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A gateway into the history and etymology of our modern words
Prepare to be amazed by an array of fascinating etymological revelations, including the surprising (and sometimes cheeky) origins of English words, as we continue our journey through the evolution of English and trace its transformation from Old English to Middle English. Join Jess Zafarris, the woman behind Useless Etymology and Words from Hell, as she talks about The Great Vowel Shift, a turning point in linguistic history, and demonstrates the intriguing sounds of Middle English.
“One of the great joys of studying Middle English is learning how the words that we use today are rooted in the past and in different languages.”
Why do we say words like ‘ruthless’, but not ‘ruth’, or ‘disgruntled’ but not ‘gruntled’? And does the word ‘female’ come from the word ‘male’? All these questions and more are answered as we continue our journey through the evolution of English, and find out how it shifted from Old English to Middle English.
Jess Zafarris has a blog, two books and a TikTok channel dedicated to the subject of etymology. In this episode she explains how Old English morphed into Middle English, and how it ended with The Great Vowel Shift. She shares an incredible array of etymological wonders, explaining the (sometimes naughty) origins of English words. And she gives us a glimpse into how Middle English may have sounded, and how you can learn it yourself.
Check out Jess’ latest book Words from Hell - Unearthing the darkest secrets of English etymology.
Find out more about our sponsor, Chambers here and sign up to their newsletter. Chambers is the number one brand for word lovers! And they’re publishers of Jess Zafarris’ latest book Words from Hell.
Your host is polyglot Richard Simcott. The Language Podcast is an OG Podcasts production.
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