You speak of speech, my friend, but I am moved by another sense of "English."
U no hoo would change "New Mexico" to "New America."
OK, then, what about: New Hampshire, New Jersey, and oh yeah, New York?
Is Mexico to be singled out for elimination? Egad, what about the entire Northeast section of the nation labelled "New England." And(!) I would rather not get started about "Virginia."
Jay, love your "Englishes" post. I share your interest. I wondered if you are familiar with the Speech Accent Archive, a fascinating and fun website with audio of hundreds of examples. https://accent.gmu.edu/
I guess I'm the oddball northerner who can't stand Southern accents. Years living in North Carolina in my 20s and then visits to my sister who moved to Alabama have still not endeared the accents to me. Ah well, different strokes...
Jay: Down here in Texas we have Jamaicans who work for some of the Doctors I have to visit. I love their accents. It is truly almost like listening to a beautiful song. Keep up your writing Jay, we love that too.
English is such a vexing language in the sense it has so many forms, so many iterations, that it cannot really be defined as a single language.
I love English because I will never master Her. I will never figure out all the rules, the rules I thought were rules but aren’t, and I will never understand how a language that can express such love and kindness and forgiveness and belonging, can also express such hatred.
Learning a new word is like the beginning of a new day; anything is possible.
You speak of speech, my friend, but I am moved by another sense of "English."
U no hoo would change "New Mexico" to "New America."
OK, then, what about: New Hampshire, New Jersey, and oh yeah, New York?
Is Mexico to be singled out for elimination? Egad, what about the entire Northeast section of the nation labelled "New England." And(!) I would rather not get started about "Virginia."
Q&A with John McWhorter? I think it would be great!
I agree, Mark. Thx.
Jay, love your "Englishes" post. I share your interest. I wondered if you are familiar with the Speech Accent Archive, a fascinating and fun website with audio of hundreds of examples. https://accent.gmu.edu/
Look forward to it! Thx.
I guess I'm the oddball northerner who can't stand Southern accents. Years living in North Carolina in my 20s and then visits to my sister who moved to Alabama have still not endeared the accents to me. Ah well, different strokes...
Fans of the TV show "Frasier" may recall Niles (in his infatuation phase) telling Daphne "I've always had an ear for your tongue."
Jay: Down here in Texas we have Jamaicans who work for some of the Doctors I have to visit. I love their accents. It is truly almost like listening to a beautiful song. Keep up your writing Jay, we love that too.
Thx a ton, George.
This was a very good read, Jay.
English is such a vexing language in the sense it has so many forms, so many iterations, that it cannot really be defined as a single language.
I love English because I will never master Her. I will never figure out all the rules, the rules I thought were rules but aren’t, and I will never understand how a language that can express such love and kindness and forgiveness and belonging, can also express such hatred.
Learning a new word is like the beginning of a new day; anything is possible.
It isn’t Sunday morning without Jay.
English is hard, it can be mastered through tough thorough thought though.
!
Ha, ha.
Tastefully clever.