The Evolution of English

image courtesy Wikipedia
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Taught by Charlotte Bowen

Charlotte Bowen is a writer, polymath, and all around good egg who lives in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. She blogs about languages, history, and the joys of autodidactic learning at friendlypolymath.com.

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English is the ultimate mongrel language. Speakers over the years have cobbled together the language we speak today using bits of Old Norse, Latin, French, Greek, and even Irish Gaelic -- not to mention loan words imported from tongues as varied as Hungarian, Icelandic, Chinese, and Tagalog.

In this multimedia-filled class we'll trace the English language's transition from obscure island dialect to modern lingua franca. The first session will uncover the origins of English, moving through the dark era of Beowulf into the sprightly Middle English spoken by Chaucer and his contemporaries. The second session will trace the further evolution of English through the perilous Great Vowel Shift and into the Modern English of Shakespeare, Dickens, and (yes) you and me.

Filled with drama, political intrigue, poetry, subterfuge, and people in funny hats, the history of English is sure to bring out the linguaphile in you.

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