Modern English shaped by popular Latin writing among elites and other trends, like the explosion of written forms.Middle English shaped by 1066 Norman French invasion.Old English shaped by Germanic Angles/Saxons invasion in 400s.For example, big macro historical changes transformed English with new words but, to the linguist, more importantly they shifted the grammar: Linguists care more about grammar (or “syntax” as the layman calls it) of how words are put together than about words and etymologies that change so much.Find my favorite lessons from the book and a few related videos below.

This book’s focus on English is distinct from other linguistics books I’ve read recently about language generally. I have a bunch of posts about linguistics. For context, this Economist story is a nice recap of what makes language difficult.) (Read the laudatory New York Times review of this book. I picked this up after devouring his 2016 book, both of which I read earlier this summer. That’s among the big ideas from “ Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue,” a 2009 book from linguist John McWhorter. If you want to understand why, you need to look into the secret corners of the 1,500 years of English language development. But - as you also likely know - it can take a lifetime to have some kind of English mastery, and even that’s no promise. The rules are relatively flexible, so - as you’ve likely experienced - we can often understand someone speaking in simple “broken” English. English is a (relatively) simple language to learn enough of to communicate (rather than to master) because it’s had so many non-native adults learning and using it.

Words on the move by john mcwhorter