The History of English Podcast
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The History of English Podcast
The Spoken History of a Global Language
Neueste Episoden
197 Episoden
Episode 185: Spelling Says a Lot (Part 2)
In the second part of our look at the sound of English in the early 1600s, we continue to explore the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that each...
Episode 184: Spelling Says a Lot (Part 1)
Over the course of the 1500s, English spelling started to become standardized, but the pronunciation of the language continued to change. By the early...
Episode 183: The Fabric of Our Lives
In the early 1600s, cotton fabrics made in India were in high demand throughout Asia and Africa. When the English and Dutch arrived in India and Japan...
Episode 182: World of Confusion
In the early 1600s, English began to spread around the world as speakers searched for new trading partners and new places to settle. Through that proc...
Episode 181: Heaven and Earth
The invention of the telescope in the early 1600s laid the foundation for the scientific revolution, but it also disrupted the traditional view of the...
Episode 180: English on the Move
In the first decade of the 1600s, English speakers were on the move as they established the first permanent English settlement in North America. They...
Episode 179: Defining Moments
In the early 1600s, several landmark events shaped the history of England and determined how and where the English language would be spoken in the cen...
Episode 178: Much Ado About Hamlet
In the first couple of years of the 1600s, several new Shakespeare plays appeared. Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It were recorded in the Stat...
Episode 177: Dressed for Success
In this episode, we look at clothing and fashion in the Elizabethan era, and we examine the connection between clothing, custom and language. We also...
Episode 176: All the World’s a Playhouse
Theaters were an important part of cultural life in Elizabethan England, and they contributed many words to the English language. Those words joined t...
Episode 175: The English of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare's most popular plays and one of the most popular plays ever written. In this episode, we examine the la...
Episode 174: Speak and Spell
English spelling largely reflects the state of the language in the late 1500s. In this episode, we look at one of the first English spelling books, an...
Episode 173: Fooling Around
In this episode, we look at the development of English comedy in the early modern era. We examine some of William Shakespeare’s early comedies, and we...
Episode 172: Succession
In this episode, we explore the concept of a successful succession. During the early 1590s, France was divided by a bitter conflict over the successio...
Episode 171: Shakespeare’s English (featuring Ben Crystal)
In this episode, we turn our attention to the wordcraft of William Shakespeare. Today, many people have mixed opinions about his plays and poems. They...
Episode 170: Printers, Plague and Poets
In this episode, we examine the connection between poetry and plague in the early 1590s. An outbreak of the recurring sickness contributed to Shakespe...
Episode 169: Shakespeare Documented
William Shakespeare is widely considered to be the most important writer in the history of the English language, but relatively little is known about...
Episode 168: Witches, Demons and Fairies
In this episode, we explore the Elizabethan fascination with witchcraft and mysterious creatures like fairies and demons. Those subjects feature promi...
Episode 167: The Rhythm of English
All languages have their own rhythm and cadence, and English is no exception. That rhythm has actually shaped the language over time. It contributed t...
Bonus Episode: Rise and Fall of the Classic Movie Accent
In this episode from the Patreon archives, we examine the accent used by actors and actresses in very old movies. We look at the origin of that accent...
Episode 166: The Arte of Warre
In 1588, the Spanish Armada set sail for England in an attempt to depose Elizabeth I and replace her with a Spanish princess. In this episode, we exam...
Episode 165: Glamorous Grammar
William Bullokar composed the first formal grammar of the English language in 1586. Prior to that point, the concept of grammar had been largely restr...
Episode 164: Somewhere in the Middle
Throughout her long reign, Queen Elizabeth I was faced with many difficult decisions, and she often chose a middle path when she could. In this episod...
Episode 163: An Elementary Education
By the second half of the Elizabethan period, the perception of English had changed significantly in England. It was increasingly perceived as a sophi...
Episode 162: The Pirate Queen
In the 1570s, Francis Drake plundered Spanish ships throughout the New World with the private permission of Elizabeth I. His actions marked the first...
Episode 161: Y U and I Have a Problem
In this episode, we explore the complicated history of the letters Y, U and I, and we examine how they gave birth to the letters W, V and J. We also l...
Episode 160: Approximant-ly English
In this episode, we explore the sounds represented by the letters L and R. Linguists refer to these sounds as 'approximants,' and they are some of the...
Episode 159: Elizabethan Voices
In 1569, an English scholar named John Hart published a manuscript called 'An Orthographie.' The text argued for a phonetic spelling system, and it pr...
Episode 158: Planting Seeds
In the mid-1500s, England attempted to expand its influence in Ireland by establishing plantations there. This same process would soon be applied to N...
Episode 157: Highlands, Lowlands and Netherlands
During the first decade of the reign of Elizabeth I, Protestants in Scotland and the Netherlands rebelled against the Catholic authorities who control...
Episode 156: Beggars, Cheats and Thieves
In the 1500s, England saw a significant rise in the number of beggars and vagabonds. Those who couldn't survive by begging often turned to thievery, g...
Episode 155: Back to Basics
In the 1553, Mary Tudor became the first queen to rule England as the head of the government. She promptly turned back the clock on the religious refo...
Episode 154: English Equality
By the mid-1500s, scholars were becoming more confident in the ability of English to express sophisticated ideas and concepts associated with classica...
Episode 153: Zombie Letters
In early Modern English, writers and printers began to revise the spelling of many English words to reflect their etymological origins. Old letters we...
Episode 152: As the Saying Goes
John Heywood was a playwright and poet who made two important contributions to the history of English. He was a key figure in the emergence of modern...
Episode 151: Sick to Death
During the reign of Henry VIII, medical books and herbals proved to be some of the most popular publications in England. The people of England wanted...
Episode 150: A Capital Offense
In the 1530s, Henry VIII declared himself to be the 'Supreme Head' of the Church of England, and he demanded absolute loyalty from his subjects. Those...
Episode 149: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
In the years following Martin Luther's protest against the Catholic Church, small fractures soon turned into a major rift. The Protestant Reformation...
Episode 148: A Marital Union
In the early 1500s, a series of marriages between European royal families re-shaped the face of Europe and brought together separate regions under the...
Episode 147: A Rude and Rusty Language
The European Renaissance provided a transition to the early modern era by looking back to the culture of classical Greece and Rome. It led to a renewe...