It’s time for some heavy nerding-out, y’all. This week is a continuation of one of our most popular episodes (#16), the Evolution of English, Part 1. In Part 2, we look at Shakespearean English: was it really similar to American English? The answer is a bit less straightforward than the rumor-spreaders would have you believe! Also, we check out the Great Vowel Shift of the 16th century! Why did it happen? How do we know that it happened? What did it sound like? We listen to some clips of what linguists think different vowels sound like. Very interesting.
In Language News, we listen to a clip of a brand new language that is spoken by the millennials of Lajamanu, in Northern Australia. The language is a mix of three different mother languages, and its verbs mostly come from English. We talk about where it comes from, code switching, and why it’s so exciting that a new language is born!
Check out some of the resources we used for this episode:
- Hamlet’s opening lines in the Original Pronunication: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYiYd9RcK5M
- The new language in Australia: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/light-warlpiri
- A reading of a story about a monster in Light Warlpiri: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRMWHKtWY6o
- A bit about Shakespearean English: http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180207-how-americans-preserved-british-english
Our Lost in Translation moment this week comes from Rachel, who learned that not all Americans know what a bidet is for. Stay tuned to the end to hear her horror story!! To submit your own Lost in Translation moment, go to our contact section and record your voice! Do it now!
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