+ Study: Bilingual Children Pick Up Words More Quickly

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The assumption that bilingual toddlers have more trouble learning language skills than children who know just one language has been contested by European researchers, according to Peter West, HealthDay Reporter.

Study author Agnes Melinda Kovacs, research fellow at the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy, says

While the remarkable performance of children acquiring one language is impressive, many children acquire more than one language simultaneously. 

As bilingual children presumably have to learn roughly twice as much as their monolingual peers [because they learn two languages instead of one], one would expect their language acquisition to be somewhat delayed.  However, bilinguals pass the language development milestones at the same ages as their monolingual peers.

 Appearing online in Science, the finding came from a test of the responses to verbal and visual cues from 64 babies who were 12 months old.  They came from monolingual and bilingual families, although the study did not specify which languages the families spoke.

The Method

The toddlers were exposed to two sets of words that had different structural characteristics.  After each word, the children viewed a special toy on either the left or right side of a screen, depending on the word’s stucture.  They then were presented with words they had never heard before, but which conformed to one of the two verbal structures.  No toy followed.

Researchers determined whether the infants had learned the word structures by measuring the direction of their gaze after hearing each new word.

Judging by their eye movements, the bilingual kids did better in recognizing words than their monolingual peers.

Says Kovacs

We showed that pre-verbal, 12-month-old, bilingual infants have become more flexible at learning speech structures than monolinguals.  When given the opportunity to simultaneously learn two different regularities, bilingual infants learned both, while monolinguals learned only one of them.

This means, she says, that bilinguals may acquire two languages in the time in which monolinguals acquire one — because they quickly become more flexible learners.

How It Works

According to the study, the cognitive pathways developed during the learning of two languages might make bilingual children more efficient in acquiring new information.

Researchers had already often confirmed the benefits of learning more than one language.  In a 2004 Canadian study, for example, it was found that bilingual speakers were more proficient at dealing with distractions than those who spoke only one language; and that ability was even more pronounced for older people (suggesting that multilingualism might help elderly speakers avoid age-related cognitive problems).

A significant percentage of humanity speaks more than one language.  In the United States more than 18 percent of the population aged 5 and older speaks a language other than English at home, according to the 2000 census.

A child psychologist who read the Italian study says the results are intriguing, and said she would like to see further research on how children learn different languages, especially languages with different tonal structures such as Chinese and English.

Says Marta Flaum, who practices in Chappaqua NY,

We now know, thanks to fMRI studies that allow us to observe the working brain, that learning does result in discrete changes in ‘wiring.’  It would make sense that learning a second language affects brain changes as well.

Flaum, who specializes in diagnosing and helping children with dyslexia and other language handicaps, says

We do know that the young brain is more plastic than the older brain, making it easier to learn at an earlier age.

More Information

The Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics has more on the emerging field of psycholinguistics.  http://www.mpi.nl/

sole source: http://www.yahoo.com, HealthDay Report by Peter West on 7/9/09.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ One Teacher’s Vocabulary Tips

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From Kevin Feldman, educator and lecturer who shares his valuable newsletter with anyone who asks:

A 4th Grade Teacher in Billings Montana, Ann Brucker, wrote about the ways she has implemented his strategies in her classroom.

First of all, her process for teaching words follows this sequence:

1. Pronounce
2. Explain
3. Provide examples
4. Elaborate
5. Assess (question, complete, yes-no-why, etc.)

Activities

Brucker wanted to “beef up” vocabulary learning.  She created several activities that require students to actively review words on a weekly basis.

• An activity where students sort words by (for example) parts of speech, or number of syllables
• A think-pair-share activity where groups of students “adopt” and present a word
• An outline for them to write a news article using as many previous words as they could (and have it still make sense)
• A bingo game, in which students must identify words meeting various criteria
• A “chalk talk” activity, in which students silently and collaboratively brainstorm any information they can remember, connect, or share about a given set of words
• A sentence session where students would write different types of sentences using any Word of the Day in a select location within the sentence

Use the Word!

Students always cheer (one year it was clapping, another year students shouted “Fantastico!”) every time one of the old target words is uttered. 

This causes a stir when visitors to the classroom are spontaneously cheered when they — unknowingly – utter a target word!  The school librarian feels like a celebrity and has begun trying to use words she thinks might hit the mark.  Brucker notices that this has quickly and drastically elevated the level of vocabulary in daily use.

Journal Page Entries

Brucker developed a journal page template with room for information about  four words on each page.  For every word entry there is a slot for the word itself; for the definition; for an explanation; for the origin; and for the part of speech.  There is also a small block for an “image” of each word.

Technology

To integrate some type of technology in this vocabulary development project, she decided a blog was much easier than a web site.  She got one set up in about five minutes, she writes.

She and the class decided to call it “Philology Blog.”  It has been a dynamic and engaging way to get students to interact with the words.

After going through the first three steps (pronounce, explain, give examples),  she is now able to pull up the blog where the target word is posted.  In it is found all of the information she wants to use for “elaboration.” 

There are descriptions and links to dictionary, thesaurus and etymology sites relevant to the word; there is some type of video, image or activity providing an example of how the word is used; and there’s a writing prompt where students are asked to use the word in context.  

Brucker also provides the words with their part of speech, so they can be sorted.

She uses a document camera and projector to display this page first thing every morning, so students can complete their paper journal entries and start using the words right away.

Sources For  Words 

Brucker selects the words from the context of the entire daily curriculum and instruction.  This obviously offers a vast array of words to choose from.  But she has also been able to integrate and embed some technology terms which naturally come with the tools she is using.

And the intense focus on vocabulary ties the entire schoolday together: from reading and language skills to math to science and art and music and sports — it all revolves around words.

Students are now not just waiting for her to introduce words for them — they are finding words on their own.

They truly love knowing and using grown-up words.  They are constantly bringing in newspaper and magazine clippings in which their target words appear.  The class has designated a “Wall of Fame” on which to hang their words.  As they watched President Obama’s inauguration address, they listened raptly for “their” words.

Vocabulary Strengthens Writing Skills

And a suprise perk: Bucker’s students’ writing has gained strength as they began responding to her writing prompts and posting their responses as comments.

This took a good bit of front-loading on her part, of course.

If the class is studying compound sentences or apostrophes, she instructed students to use such forms in their written responses.

She has noticed that they are much more eager to get on and write with the blog than they ever were with pencil and paper.  They have really taken ownership of their “site.”

Brucker is proud of her “philologists:” learners and lovers of words.  She is happy to share her experiences with all of us.

Source: Ann Brucker shared her strategies with  Kevin Feldman, whose literacy newsletter you can subscribe to at kfeldman@lists.scoe.org

tutoring in Columbus OH:  Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Take Ten for Your Child: 10 Minute Activities

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LDA’s  Early Childhood Committee feels quality — not quantity — is what matters.  They know how difficult it is for busy parents to set aside whole blocks of time every day to focus only on their child.

So they suggest ten minutes of an activity that can take place at home, in the car, or grocery store.  Make it an activity your child can look forward to, and treat it as your special time together.  And make it happen consistently.

Foundations for the understanding and use of language are laid early, so talking to children should take place beginning immediately.  Talking and bonding provide the beginnings of the give and take for social and language development.

Look daily for these language opportunities.  For example:

• Find a picture that shows action — have your child tell you about the picture.
• Play the matching game.   You might start with pictures on a card – one object on each card.  Match one picture with another that is the same.  The child needs to name the object and not just find it.  When pictures are not available, use two objects around the house: plates, colors socks, anything that is handy.  They can match and name.  Or ask them to touch and name.  Or let them play being the teacher. 
• Pictures of wild animals  (pets, toys, farm animals) — have child describe them, make their sound, tell where they live.  Or use anything around the house as a target object.
• Pictures of buildings (houses, banks, churches, schools, post office) — ask child to tell you what takes place in each building; who will they find in such a building?  This can be done when you’re driving!
• Find interestingly shaped objects around the house                  (circle, square, triangle, rectangle)   and ask about the “circle”.  Talk about feeling the edge, it’s round.  Do the same with other objects that are round.  Then have the child pick out more objects that are round.  When the child’s knowledge of “circle” is firm, add a second shape and go through a similar routine.

 Enjoy these activities with your child and you’ll be setting a firm foundation of language skills for the future student.

source: LDA Newsbriefs May/June 2009; “Take Time for Ten With Your Child” by the LDA Early Childhood Committee.  www.lda.org

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com   

+ Resources and Summer Trainings for Teachers

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From Kevin Feldman, some suggestions for resources and summer trainings.

• CORE — http://www.corelearn.com/about/ is a leading institution supporting practical, research-based, professions development/support/tools/etc. to schools and districts.  Check out Summer Institutes at http://www.corelearn.com/calendar/; Core online library at http://www.corelearn.com/learninglibrary/; Core University at http://www.corelearn.com/coreu/
• Sopris West –  a leader in publishing research validated intervention materials (e.g. REWARDS, Read Well, language!); they also run excellent summer institutes around the nation (in beautiful settings): check out http://www.bettereducator.com/summer_institutes.aspx
• READ 180 Annual Conference — Scholastic’s annual training and support event for people using Read 180 and related tools; visit http://www.scholastic.com/products/read180institute/index.htm
• Do What Works — The federal site which shows classroom footage (and more) of research-supported strategies; visit http://www.dww.ed.gov/dww_guidedtour.html
• University of Texas Reading Center — Locate specific materials, strategies, resources based on domain (e.g. vocab/fluency/decoding etc.); lots of FREE resources at http://searchlight.utexas.org
• Center for Media Literacy — Also FREE — great resources such as Five Questions That Can Change the World; see http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article661.html
• The Forgotten Middle — The entire 76 page document is available at http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/reports/ForgottenMiddle.html
• Center on Instruction: Adolescent Literacy Walk Through – A great resource looking at various tools for observing/coaching/walk throughs with a very specific strategic focus; see http://www.centeroninstruction.org/resources.cfm?category=reading&subcategory=materials&grade_start=4&grade_end=12#227
• English Learner Research and Resources: National Clearing House for English Language Acquisition — see http://www.ncela.gwu.edu

source: Kevin Feldman’s newsletter; literacy@lists.scoe.org and kfeldman@lists.scoe.org

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Distance Learning: Excellent Resource Site

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Katie Wilson tells me about her Web site: Distance Learning Net at www.distancelearningnet.com.

The site informs us they have information to help you navigate your way through the internet options available for distance learners in today’s fast-paced academic world.

From the site:

Whether you are looking to obtain an accelerated degree through an online school or take classes part time to improve your career prospects, we can help you get started and make the most of your online education.

We can help you decide if distance learning is the best option for you and also make sure that your school is accredited. 

Use our degree finder to find the school that is the best match for you and browse theough our FAQs to find answers to some of the most common questions that new distance learners have.

Take a look at our blog for helpful tips and tricks to get ahead and make the most of your distance learning experiences.

The site then offers links to Kaplan Univeristy,  University of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University, Liberty University, Capella University, Westwood College, American InterContinental University, Virginia College, Everest University,  Ashford University  – and more .

Topics include:

• Advantages and disadvantages of distance learning,
• How to get an accredited distance learning degree online,
• How to get your distance learning MBA,
• The history of distance learning,
• About distance learning,
• Who benefits from distance learning
• – and more.

You can search online degrees by choosing a degree level, or a category or a subject.  There is a quick degree finder.

The blog is great ( www.distancelearningnet.com/blog/) .  Among the topics:

• 5 tips to assist in second language learning;
• The role of sports in furthering education
• Top 100 Science Fiction Blogs (general, books and comics, TV, movies, reviews, news)
• 50+ Free Open Courseware classes for Web designers perfecting their craft (general, design & visualization fundamentals, education, usability, tools and technologies, internet, legal)
• 50 tools and tricks to revolutionize your notetaking (bookmarks and more, productivity tools, collaboration, organization and efficiency tips, accessories, large scale projects and tools, notebooks, multimedia and multitasking tools)
• Top 100 Musicology blogs (musicology, academics and education, technology, music history, music present and future, music industry, musicians, classical, concert, opera & orchestra, culture, musical analysis)

Wow.  Check it all out.

Thank you, Katie Wilson, for sharing this information.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Stenhouse Blog for Teachers — Looks Great

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Stenhouse Publishers  produce professional development books and videos by teachers and for teachers.  They promise that all of their titles are grounded in a philosophy of education that respects both teacher and learner.  And all are designed to integrate theory, research and practice in an accessible manner.

But they also offer The Stenhouse Blog, a site for discussions about what books are being prepared,  book reviews, podcasts, videos, and updates about authors.

Quick Tip Tuesdays

A new project is “Quick Tip Tuesday,” where each week a teaching technique or strategy will be offered by one of the authors.  Already posted: “How to write a good ending;” “Independent reading with ELLs;”  “Strategies for responding to student work;” ”Creating a writing routine;” and “Find your storytelling voice.”

Poetry Fridays, and More

Most recent posts include:

• Poetry Friday: Mary Oliver’s “At the Pond” which takes us to www.orionmagazine.org
• Questions & Authors: Motivating students to read in the New Year
• Poetry Friday: Proud Son of an Honor Roll Student
• Poetry Friday: You Can’t Have It All
• Study group discussion: Of Primary Importance

Categories

• Assessment
• Author News
• Classroom Practice
• English Language Learners
• Leadership
• Literacy
• Poetry Friday
• Quick Tip Tuesday
• Reading
• Reviews
• Teaching in the Content Areas
• Word Work
• Writing

In addition there are author sites and a blogroll.  This appears to be a valuable site. Visit http://blog.stenhouse.com

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email   aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com.

+ Do They Understand Your Words? The Juicy Vegetable

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A note from a teacher (in the NY Times) tells of hearing some little students humming a tune.  She asked “What is that song?”

She was told — by several of them — that it was a song about “the juicy vegetable.”    They had learned it in another class.

After more conversation, and a little digging, she learned that it was a song about “The Jewish Festival.”

Gosh.  Never assume; talk around concepts until they are clearly understood! 

source: note in “The Metropolitan Diary” in the NY Times on 12/8/08.   www.nytimes.com

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com.

+ The Juicy Joy of Language: Book

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Roy Blount, Jr has written “Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof: Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret Parts, Tinctures, Tonics, and Essences; With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory.“

Jack Shafer, in a review in the NY Times, says the alphabetically arranged book reads “like a bag of salty snacks: nibble five or six of its 500-plus entries and you’ll have to wolf the whole thing.”

The book is Blount’s personal lexicon, usage manual, writers’ guidebook, etymological investigation and literary junk drawer.

Blount calls himself a lifelong hyperlexic.  He hangs out in dictionaries; indeed he is a member of the American Heritage Dictionary’s official usage panel.  He knows how to write funny, and is sometimes marginalized as a humorist.  But according to Shafer, he is a superb reporter who possesses an imaginative intellect.

Blount argues that “all language, at some level, is body language.”  In addition to words that are clearly imitative, such as “boom,” “poof,” and “gong,” he zeroes in on expressive terms that “somehow sensuously evoke the essence of the word: ‘queasy or ‘rickety’ or ‘zest’ or ’sluggish’ or ‘vim’.”

And he has coined a term to describe such words: “sonicky.”  Here are some others: “lick,” “heebie-jeebies,” “ka-ching,” “chunky,” “blink,” “squeeze,” “foist,” “weird,” “wonky,” “finicky” and “wobbly.”

He writes, “‘Sphincter’ is tight; ‘goulash’ is lusciously hodgepodgy; ’swoon’ emerged from the Old English swogan, to suffocate, because the mind and the mouth conspired to replace ‘og‘ with ‘oo‘ in order to register a different mouth-feeling.”

By page 4 I have already been sent to www.etymonline.com, which calls etymology the “wheel-ruts of modern English” (see more below on “etymology”). 

I have learned that pigs go oink oink in English, noeff noeff in Norwegian, but – Blount was informed by a ”chatperson at www.ask.metafilter.com ” –

In Russian, pigs go hroo, hroo.  Note that these are rolled r ’s and the h is more of a hk sound, like when you try to build a loogie.  (Don’t try and pronounce the K, just flem up the H.)  [sic]     

In the category “great two-word sentences,” we find

• Jesus wept.
• Nooses give.   So you might as well live, continues Dorothy Parker…
• Go figure.
• Non serviam.
• I’m home.

 Under “metaphor, mixed:” 

Michael Ray Richardson, when he was playing for the New York Knicks, said his team was a “sinking ship.”  How far did he think the ship might sink?  “The sky’s the limit.”

The book is organized alphabetically. First A with “a,” then “aa,” then “aardvaark,” and “abracadabra,” and so forth. 

Under E, a listing on “etymology” says

From the Greek for “the true sense of the word.”  That goes back to when roots showed through a lot more than they do today.  But just as you appreciate a vegetable more if you know how it grows, you have a better hold on a word if you use it in acknowledgement of its roots, its background, some of the soil still attached.

Under F, he pauses at “foot” and offers Greek, Sanskrit, Latin, Middle Persian, German, French, Dutch, Old Icelandic, Armenian, Gothic and the 1125 CE English forms of the word. 

But none of them work as well for him as “foot.”   Just pay attention, he says, to “the /f/ for the sensitive cushioned padfall of ball and heel, /oo/ for the aloofness of the arch, and /t/ for the tip of the toe pushing off.” 

And then he stops to ponder a metrical  foot, so-called “probably because the rhythm of verse derives to some extent from walking.  And  an enjambed  line is one that doesn’t end at the end of a sentence or clause – enjamb from the French for ’stride over,’ jambe meaning leg.” 

By the time we get to G, the list includes ”gender,” ”glottis,” “Goldwynisms, ”good letters, bad letters,” “Goody Two-Shoes” and more.

P: under “ponder” we find “Edna Earle could sit and ponder all day on how the little tail of the ‘C’ got through the ‘L’ in a Coca-Cola sign.”  (Eudora Welty, “The Wide Net.” )

Q includes “Queensberry, the eighth or ninth Marquess or Marquis of” and “quirky;”  S provides “subjunctive;” and also ”surds” (letter sounds that are voiceless, from Latin surdus, unheard, silent or deaf). 

 Blount writes in the introductory chapter:

I hope this book will be useful to anyone who wants to write better, including me.  I have written some of the clumsiest, most clogged-yet-vagrant, hobbledehoyish, hitch-slipping sentences ever conceived by the human mind.  On the radio I can sometimes talk spontaneously to tolerable effect, with the help of voice tone and adrenaline; but almost nothing that pops into my head flows when I set it down in letters… Fortunately, I enjoy fooling with letters, moving them around, going back over them, over and over, screaming…  The terrible thing about writing is also the great thing about it: you can keep on changing it.

Blount reminds us that Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, in his 1916 book “On the Art of Writing,” wrote

Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it — wholeheartedly — and delete it before sending your manuscript to press: Murder your darlings.

To which Blount retorts –  what is “murder your darlings” but a giant, throbbing, attention-grabbing darling itself?  Sir Q-C could have written “kill your pets” or “eliminate your sweeties” if he was so keen on scrubbing brilliant phrases out of his copy!    

But Blount won’t tolerate self-indulgence.  He claims writing “needs to be quick, so it’s readable at first glance and also worth lingering over.”

Reviewer Jack Shafer, who writes for Slate, find the book enormously readable and useful, and says his admiration only swelled when he found there a conclusion for his review. 

Blount says that reviewers like to apply the word “uneven” to books they’re fond of but have a few reservations about.  Would you,” he asks, “want to read a book that was even?” 

Writes Shafer:  “Yes… and I just did.”

source: article by Jack Shafer in the NY Times on 11/26/08.  www.nytimes.com   “Alphabet Juice” by Roy Blount Jr is published by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux (Sarah Chrichton Books).  ISBN 13:978-0-374-10369-9 (hardcover).  Price is $25.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email   aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ How to Improve Reading of Multisyllable Words

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Many students who read successfuly at the single-syllable word level find themselves struggling when they encounter multisyllable words.  They lack the strategies needed.  Advanced word study interventions usually include instruction in word recognition and word analysis.

Successful readers are able to

• read multisyllable words and use strategies to figure out unknown words
• make connections between letter patterns and sounds and use this understanding to read words
• break unknown words into syllables during reading
• use word analysis strategies to break difficult or long words into meaningful parts such as inflectional endings

Struggling readers often

• may read single syllable words effortlessly but have difficulty decoding multisyllable words
• may lack knowledge of the ways in which sounds map to print
• have difficulty breaking words into syllables
• often don’t use word analysis strategies to break words into syllables

Teaching Word Study

Interventions should cue students to the orthography of words: the letter patterns and structural features associated with predictable speech sounds.  Students learn how to identify and break words into syllable types (e.g. “r-controlled” and “vowel-consonant-E”), and to read by blending the parts together. 

For example, the word mumble divides into a “closed syllable” (mum-) and a “final stable syllable” with consonant-le (-ble).

To be effective, provide information about word meaning and structure as well.  Teach the meanings of individual prefixes, suffixes, inflectional endings, roots and important vocabulary.  Difficult words can be broken apart into smaller known units. 

For example, in the word “transplanted,” students would break the word into three segments: trans-, plant, -ed.   A student can associate the known base word “plant” with the prefix trans- (across) and the suffix -ed  (happened in the past).

Using word analysis strategies, students can read unknown words part by part, and use known meanings, or semantic features, of the smaller chunks to assist them in decoding the longer word. 

Recommended Instructional Practices:

• Teach students to identify and break words into syllable types.
• Teach students when and how to read multisyllabic words by blending the parts together.
• Teach students to recognize irregular words that do not follow predictable patterns.  These are called “sight words” — they don’t play fair.
• Teach students the meanings of common prefixes, suffixes, inflectional endings, and roots.  Instruction should include ways in which words relate to each other (e.g.
• ‘”trans”: transfer, translate, transform, transition).
• After teaching students how to break words into word parts, ask them  to combine word parts to create their own new words based on roots, bases or other features.
• Teach students how and when to use structural analysis to decode unknown words.

Note: The five regular kinds of syllables are open (e.g. the word “no”), closed (the word “not”);  silent E (the word “note”),  vowel team  (the word “neat”), and  R-controlled (the word “north”).  In addition there are many “final stable syllables,” and one of these is the “consonant-le” syllable.  There are also “patterns” (sometimes called “families”) which are not regular but occur in many words (e.g. ing/ink in “sing” and “sink” and  ild/old  as in “mild” and “mold”).   And, of course, those words that ”don’t play fair” at all — sight words like “said”  or “enough.”

 source: I’m not sure where my source pages come from.  I printed them out some time ago, from an attachment  in one of Kevin Feldman’s  literacy newsletters.  They have no heading or date.  If someone recognizes this material, tell me.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ The “Untold” History of English: New Book

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John McWhorter’s new book, “Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English,”  aims to explain why English is an oddball among its sister Germanic languages.

“The Power of Babel,” McWhorter’s previous book, was hailed by Steven Pinker as “sharply reasoned, refreshingly honest, and thoroughly original” in its arguments; and as “an entertaining, instructive Henry Higgins of a volume” by Kirkus Reviews.

McWhorter writes in a down-to earth, intelligent way.  He’s a linguist, not an etymologist (a “history of words” guy).  He’s impatient with standard “history of English” books, which suggest that what’s involved is just waves of Anglo-Saxon and then Celt and then French and then Latinate and Greek-derived words, decorated with the occasional sidebar about how grammar changed a bit here and there.

Etymology is, in fact, just one tiny corner of what modern linguistic science involves.  Indeed, most linguists are not formally trained in etymology.  “Any of us sought for public comment are familiar with the public’s understandable expectation that to be a linguist is to carry thousands of etymologies in one’s head, when, in fact, on any given question as to where a word comes from, we usually have to go searching in a dictionary like anyone else.”

But linguists are more interested in how words are put together, and how the way they are put together now is different from how they were put together in the past.

We often call it “syntax.”  Linguists call it “grammar.”  It involves such matters as why conjugational endings (hablo, hablas, habla in Spanish) exist.  English exhibits vestiges of conjugational forms too: for example, suffix s . 

Linguists are interested in why the English sentence “Craig met his wife in London” would come out in Japanese as “Craig London in his wife met.”   And why English has the auxiliary “did” (I did read the book) and “is” (he is reading) when our sibling languages never ever invented such a thing. 

In McWhorter’s introduction we learn that English is one of about a dozen languages that are so basically similar in terms of words and grammar that they obviously began in a single language (although English is very much a prodigal son).  The languages besides English in this family include German, Dutch, Yiddish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Icelandic, plus some less familiar languages like Faroese and Frisian, as well as Afrikaans (which stemmed from the transplantation of Dutch into Africa.)

The parent of all these languages was spoken about twenty-five hundred years ago in what is now Denmark (and a ways southward) and on the southerly ends of Sweden and Norway.  Linguists (not knowing what the original speakers called the language) have named it “Proto-Germanic.”

How do we know about this language?  We are able to reconstruct a great many of that language’s words by comparing words in today’s Germanic languages and tracing back.  For example, English daughter  is Tochter in German, dochter in Dutch, datter in Norwegian, dotter in Swedish, dottir in Icelandinc.  Using techniques developed by linguists in the nineteenth century and that are still being refined, it is possible to deduce — with the help of now extinct Germanic languages preserved in ancient documents like Gothic, in which the word was dauhtar — that all of these words are the spawn of a single original one, daukhtro.

But English is weird, compared to these other languages, and McWhorter wants to tell us how and why.

English’s Germanic relatives are like assorted varieties of deer — antelopes, springboks, kudu, and so on — antlered, fleet-footed, big-brown-eyed variations on a theme.  English is some dolphin swooping around underwater, all but hairless, echolocating and holding its breath.  Dolphins are mammals like deer; they give birth to live young and are warm-blooded.  But clearly the dolphin has strayed from the basic mammalian game plan to an extent that no deer has.

(I’ve peeked ahead, and it appears that the Welsh and the Cornish people were involved in the mutation.)

Once we know the real history of English, says McWhorter, we can understand that certain things we’ve been taught are hoaxes.  It is not true, he writes, that “Billy and me went to the store” is patently illogical (the French say it that way!)  And it is not true that the structure of people’s native language reflects how they think.

It’s not, he wants us to know, all about words that just happened into our language.  It’s also about things speakers of other languages did to English grammar.  It’s about what happened when Old English was assaulted by Vikings and bastardized by Celts.

It’s about how English is “genuinely  weird — miscegenated, abbreviated.  Interesting.”

And so he begins Chapter One of the book in the middle of the fifth century A.D. in Britain, after the Romans left, when…

Well, that’s the end of the introduction.

Chapter Titles:

One: “We Speak a Miscegenated Grammar;” Chapter Two: “A Lesson From the Celtic Impact;” Three: “We Speak a Battered Grammar;” Four: “Does Our Grammar Channel Our Thought?;” and Five: “Skeletons in the Closet.” 

After its 200 page text there are 14 pages of notes on the sources and an index.  The book (hardcover) is a nifty 5″ by 7″ size,  nice for tucking into your handbag or backpack.  Cost is $22.50.

“Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue” by John McWhorter is published by Gotham Books. ISBN 978-1-592-40395-0.  

John McWhorter is the author of 12 books including NY Times Bestseller “Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America,” “The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language,” and “Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care.”  He is an expert on the birth of Creoles.  He is a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a columnist for the New York Sun, and has appeared widely in broadcast media on Jim Lehrer’s Newshour and Fresh Air. 

Two separate lecture courses of his (on the story of language and linguistics) are available from The Teaching Company (www.teach12.com).

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com