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| Wæs þu hæl ! |
Our language is, in an important sense, the most vital and intimate kind of history we have. Language bears the marks of all our other histories: our movements, our settlings, our neighbors, and our enemies. By looking deep into this glass, we can learn when we first needed names for things, whether it was “mouse” – quite possibly one of the oldest words in English – or “biohacking,” one of its newest. And, although the vast majority of language change is so gradual as to be almost imperceptible, there are moments when speech itself becomes a matter of contention, or undergoes an interval of significant, radical change. It’s these instances that will be the exemplary moments we’ll be studying in this class; many of them still shape our speech today, and each of them reveals the way in which language mirrors – or sometimes instigates – social change.
This blog will serve as a clearing-house many of our discussions, as well as a resource page where you'll find many useful links to language resources online. Make it yours! For, like the guests at a wedding, if we have anything to say about our language, we had best speak now, or forever hold our peace.
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