LIN 19 — The Curious History of English Words
Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Anne Curzan
Date(s): Jan 14—Feb 25
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Thursdays
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Class Meeting Time: 5:30—7:20 pm (PT)
Please Note: No class on February 18
Tuition: $430
Refund Deadline: Jan 16
Unit(s): 1
Status: Registration opens Nov 30, 8:30 am (PT)
Quarter: Winter
Day: Thursdays
Duration: 6 weeks
Time: 5:30—7:20 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 14—Feb 25
Unit(s): 1
Tuition: $430
Refund Deadline: Jan 16
Instructor(s): Anne Curzan
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Recording Available: Yes
Status: Registration opens Nov 30, 8:30 am (PT)
Please Note: No class on February 18
Why is colonel pronounced nothing like it's spelled? And why does a cow become beef the moment it reaches the dinner table? Every English word has a story, and together those stories reveal the remarkable history of the language itself. This course traces how English built its enormous vocabulary over 1,500 years, borrowing freely from other languages while continually inventing new words and giving old ones new meanings. We'll explore etymologies ranging from “SAT words” to slang, track down mysteries like the murky origins of a basic pronoun like she, and follow words as they are born, change meaning, and sometimes disappear. What's really “wrong” with words like ain't and irregardless? And how did English spelling become such a mess? By discovering how words work and where they came from, we'll become more precise in what we say, more attentive to what others mean, and more attuned to the centuries of culture and history still humming beneath our everyday language.