Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Why Is English Spelling So Weird?

Why Is English Spelling So Weird? a cute film with live human doing speeded up drawing about the history of English and its many contradictory origins.  "English spelling might seem crazy and unfair, but there are reasons for how it got to be that way. Here is the brief history, in words and pictures, of our weird spelling system and the people who made it." From Akira Okrent. Linguist, author of In the Land of Invented Languages, Chicago. 

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Words can make you sick. Or healed. Heavy or light.

Words can make you sick. Or healed. Heavy or light.  Here’s an experiment that might prove it.
"Words create worlds because the universe is always listening. "

A nation’s identity lives in its language


“A nation’s identity lives in its language ..  a lot.” Tim Minchin on the documentary about Australian humour and comedy “Stop laughing … this is serious” 8 April 2015.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Robert Macfarlane on rewilding our language of landscape

The word-hoard: Robert Macfarlane on rewilding our language of landscape. Ann Robertson pointed this out via Facebook. The article is reversing the normal expression and talking about "landscape linguistics" - the thousands of micro-terminologies for landscape features in languages around the world, including English dialects. As the world hyper-urbanises, all that old familiarity with animals, plants, soil, rain and creeks etc may be lost. It will create (is already creating) a different kind of human being (with different language of course for their experience) , ones who voluntarily live like the crew of Star Trek in a totally synthetic environment made of plastics, silicone, aluminium, steel. Go roll on the lawn, quick! Our grandchildren may not know the words "blade of glass tickling your back" or "worm hole" (except in science fiction).

Something else language lovers will like. The Vikings Are Coming! by John-Erik Jordan.