Post-Conquest English

Yes, it existed. Here's a video of a friend of mine being clever on the topic of English as spoken and written after the Norman Conquest. This is such a fascinating period, and I'm always glad to see it get a little more attention.

Optimal language use?

This is not a post about why we should be sticklers for mechanical errors, but I have been thinking a lot about a pair of interesting radio stories I heard around the same time. In neither case have I done any additional research, nor do I have very coherent thoughts to add. I would like, for the time being, to bookmark these and to share them with others who may be interested.

So, in the worst of blogging cop-outs, I offer you first an account of the ways that language may in fact strengthen (or even enable?) the brain's ability to grasp the concept of large but specified numbers. The old joke about the Anglo-Saxons is that they counted "one, two, ... er, a lot!" They had language (or else I'm living in some kind of weird other dimension), so I will obviously have to think more about this topic.

Secondly, here is a defense of writing by hand. I adore writing letters and postcards, but I wonder just what size of a minority I am in on this one. I need to listen to this piece again, and I wish that they had offered a transcript or slightly fuller summary, but the gist is that writing by hand might be good for your brain! So, keep on sending those notes to Grandma!