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Description of  TTC - Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage

Last updated 12/2023 MP4 | Video: h264, 1280x720 | Audio: AAC, 44.1 KHz, 2 Ch Genre: eLearning | Language: English | Duration: 24 Lessons ( 12h 12m ) | Size: 9.1 GB Is English broken? Do bad grammar, slang, and illogical constructions signal a decline in standards of usage? Do e-mail and text messages corrupt the art of writing? In short, is our language going to the dogs? English is in crisis: False. English has been undergoing fundamental change for centuries. Novelty and caprice have created not just slang but the very foundations of what we think of as the best parts of English. Grammar should be logical: False. A double negative is unacceptable in standard English because it implies a positive. But many languages use it without misunderstanding, along with other constructions that defy strict logic. Texting degrades writing: False. Text messages and e-mail are not crowding out other forms of language. Instead, they fill an important nichea??informal writinga??that until now had no adequate outlet. The modern attitude toward English is filled with such misconceptions that obscure the true picture of what a marvelous language it is. Far from being a language in decline, English is the product of surprisingly varied linguistic forces, some of which have only recently come to light. And these forces continue to push English in new directionsa??in defiance of those who long for an age of formal perfection that never existed. Taught by acclaimed linguist, author, and Professor John McWhorter of Columbia University, Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage dispels the cloud of confusion that clings to English, giving you a crystal-clear view of why we use it the way we do and where it fits into the diverse languages of the world. After completing these 24 lectures, you will think about how you use English in a new way, listen to others with discernment and fascination, and take joy in speaking such a wonderfully idiosyncratic tongue. Dig beneath the Surface of English Like an archaeologist sifting through clues to a vanished civilization, Professor McWhorter highlights the many features of English that sound normal to a native speaker but that linguists find puzzling and also revealing Meaningless do: The only languages that use do in the way English does (as in "do not walk") are the Celtic languages such as Welsh, which were spoken by people who lived among the early English and influenced their language in many subtle ways. Fossilized mistakes: The little green legume often eaten with carrots was formerly called pease in the singular. The word was gradually misinterpreted as plural because of the final s sound, and a new singular form was assumed to exist: pea. "Heritage" Old English: One of the mysteries of Modern English is that it resembles a heritage version of Old English. A heritage language is one learned imperfectly at home, typically by immigrant children who acquire a different dominant language. Hear English with New Ears In the first part of the course, you address historical mysteries about English. Your investigation begins 2,500 years ago with Proto-Germanic, the language that gave birth to the Germanic languages. From there, you trace the shifting path that eventually led to Englisha??a Germanic language like no othera??which lacks grammatical gender and practically all case endings and conjugation markers. "Something happened to English," says Professor McWhorter, and by the end of Lecture 9 you will have pieced together evidence from many different languages that explain our tongue's unique evolution. In the second part of Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage, you focus on modern controversies about how English is used, which take on new clarity in light of the historical background covered earlier in the course. Lie/lay confusion: Lie and lay exemplify an old pattern in English, in which the vowel is altered to make an intransitive verb transitive. But as with another such pair, drink and drench (where drench originally meant "to force to drink"), the traditional lie/lay distinction is irreversibly withering away. Dangling participles: "Driving through town, the crowds looked ominous" is deemed ungrammatical, because it suggests the crowds were doing the driving. But what about "Judging from her appearance, she was quite tired," which has the same construction but is widely accepted? A History of Defying Rules