfricanAmerican students Afrocentric ain’t American English audience basic bidialectal bilingual Black and standard black children Black English black speech black students bridging advocates bridging approach classroom codeswitching complex Creole languages Creolist culture developed dialect of English dialect readers endings English dialects English speakers example expression fact French genderneutral German grammar Gullah habitual Haitian immersion issue Jamaican patois John Rickford language change language mixture Latin Level linguists means Media Lengua modern nonstandard dialects noun Oakland controversy Old English patterns person pidgin play prepositions problem pronoun Quechua reading Rickford Romance languages rules Saramaccan seen sense sentence structures separate language Shakespeare Shirley simply singular slang slaves sound system Spanish speak speech variety Sranan standard dialect standard English sure Swiss German teachers teaching tense things translation verb vowel walk West African languages words writing