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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... 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 Organism Judging from the past.
... 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 Organism Judging from the past.
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... speech, barely suitable for writing. Our conviction that people using casual speech are somehow “asleep at the ... varieties of a single language. Each variety is certainly different, but speakers of all branches can still understand ...
... speech, barely suitable for writing. Our conviction that people using casual speech are somehow “asleep at the ... varieties of a single language. Each variety is certainly different, but speakers of all branches can still understand ...
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... variety. Like our discomfort with language changes like who/whom, many of ... speech of an upper class is lost in the history books. We live in a world ... variety was a vehicle of literature and the songs of the Troubadors, and in this ...
... variety. Like our discomfort with language changes like who/whom, many of ... speech of an upper class is lost in the history books. We live in a world ... variety was a vehicle of literature and the songs of the Troubadors, and in this ...
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... variety, typical of newscasters, is considered the “pure” English. However, what could possibly be pure about a ... speech style of Walter Cronkite. Clearly, this beige brand of Midwestern English has no claim to greater legitimacy than the “ ...
... variety, typical of newscasters, is considered the “pure” English. However, what could possibly be pure about a ... speech style of Walter Cronkite. Clearly, this beige brand of Midwestern English has no claim to greater legitimacy than the “ ...
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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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