Misconceptions about Standard English

 

A preview of some of the AO2 Issues we'll be looking at in year 2:  this article discusses ideas people have about Standard English and complaints that are made about people's language use in reference to it.

https://theconversation.com/five-things-people-get-wrong-about-standard-english-168969

Machester University Dialects project

Fanbtastic resource for exploring how dialect and accent variation occurs across the UK. Interactive maps and tests!


http://projects.alc.manchester.ac.uk/ukdialectmaps/

Matha's Vineyard from Martha's Vineyard

The local newspaper from Martha's Vineyard reflect on Labov's seminal study there:


http://www.mvtimes.com/2011/08/16/50-years-language-study-began-marthas-vineyard-6918/


Labov's a sound writer, and you can read the original study here:


http://web.stanford.edu/~eckert/PDF/LabovVineyard.pdf

Dicitonary.com blog

Via A2 student Emily, here's a reminder of the excellent http://blog.dictionary.com/ which contains regular tidbits about language history and change. Great reading for A2 students doing Language Change and Variation.

Words that were invented by mistake

A little video in those words that were 'back-formed' -- produced by misunderstanding of their morphology.

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/words-that-were-invented-because-we-actually-just-got-t-1771890009

Sounds Familiar...?

I found to my surprise that I hadn't posted a direct link to this fabulous resource from the British Library. The Sounds Familiar archive collects accent and dialect variation across the UK, with interactive maps, recordings, transcripts, collections of lexical variation and more.


http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/

Aitchison: The Language Web

Superb revision material for A2s. Jean Aitchison covers language change as well as child language development in this series of radio shows which you can get at the BBC on iPlayer. They also have transcripts to read if you prefer:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gmvwx/episodes/player

A Neat Summary of Linguistics

Useful summary, at undergraduate level, of issues and descriptions addressed in the study of language. Pretty good revision reading, perhaps especially for A2s…

https://www.uni-due.de/ELE/NeatSummaryOfLinguistics.pdf

Dialects of American English

A useful and clear guide to a range of American dialects, and the history and development of American English.

 

http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test3materials/AmericanDialects.htm

Maps of English Diversity and Change

Nicely timed for A2s beginning study of English language diversity, here are a range of revealing maps that illustrate how English has formed, grown, travelled, varied, borrowed, divided, infiltrated and adapted through its history. 

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/3/8053521/25-maps-that-explain-english

Colour Words Research

Amazing visualisation of research comparing English and Chinese words for colour. Interesting for the way they break down and classify the words, and very beautifully presented. 

http://muyueh.com/greenhoney/?utm_content=buffer552f3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Multilingual onomatopoeia

Nyan-nyan, boo-boo, guf-guf, goro-goro-goro. 

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/nov/17/animal-noises-in-different-languages?CMP=fb_gu

Dialect Blog

A useful guide to some key features of accents on this blog -- check the menu bar at the top for US, Irish and UK accents. Some omissions, but glance at the comments for helpful discussion of these.


http://dialectblog.com/

Trees of English and Architecture

The aim here is to illustrate the branching history of architecture and its roots; but the comparison to the history and development of English is interesting too, and I like their diagram. :)

http://www.period-homes.com/Previous-Issues-08/JulyForum08.html


A more English-focused version of the same thing can be found here: http://www.richardgilbert.ca/achart/public_html/articles/publications/words.htm

European word translator

Amazing. Try a range of English words in the box here and it'll show you translations from around Europe. A vivid way of seeing which language group a word comes from -- if you see it to the east, it's Germanic; to the south, it's Latin or French. 

http://ukdataexplorer.com/european-translator/?word=dwell

Article: On Internet Slang, IMHO

Interesting article on the grammar and usage of Internet 'slang'. 

On Internet Slang, IMHO
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/fashion/on-internet-slang-imho.html

'Grammar nazis' and Language Change

Great little article on prescriptivism, language change and variation today. As so often, a headline with a question that can clearly be answered 'no', but a good read nonetheless.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10692897/Are-grammar-Nazis-ruining-the-English-language.html

xkcd: File Extensions

Note that .html isn't on there. I suppose it'd be near .jpg. Also: the image itself is a .png.... xkcd: File Extensions

Making the shift: 'teacher as knowledge owner' to 'teacher as facilitator'

For teachers, but also for learners: changing ways of thinking about learning, with a focus on learning about language and communication.

http://www.etprofessional.com/making_the_shift_39teacher_as_knowledge_owner39_to_39teacher_as_facilitator39_81781.aspx

AAVE, Creoles and double negatives

Interesting article exploring the status and nature of African American Vernacular English.

AIN'T NO REASON
A mother tongue spoken by millions of Americans still gets no respect.

By Lex Friedman.

http://the-magazine.org/12/aint-no-reason