034 // Because English: Grammar and Language Change

Kathryn Exon Smith -

Because English: As English evolves, new words and usages arise. Some are beloved, some are despised, some are barely noticed. Some stick around; some are fleeting. Some become “standard”; some seem forever consigned to the “error” category. How language change works – and how speakers deal with it – depends on a variety of factors, including geography, technology, context and audience. How standard language is used and defined is not set in stone; it, too, evolves. But that doesn’t mean a standard language is useless or “there are no rules” – we still need to communicate, after all.

Lisa is chair of News & Information in the University of Kansas School of Journalism, where she teaches writing and editing. Before KU, she worked for 12 years as a newspaper copy editor after finishing a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages & Linguistics. She is the author of “The Perfect English Grammar Workbook.”

Histories of the English Language
From the Old English of Beowulf to the Middle English of Chaucer to the many dialects that make up our modern tongue, the history of English is a history of change. Featuring materials from KU’s Ken

This salon took place March 5, 2021.