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© Lexicon Valley
Description
A podcast about language, with host John McWhorter.
58 Episodes
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What does the bat in “acrobat” have to do with the word come? John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
1Reflexive pronouns are redundant in a way, sure, but they’re also quite common in many languages. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
There’s good reason to believe that sophisticated speech began long before homo sapiens hit the scene. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
Does Ayesha Rascoe have a good radio voice? Not according to many NPR listeners, who find her loud, high-pitched and generally grating. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
A recent study suggests that a new dialect is emerging in the southern part of Florida. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
The trial transcript of a 225-year-old murder is filled with fascinating evidence of the way we used to talk. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
Many English verbs have three forms — sing, sang and sung, for example. The problem is that speakers seem to want only two. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
Too — whether about excess, addition or contradiction — evolved from to. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
Some languages adopt their “health” word from the concept of wholeness — a metaphor that makes perfect sense. Other languages, however, adopt their “health” word from trees. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
Like the French word droit, English’s right has taken on a number of useful metaphorical meanings. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
In this favorite from the archives, John discusses some unwritten rules of English that can be remarkably difficult for a learner of English to master. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
The word “record” can be broken down into two parts, the re and the cord. But what do those parts even mean? John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
John is traveling this week and so we’re running a previous episode about the speech patterns of Bette Davis, George Gershwin, Louis Armstrong and countless other Americans of the 1930s. Why do they all sound like that? This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
So many of our words have ugly associations that are particular to a historical time or event. Should we expunge them entirely from our vocabulary? Can we? John weighs in. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
Words that come to mean “want” often start out meaning something else. Take “want,” for example. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
Henry James wrote his final novels just over a century ago — and yet they are far less accessible than works written much earlier. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
Possession is more or less about ownership, and we denote that in English by adding ’s to the end of a word. But of course there’s far more to the story than just that. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
There’s a rumor going around social networks that “knocked up” traces back to American slave trading. Is there any evidence for that etymology? John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
It’s tempting to imagine that a sentence will translate rather neatly, word by word, from one language to another. It’s also naive. English, after all, is relatively straightforward, while most languages are far more gunked up with complexity — perhaps none as much as Yimas. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
The book and lyrics of The Music Man are replete with everyday, ordinary dialogue that, nevertheless, demonstrates how English often works. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe
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"Put on your coat and put on your hat. walk yourself to the laundrymat." Yakety, Yak. Coasters 1957(?)
A great episode! Thank you. I'm going to find Ragtime!
persian: rain comes! بارون میاد
As an Iranian, my preference between Farsi and Persian is the latter. Not only because of the reason John is explaining in this show, but also because Farsi is the Arabized form of the actual Persian word "Parsi". Persia (today Iran) was colonized by early Muslim Arabs for centuries. While they could not change the language like what they did in many other colonized lands such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon,... they impacted the Persian language a great deal, mainly vocabulary-wise. As an example, in Arabic (from Arabia peninsula) there is no P sound. So whenever they encounter it in other languages, they usually change it to F sound. As a result, the word Parsi (meaning Persian) altered to Farsi. As I already mentioned, Arabs invaded and conquered Persia/Iran in the 7th century and ruled Iran for centuries under Khalifat (Muslim Empire). The result is a great deal of change in culture, religion, and language. That's why today the word Farsi is more common than the actual "Parsi" in Iran. Ho
It's those pesky Etruscans! That's my new blame-all phrase.
You got me with the "out of gas" because I thought you were going into the contextual usage for "I'm tired." and you didn't. I couldn't predict where you were going with it. 🤪
I am from Marylqnd and I love this episode because I totally relate to the pronunciations. I love having them "spelled out". ; )
on the origin of A$$holes: when cleaning, or gutting, an animal, you start at the anus and cut around it then work towards the head to avoid cutting any of the guts which would lead to contamination of the meet. This offal was left behind as useless. So, referring to a "pile of a$$holes, over there" is drawing comparison to the useless leftovers. Your other early examples also seem to imply useless as the primary meaning, too. In English, it appears that all derogatory terms trend toward common usage, to describe a "bad person"; asshole, bastard, shithead, etc. are, for all intents, interchangeable today.
The world needs more John McWhorter. Glad I found this!
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