Word of Mouth

Florence Hazrat, author of On the Mark and a scholar of punctuation, traces the marks that shape our words. Discover how spaces, commas, quotation marks, brackets and apostrophes evolved from ancient reading aids and performance cues. The conversation also explores texting, emojis and exclamation marks as punctuation keeps adapting to express tone, personality and emotion online.

George Bass, security guard and author of What the Bouncer Saw, explains how language can be a riot shield. He explores calm tones, respectful questions, body cameras and coded radio messages for defusing trouble. He also recalls separating fighters, enforcing unusual rules and persuading a stubborn patron to leave, all while keeping the kettle ready.

Rob Drummond, a sociolinguistics professor at Manchester Metropolitan University, explores the voices of Greater Manchester. He maps the region’s shifting accent borders, distinctive “happy” and letter vowels, and the links between speech, identity and social status. Along the way, he dissects the accents of Oasis, Gary Neville, Sara Cox and Andy Burnham, and looks at Manchester’s multilingual future.

Jane Setter talks to Michael Rosen about negative attitudes to vocal traits seen as exclusively female, from vocal fry to higher pitch. Can men really not talk in a sexy voice? And why did Margaret Thatcher change hers?Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sally Heaven, in partnership with the Open University

Radio 4 is marking the arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in Britain with a special day of programmes reassessing the Norman Conquest and its meaning for us today.In Word of Mouth, Michael Rosen explores the impact of the Norman invasion on the English language. He asks Dr Philip Durkin about the huge influence of Anglo-Norman, the dialect of French that was used in Britain after the Conquest for about 300 years. Philip's research found that of the 1000 most frequent words in modern-day written English, almost 50% of those words are borrowed from either French or Latin, or a mixture of both, and most of those show at least some influence from French and came into the language in this period. It would be difficult for us to speak English now without using these words.Dr Philip Durkin is Deputy Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary and leader of its team of specialist etymology editors. He's the author of Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English.Free Anglo-Norman dictionary online at: https://anglo-norman.net/On-air programme announcements translated into Anglo-Norman by Dr Geert De Wilde, Senior Researcher and Principal Investigator, Anglo-Norman Dictionary. Pronunciation guidance provided by Dr Edward Mills from the Learning Anglo-French project at the University of Exeter. Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth O'Dea, in partnership with the Open University Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and catch every episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz

Michael Rosen is in conversation with Gaelic language expert Roddy Maclean about the status of Gaelic in Scotland. Roddy explains its origins as one of the Indo-European languages, a Celtic language we characterise by sound differences. One group is called P-Celtic, the other is called Q-Celtic, and Gaelic's in the Q-Celtic group. Traditionally Gaelic has been spoken in The Highlands - the Gàidhealtachd - but its growing in popularity in Scottish cities these days with new learners and schoolchildren helping boost the language. A few decades ago there were fears the language would die out.Among the facts Michael picks up is that Gaelic has no single word for Yes or No and that the landscape of the Highlands can be better understood by understanding the origin of Gaelic place names. He also gets to hear some of his work performed in Gaelic by Glasgow schoolchildren. Producer: Maggie AyreProduced in partnership with The Open University

Michael Rosen talks to anthropologist Jamie Tehrani about how fairy tales travel the world, ever changing and evolving. He’s traced their transmission across oral traditions: the kinds of plots, characters and motifs that endure. From the Iranian Prince Zāl to Little Red Riding Hood's compelling Chinese cousin: The Tiger Grandmother. Jamie Tehrani is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Durham University. Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth O'Dea, in partnership with the Open University Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz

Michael Rosen on the words used to describe the qualities of smells in different languages. Asifa Majid is Professor of Cognitive Science at Oxford and her research has found that some do it much better than others. She puts Michael to the test to see how English stacks up. Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth O'Dea, in partnership with the Open University Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz

Michael Rosen meets popular YouTuber Simon Roper, who tries to recreate how people spoke in the past. Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sally Heaven, in partnership with the Open University. Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz

The words that we use to label or describe things in nature – words for landscapes, creatures, seasons, the weather – can they help awaken us to the world around us? Drawing on languages from all over the world, Michael Rosen hears about Words to Love a Planet: An Illustrated Dictionary of Language, Landscape and Life from author Ella Frances Sanders. Produced for BBC Audio Bristol, in partnership with the Open University, by Becky Ripley. Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz