Hi Dear Folk,
Back in the eighties, I'm sure it was shown on PBS back then there was a series The History of English Language. There were originally eight episodes of which I was able to find some on You Tube. I can't find them all, but it was and is a fascinating series.
I just picked up a few American English words and where they originate from. The phrase 'I Guess' although American English actually was in use in the time of Chaucer, got dropped from British English but carried on over here in America. Another word 'Riff Raff', comes from the early pioneers who were poor and couldn't afford a ride down the Mississippi on a paddle steamer so had to build a raft that had a paddle called a riff, hence the word riff raff. The richer folk could afford a ride on the steamers which had tall steam stacks and they were called 'High Falutin'.
How English came to be English and the spread of English all around the world, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America, The Caribbean, India, Hong Kong and more. All the words that came to be included in the English language that came from these countries. The cadence of how sentences are spoken and the stress on different syllables. Just fascinating.
Will post the episodes that I found.
Christine
PS: I have found all the episodes now, just not posted in order. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Let me know what you think.
Back in the eighties, I'm sure it was shown on PBS back then there was a series The History of English Language. There were originally eight episodes of which I was able to find some on You Tube. I can't find them all, but it was and is a fascinating series.
I just picked up a few American English words and where they originate from. The phrase 'I Guess' although American English actually was in use in the time of Chaucer, got dropped from British English but carried on over here in America. Another word 'Riff Raff', comes from the early pioneers who were poor and couldn't afford a ride down the Mississippi on a paddle steamer so had to build a raft that had a paddle called a riff, hence the word riff raff. The richer folk could afford a ride on the steamers which had tall steam stacks and they were called 'High Falutin'.
How English came to be English and the spread of English all around the world, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America, The Caribbean, India, Hong Kong and more. All the words that came to be included in the English language that came from these countries. The cadence of how sentences are spoken and the stress on different syllables. Just fascinating.
Will post the episodes that I found.
Christine
PS: I have found all the episodes now, just not posted in order. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Let me know what you think.
I'll be listening to these. Sound fascinating
ReplyDeleteI saw that series and loved it. Thanks for posting the links to the youtubes.
ReplyDelete