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borisherman t1_ir94m1n wrote

I heartily recommend History of English podcast ( www.historyofenglishpodcast.com ) and get your answers there. In my view this is the most detailed view of the development of the English language delivered in laymen’s terms.

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AtrainV t1_ir99anx wrote

One of the best podcasts if you're at all interested in the subject.

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MrRoboto12345 t1_ir97jx8 wrote

Damn it I was going to recommend this. I've binged the podcast. It's so good. I can't wait until he gets to Shakespeare

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Daienlai t1_ir9n916 wrote

Cannot recommend this podcast enough. It is fascinating. And it makes you realize just how interconnected our world has always been.

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borisherman t1_ir9ogn6 wrote

What makes it the best for me is that it’s at least 50% history and 50% linguistics because, you know, they are so closely related. I listen to it as often as I can but not more than one episode per day to give me a chance to think about it. Kevin Stroud is my personal hero, right after Richard Feynman.

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jbavir t1_ir9pzlu wrote

John McWhorter’s “Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue” is a good starting place.

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TheMooseIsBlue t1_ir9s386 wrote

Can you provide a summary for those who don’t have hours and hours to listen to this podcast? OP’s opinion seems pretty fringe based on what I’ve learned, but it’s hard to tell from your comment if this podcast agrees or disagrees with them.

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Priswell t1_ira3f8g wrote

He follows the language paths from Sanskrit through the Russian steppes to the Balkans, through Europe and on. English turns out to have more than one thread of descent, especially once you reach Europe, since we have contributions from other child languages such as French, German, Greek, and so on.

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Ralphinader t1_ir9m4ea wrote

Is that different from the multi part documentary series back on the day? I just remember two men shaking hands for like 10 minutes while haggling over a sheep

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MagicRaptor OP t1_ira1o0l wrote

I just saw that it has 161 episodes dating back to June 2012. I'll absolutely give it a listen, but this could take a while. Thanks for the recommendation!

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NerdWerdLernd t1_irm0nr0 wrote

Thank you guys for turning me onto this podcast- I listened to the first 5 episodes the last two days. So very interesting

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