Category Archives: ENB6 – Language Change

The Physics of Language Change

Posted on February 8, 2008 by Ant Heald

Some of you are studying maths and/or physics as well as English. I wonder if it’s occurred to you to connect those disciplines? Well, it occurred to some physicists, mathematicians and linguists at the University of Edinburgh and elsewhere, and … Continue reading →

Posted in ENB6 - Language Change | 5 Comments

Save the OED!

Posted on March 6, 2007 by Ant Heald

Well, there’s little chance that the Oxford English Dictionary itself, possibly the world’s greatest work of reference, will go to the wall. But our access to it is under threat. I was told today that the school’s subscription will not … Continue reading →

Posted in Attitudes to Language, ENB2 - Accent & Dialect, ENB2 - Language & Gender, ENB2 - Language & Technology, ENB2 - Language and Occupation, ENB2 - Languge and Social Context, ENB6 - Language Change, Grammar, Lexis | Leave a comment

Have M&S got fewer standards than they used to?

Posted on February 19, 2007 by Ant Heald

I went to Chester at the weekend and saw this remarkable sight: What’s going on there then? What’s the situation in Doncaster M&S? What about the supermarkets/shops that you use or work in? There’s plenty of online discussions of this … Continue reading →

Posted in Attitudes to Language, ENB2 - Language and Occupation, ENB6 - Language Change, Grammar | 4 Comments

Voices

Posted on December 14, 2006 by Ant Heald

Reading David Crystal’s blog reminded me of another superb resource that I haven’t made enough of, and keep forgetting about. It’s the BBC ‘Voices’ project at http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/ . Unfortunately the ‘Dialects’ topic is no longer on Unit 2 for English … Continue reading →

Posted in ENB2 - Accent & Dialect, ENB6 - Language Change | Leave a comment

Mondegreens and eggcorns

Posted on December 8, 2006 by Ant Heald

It was an excellent discussion in Y12 Lang yesterday (well, I enjoyed it, anyway). The word I was looking for but couldn’t recall was mondegreen. Interesting related phenomena include eggcorns . Fran asked about those words such as ‘gormless’ that … Continue reading →

Posted in ENB6 - Language Change, Lexis | Leave a comment

OED ‘Word of the Day’ added

Posted on November 13, 2006 by Ant Heald

If you look over in the sidebar, you’ll see I’ve added a feed to the Oxford English Dictionary’s Word of the Day. If you click on the word, it will take you to that word’s entry on the OED site. … Continue reading →

Posted in ENB2 - Languge and Social Context, ENB6 - Language Change, Lexis | 2 Comments

Word of the Year 2006

Posted on November 8, 2006 by Ant Heald

Congratulations to “crackberry” I wonder if it cried at the awards ceremony?

Posted in ENB2 - Language & Technology, ENB6 - Language Change, Lexis | 3 Comments

Text-language, standard English and becoming better students

Posted on November 5, 2006 by Ant Heald

English is, of course, not just something you study in school, but the main means by which you communicate and, some would say, even think. Its social significance makes discussion of language use often controversial. We are already seeing how … Continue reading →

Posted in ENB2 - Language & Technology, ENB6 - Language Change, Uncategorized | 1 Comment