Filled with humor, whimsy, and no shortage of insights, it's a fast-paced tour of the same territory linguists tread each and every day. These and other fascinating topics are all delivered in Professor McWhorter's light-hearted yet informative teaching style, which makes this series essential for anyone looking for a welcoming window into the quirks, curiosities, and intricacies of how language works. Why "like" is here to stay in common American speech. How popular rhymes like "Eeny, meeny, miney, moe") actually derive from the words for numbers in an early relative of Welsh. What makes "mama" and "papa" a child's first words-in many languages. You'll learn why it can actually be OK to use slang like "LOL." Why English speakers don't use words like "thou" and "thee" anymore. Using the English alphabet as a unique, offbeat way to approach the subject, Professor McWhorter has crafted a hopscotch tour of some of the field's major topics, hot-button issues, and more. In these twenty-four 15-minute lectures by one of the best-known popularizes of language, you'll discover a delightful way to get accessible, bite-sized introductions to language. Editions for The Story of Human Language: 1565859472 (Audio CD published in 2004), (Audible Audio published in 2013), (Audible Audio published in 2013).
But with so many potential avenues of exploration, it can often seem daunting to try to understand it. But here's a secret: There's a lot that's quirky and intriguing about how human language works-and much of it is downright fun to learn about. Linguistics, the study of language, has a reputation for being complex and inaccessible.
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