Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross Discuss the Evolving English Language

The Adventure of English: This Earth, This Realm, This England - Episode 4

During the reign of Elizabeth I, new words appeared due to foreign trade, while scholars introduced Latin terms into the language, while efforts were undertaken to keep English 'pure.' New terms and phrases were born thanks to Shakespeare and his combining both the languages of the aristocracy and the common people.

The Adventure of English: English Goes Underground - Episode 2

Melvyn Bragg travels throughout Britain to explore the roots of the English language and explores its survival following the conquest of England in 1066, During this period only the French and Latin languages were used by the aristocracy and for state affairs, while English survived among the peasant class.

This is the second episode of this excellent BBC series that we have posted.  The first episode, Birth of a Language is here.

The Adventure of English: Birth of a Language

A BBC documentary about the story of the English language.

 

 

Churchill: The Power of Words on Exhibit at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City

For history buffs, Anglophiles, and all appreciators of resonant, meaty language, Churchill: The Power of Words, now on exhibition at the lovely, under-visited-by-us Pierpont Morgan Library (which, by the way, features some of the most beautiful New York City Architecture), is pretty much a must-see. Because even if Winston Churchill wasn't an extremely influential figure in the story of our planet in the 20th-century–which, of course, he was–Churchill's peerless understanding of how words, when chosen carefully and assembled together in a certain sequence, can be even more persuasive, more potent, more lasting than any spectacle, or action, remains nothing short of astonishing. Through a combination of fascinating original documents written and/or edited in Sir Winston Churchill's hand, and a terrific multi-media mini-theater, the Morgan Library's Churchill: The Power of Words does an excellent job of bringing that awful, thrilling, monumental era of the 1930s and 1940s to life. 

 

Sir Winston Churchill Exhibition at the Morgan Library NYC

Churchill: The Power of Words at the Morgan Library and Museum offers visitors a small but remarkable selection of Churchillian memorabilia, as it were, including hand-written letters (our favorites were his Victorian-era childhood missives to his parents from boarding school, above), drafts of many of Sir Winston Churchill's most famous public speeches, as well as official correspondence (but with a personal touch, naturally) to and from the world leaders of the day, including his country's King, General and President Eisenhower, and, of course, his cherished friend and comrade in arms, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But it's not all weight and war here. We loved seeing Churchill's actual Nobel Prize medal, and a doctor's note, which he received after being hit by a car in Prohibition-era New York City, written by a certain Otto C. Pickhardt, M.D., saying that Winston Churchill's "post-accident convalescence" required "the use of alcoholic spirits especially at meal times…. The quantity," Dr. Pickhardt allowed, "is naturally indefinite." 

 

Winston Churchill Speeches on Display at the Pierpont Morgan Library

But the centerpiece of the Morgan Library's Churchill exhibition has to be the multi-media presentation of excerpts from several of his most stirring addresses. The "theater" has three screens. As the Churchill speech plays–and there's no escaping the power of that voice–the middle screen typographically lays out the words as they're spoken, while historic photos of war and peace slideshow by on its flanks. It's a simple, extremely effective display, one that instantly recalls a time when the words spoken by our leaders really mattered. As Edward R. Murrow said: "He mobilised the English language and sent it into battle." And just a note about the Pierpont Morgan Library itself: this place–and by "this place" we mean the sun-drenched, high-ceilinged addition–is simply lovely, an exceptionally pleasant spot to sit and enjoy some treats from the cafe. If you've never been, Churchill: The Power of Words makes for a great excuse to check out the Morgan Library New York. 

 

Churchill: The Power of Words, at the Morgan Library and Museum Details

The Morgan Library's Sir Winston Churchill exhibition will be on view through September 28. The Pierpont Morgan Library is located on Madison Avenue between 36th and 35th Streets and is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., on Friday until 9:00 p.m., on Saturday from 10 to 6, and on Sunday from 11 until 6. For more information about Churchill: The Power of Words and the Morgan Library New York, please see the library's website, here.

"The Story of English: Next Year's Words" with Robert MacNeil

In this concluding episode of Robert MacNeill's history of the English language, he reviews the "local energies" driving changes in the language throughout the British Commonwealth and beyond.

"The Story of English: The Loaded Weapon" with Robert MacNeil

In episode 8 of his history of the English language, Robert MacNeil explores the influence of Irish Gaelic on the language and Ireland's political and cultural differences with England.

"The Story of English: The Muvver Tongue" with Robert MacNeil

This seventh episode of Robert MacNeil's history of the English language considers Cockney English and the influence of the "English in exile" who settled Australia and New Zealand

"The Story of English: Pioneers, O Pioneers!" with Robert MacNeil

This sixth episode of Robert NacNeil's history of the English language traces the evolution of American English from the Revolutionary War through the 1920s, and the contribution of slang terms from segments of the population, along with the influence of 1900s immigrants.

"The Story of English: Black on White" with Robert MacNeil

This fifth episode of Robert MacNeil's story of the English language probes the roots of Black English, including the American slave trade, plantation life, the Creole influence, and Harlem's jive talk. There is a special focus on the influence of the Sea Islands of Georgia and South Carolina. Earlier episodes may be found in the archives for January, to the right.

"The Story of English: The Guid Scots Tongue" with Robert MacNeil

Continuing Robert MacNeil's fascinating examination of the history of the English language, this fourth episode traces the influence of Scottish and Irish Gaelic on the language and the influence of the Scots-Irish in North America, especially the English spoken in the Appalachian region of the United States.

"The Story of English: A Muse of Fire" with Robert MacNeil

This third episode of Robert MacNeil's history of the English language considers the enormous influence of Shakespeare, the "great genius" of the language, as well as that of the King James translation of the Bible. It also examines how the language was brought to the new world by the Elizabethans.

"The Story of English: The Mother Tongue" with Robert MacNeil

This second episode in "The Story of English" traces the history of the language in terms of successive invasions of the British Isles, from the Anglo-Saxons through the Norman French in 1066.

"The Story of English: An English-Speaking World" with Robert MacNeil

This 1986 documentary chronicles the history of the English language and its "extraordinary journey from an obscure Germanic tribe to the edge of the universe." Presented by the erudite Robert MacNeil, the series spans a millennium and travels to 16 countries and across 5 continents to tell this fascinating story. We will post subsequent episodes over the next eight Saturdays.