English used to look a lot different.
We used to use a lot of letters that no longer exist. They had names like eth, wynn, thorn, and ash. Ben, Kylie, and Daniel talk about what they looked like, how they sounded… and ampersand‘s secret past.
It’s all happening on this episode of Talk the Talk.
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Promo
Kylie and Daniel chat ahead of the show, explaining insular g.
Also at https://www.patreon.com/posts/11233056
Cutting Room Floor
Daniel is out of his depth in a discussion with Ben on science fiction movies, but he knows how to play the Dictionary Game. Has Daniel become an anti-sugar crank?
Everyone is watching Snoop Dogg’s ASL interpreter. What if sharks could talk? Kylie gives the history of ŋ (eng). After the elections, Ben is kind of impressed by France for once. And Daniel redeems himself with some film trivia.
Also at https://www.patreon.com/posts/11361688
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Show notes
Put your hands together for NZ Sign Language Week
http://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/articles/news/2017/05/nzsl-week/
VIDEO: Sign language interpreter upstages Snoop Dogg
http://pickle.nine.com.au/2017/05/10/11/18/snoop-dogg-sign-language-interpreter-steals-show
Homo naledi may have lived at around same time as early humans
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/homo-naledi-may-have-lived-around-same-time-early-humans
Small-brained early human lived more recently than expected
http://www.nature.com/news/small-brained-early-human-lived-more-recently-than-expected-1.21961
12 Letters That Didn’t Make the Alphabet
http://mentalfloss.com/article/31904/12-letters-didnt-make-alphabet
We Used To Have 6 More Letters In Our Alphabet
https://omgfacts.com/we-used-to-have-6-more-letters-in-our-alphabet-a7e1a165853d
The Lost Letters Of The Alphabet
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-rosen/the-lost-letters-of-the-a_b_6666726.html
Orthography
http://people.umass.edu/sharris/in/gram/GrammarBook/orthography.html
Grammarphobia: An ædifying history
http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2011/05/ae-digraph-ligature.html
How is “æ” supposed to be pronounced?
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/70927/how-is-æ-supposed-to-be-pronounced
Eth, thorn, and ash: they flunked the screen test for our alphabet
http://bookhaven.stanford.edu/2013/08/eth-thorn-and-ash-they-flunked-the-screen-test-for-our-alphabet/
Why is ‘w’ pronounced ‘double u’ rather than ‘double v’?
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/why-is-w-pronounced-double-u
If “w” is double u, why is it made of two v’s?
http://blog.dictionary.com/w/
Letter Finder
http://www.scottishhandwriting.com/cmlfyo.asp
The Rules for Long S
http://babelstone.blogspot.com.au/2006/06/rules-for-long-s.html
Why does the ending -ough have six pronunciations?
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/31991/why-does-the-ending-ough-have-six-pronunciations
What Character Was Removed from the Alphabet?
http://blog.dictionary.com/ampersand/
Language Log: Priming the pump
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=32625
Language Log: Priming the pump: a cartoon history
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=32649
France just rejected the far right and elected Emmanuel Macron
https://www.vox.com/world/2017/5/7/15571666/french-elections-emmanuel-macron-marine-le-pen-front-national-vote-win
10 things to know about NOTA — a voter’s right to reject
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/10-things-to-know-about-nota-a-voter-s-right-to-reject/story-SkX0EsDQbjG5e2sz0L5N9H.html
Trump to NBC’s Lester Holt: Comey’s ‘a showboat,’ ‘I was going to fire regardless of recommendation’
http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-trump-to-nbc-s-lester-holt-i-was-1494522620-htmlstory.html
“He’s a showboat. He’s a grandstander.” @OED‘s got “showboat” in the relevant sense back to 1932 and “grandstander” back to 1896. pic.twitter.com/t0KKGYrLjs
— Ben Zimmer (@bgzimmer) 11 May 2017
The history of ransomware
http://www.csoonline.com/article/3095956/data-breach/the-history-of-ransomware.html#slide2
Ware: “Simple Simon met a pieman…”
http://www3.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/literature/mothergoose/rhymes/simplesimonmetapieman.html
Rocky and Bullwinkle: Simple Simon
A 1987 reference to ransomware
Google Books link
4 Ways to Protect Against the Very Real Threat of Ransomware
https://www.wired.com/2016/05/4-ways-protect-ransomware-youre-target/
RANSOMWARE: Hostage Rescue Manual (PDF)
https://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/RansomwareManual-1.pdf
Green’s Dictionary of Slang: cock
https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/kjbkjfi
Wikipedia: Cockburn (surname)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockburn_(surname)
Online Etymology Dictionary
curse, cursive, cursor
Transcript
We’re working our way back through the archives. If you think we should prioritise a transcript of this episode, let us know!
24 August 2019 at 4:16 am
I wonder what exact positions in the alphabet thorn(Þ, þ), that(Þ and T, þ and t), eth(Ð, ð), ash(Æ, æ), ethel(Œ, œ), and eng(Ŋ, ŋ) would be if ampersand(&) was the 27th letter. Wynn(Ƿ, ƿ) would’ve been the 23rd letter, and yogh(Ȝ ȝ) could’ve been the 25th. I might need help working out the exact positions.