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How English is changing and why it’s so adaptable
Join renowned applied linguist Michael McCarthy to discover the dynamic journey of the English language as it spreads across the globe. Witness how English enriches and adapts, sometimes borrowing words and expressions, and other times merging with local tongues to form pidgins and creoles. Explore the most radical changes to the English language today and join the debate on the future of English.
“It adapts itself. That's built into its very nature. It cannot stand still.”
In every English-speaking country of the world, the language takes on a life of its own – molded and shaped to fit into its environment. So what makes English so adaptable? Why do so many unique and distinctive varieties exist, and how is it evolving and changing? Where does English end and pidgins and creoles begin?
Michael McCarthy is Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Nottingham in the UK, and has written more than 50 books about the English language. In this episode he discusses the many ‘Englishes’ of the world, and why the language travels so well. He explores how foreign ideas and ‘loanwords’ have entered and altered the language and where its future is headed in a world of less formality.
Check out Michael’s latest book McCarthy's Field Guide to Grammar: Natural English Usage and Style - published by Chambers.
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