The Art of the Language

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Are there any Americans today who have truly good command of proper English who actually speak well? "I hear almost everybody as articulate and I don't mean that in the wide-eyed forced way that it sounds," he says. Some people don't talk well but it's rare, though some are just hyper articulate.

Who can you ask about the Great American Songbook, the finer Jell-O flavors, and peculiar languages like Saramaccan all while expecting the same kind of fast, thoughtful, and energetic response? Listeners of Lexicon Valley might hazard a guess: John McWhorter. A prominent academic linguist, he’s also highly regarded for his podcast and popular writings across countless books and articles where often displays a deep knowledge in topics beyond his academic training.

John joined Tyler to discuss why he thinks that colloquial Indonesian should be the world's universal language, the barbaric circumstances that gave rise to Creole languages, the reason Mandarin won't overtake English as the lingua franca, how the Vikings shaped modern English, the racial politics of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, the decline of American regional accents, why Shakespeare needs an English translation, Harold Arlen vs. Andrew Lloyd Webber, whether reparations for African-Americans is a good idea, how living in Jackson Heights shapes his worldview, what he learned from his mother and father, why good linguistics students enjoy both Russian and Chinese, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded February 17th, 2020 Other ways to connect

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram
Follow Tyler on Twitter
Follow John on Twitter
Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu
Subscribe at our newsletter page to have the latest Conversations with Tyler news sent straight to your inbox.