Why Study Language Change?

About the lecture

In this module, we explore one argument for why it's worth studying language change, focusing in particular on: (i) Lord Digby Jones' criticism of Alex Scott for 'g-dropping'; (ii) the history of the idea that some accents are 'better' than others; (iii) the development of Upper Received Pronunciation and mainstream Received Pronunciation in the twentieth century, and the phonological features of each accent; and (iv) the connection between spelling and 'correct' pronunciation.

About the lecturer

Simon Horobin is Professor of English Language and Literature and Tutorial Fellow at Magdalen College at the University of Oxford. He specialises in the history of the English language, especially in the Medieval period. Some of his recent publications include How English Became English: A Short History of a Global Language (2016), The English Language: A Very Short Introduction (2018), and Bagels, Bumf, and Buses: A Day in the Life of the English Language (2019).