language

The Case For Calling the Language "American"

by Ilan Stavans

The history of pragmatic adaptation that built the American form of English is reflected in its present status as the world's second language. It's not jingoistic, just accurate, to declare the particularity of the American tongue. 

Madeline Kripke Built an Immense—and Bawdy—Dictionary Collection

One woman's passion for collecting has been an invaluable resource for studies of the evolution of slang, profanity and vulgarisms; after her recent death, an epic quest to preserve the collection ensued. 

Alphabet Politics: What Caused the Development of Writing?

by Josephine Quinn

Much remains unknown about the earliest development of written language; two new books make important contributions.   

Y'all's Time Has Come

by David B. Parker

The South already has a pronoun that transcends singularity, plurality and gender. 

India in a Different Voice

by Maya Jasanoff

Learning Hindi during a sabattical presented a researcher with the chance to engage with Indian history outside of the frame of English, and to grasp the power struggles pushing the country toward authoritarian nationalism today. 

The Antiabortion Movement's Victory in the War of Language

by Jennifer L. Holland

The antiabortion movement was able to overcome American skepticism of enshrining religious views into law and demands by women for full citizenship by turning the language of rights to apply to fetuses. It remains to be seen if this language will lead to a national ban on abortion in the name of fetal personhood. 

How the Chinese Language Modernized

Jing Tsu's book examines the ways that the Chinese written language has survived waves of iconoclasm and shifts in the politics of cultural authority. 

What Does it Mean to Call Someone a "Male Chauvinist Pig"?

by Julie Willett

Merging the term "chauvinism" from the old left and the radical 1960s desire to render authority grotesque, the term emerged with the second wave of feminism. But today some of the sexists labeled with it appear to have turned it into a badge of honor. 

How Native Students Fought Back against Abuse and Assimilation at US Boarding Schools

by Sarah Klotz

Young Native students like Ernest Knocks Off were not passive victims of forced assimiliation in Indian residential schools; they fought – in his case, to his death – to retain the language and culture the schools sought to expunge.

Where Gender-Neutral Pronouns Come From

The invention of pronouns to better address gender has been part of the English language for a long time, as has moral panic about the degradation of culture and speech. 

The Ethics of the "N-Word" in the Classroom

by Alan Singer

Neither censorious expungement nor free speech absolutism offer good practical guidelines for teaching historical sources that include racial slurs. A professor of history education explains his approach. 

The Birth, and Life, of a Word

by Ralph Keyes

One of the most widely-used terms in discussions of American racism has its roots in a campaign by two pro-slavery writers to troll abolitionists through a fake tract promoting "miscegenation."

Nicolas Cage Hosts ‘History of Swear Words’ Series on Netflix

While generally disapproved in polite company, swear words are a powerful and entrenched aspect of language around the world. Nic Cage will host a series examining their historical origins and use. 

Zounds! What the Fork are Minced Oaths? And Why are We Still Fecking Using them Today?

by Kirk Hazen

Minced oaths have historically performed a very specific role: providing a weakened but socially acceptable form of an actual religious oath, swear or curse.

A Debate Over Identity and Race Asks, Are African-Americans ‘Black’ or ‘black’?

For proponents of capitalizing black, there are grammatical reasons — it is a proper noun, referring to a specific group of people with a shared political identity, shaped by colonialism and slavery. 

Singular They: Nonbinary Language in the Historical Community

As the dictionary’s staff wrote in explaining their pick, “English famously lacks a gender-neutral singular pronoun... and as a consequence ‘they’ has been used for this purpose for over 600 years.”

The Case Against Waging ‘War’ on the Coronavirus

There is a long history of world leaders framing fights against disease within the context of war.

The English history of African American English

by Shana Poplack

Many of the features stereotypically associated with contemporary African American Vernacular English have a robust precedent in the history of the English language.

James Grossman Writes Article on Career Diversity: "Revising Revisited: Words Matter When It Comes to Career Diversity"

by James Grossman

Historians need to write and speak carefully. A single word or phrase, a particularly evocative metaphor, can undermine a nuanced argument pointing in a very different direction.

Merriam Webster added 'they' as a non-binary pronoun. Here's a brief history of gender neutral pronouns

These identifiers are nothing new and have actually been used throughout the history of literature.