Twists of the tongue

Graham Elliott

Graham Elliott writes on language and linguistics WRITING OF OUR PLANET, Rose Macaulay observed, “into every penetrable corner of it and into most of the impenetrable corners, the English will penetrate”. Rigorous in his survey of the previously pink parts of the world map, dialectologist Peter Trudgill covers the remotest, native, English-speaking community (Tristan da Cunha, 1,505 nautical miles from the South African coast), as well as the most northern (Barrow, Alaska at 71 degrees) and most southern (Stanley, East Falkland at 51 degrees). Penetrating indeed. Where did the journey begin, and when? English is descended from Proto-Germanic (PG), spoken 3,000 years ago in an area spanning what is now Copenhagen, Malmö and Ystad. This branch of the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) family had broken away following the move from the Urheimat, or…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, July 2023

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