[Ads-l] on the origins of the English language

Wed Nov 18 16:03:41 UTC 2015

McWhorter is a genuine linguist, and his historical and linguistic facts are all right on. He knows a lot about a lot of languages, including the ones referenced in the article.

There are those who argue (vehemently) with his views about linguistic simplicity, and I won't start a fire here by opining myself, but there's nothing in his discussion I would disagree with. But John's a (distant) friend, so you may consider me somewhat biased.

Geoff

Geoffrey S. Nathan
Faculty Liaison, C&IT
and Professor, Linguistics Program
http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/
+1 (313) 577-1259 (C&IT)

Nobody at Wayne State will EVER ask you for your password. Never send it to anyone in an email, no matter how authentic the email looks.

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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Bill Mullins <amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2015 10:19 AM
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Subject: on the origins of the English language

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
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Subject:      on the origins of the English language
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I don't know how much to trust this article=2C but it was fascinating:
https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-english-so-weirdly-different-from-other-langu=
ages

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