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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... English shows us that contrary to the impression so easy to harbor within our own lives: Language change is not ... dialects are. What I have shown you so far is the development of one language, Old English, into another one, Modern ...
... English shows us that contrary to the impression so easy to harbor within our own lives: Language change is not ... dialects are. What I have shown you so far is the development of one language, Old English, into another one, Modern ...
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... language will make in transforming th—it's a matter of chance. Another example is the preservation of the s ending in the third person singular (she sings), an odd, serendipitous choice as language change goes. If English could develop ...
... language will make in transforming th—it's a matter of chance. Another example is the preservation of the s ending in the third person singular (she sings), an odd, serendipitous choice as language change goes. If English could develop ...
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... English is not a “degraded” form of Old English, none of the multiple branches of a language are degradations of the ... DIALECTS: HOW. DIALECTS. ARISE. Now, in the Romance language situation, five branches of Latin evolved so far from one ...
... English is not a “degraded” form of Old English, none of the multiple branches of a language are degradations of the ... DIALECTS: HOW. DIALECTS. ARISE. Now, in the Romance language situation, five branches of Latin evolved so far from one ...
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... dialects of British English, such as the following: Standard: The government has today decreed that all British beef is safe for consumption. Lancashire: Ween meet neaw ta'en a hawse steyler at wur mayin' off with'tit. We have just now ...
... dialects of British English, such as the following: Standard: The government has today decreed that all British beef is safe for consumption. Lancashire: Ween meet neaw ta'en a hawse steyler at wur mayin' off with'tit. We have just now ...
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... English, it may take a blink or two to wrap your head around some of them, especially the Scots. However, all of them are obviously variations on a single plan. They are all dialects of the English language (represented in the figure ...
... English, it may take a blink or two to wrap your head around some of them, especially the Scots. However, all of them are obviously variations on a single plan. They are all dialects of the English language (represented in the figure ...
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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