by Heather on January 16, 2010
Recommended Read
Abley, Mark. The Prodigal Tongue: Dispatches from the Future of English. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2008. [ISBN-13: 978-0-679-31366-3]
Take a moment to be astonished at how much English has changed in the 600-odd years since Langland wrote Peirs Plowman:
In a somer sesun, whon softe was the sonne, I schop me into a shroud, as I a scheep were; In habite as an hermite unholy of werkes Wente I wyde in this world wondres to here;
Or how about the difference 1000 years can make? Here’s a passage from Beowolf:
Him þa ellenrof andswarode, wlanc Wedera leod, word æfter spræc, heard under helme: “We synt Higelaces beodgeneatas; Beowulf is min nama. Wille ic asecgan sunu Healfdenes…”
It really is amazing how much English has changed. And if you think it’s hard to suss out Langland’s words, think about how much harder it would be for him to understand ours. While his spelling is a little unconventional to our eyes and a couple of his words rather tricky, we can figure out most of what he writes. Consider, though, if Langland tried to make sense of words like sashimi, Hawaii, email, doppelganger, genome, NATO, or pizza.
In The Prodigal Tongue Mark Abley gives us a peek at what the future of English might look like. He explores the ways that English is evolving in Asia, where it’s spoken by a couple of hundred million people and more are learning it every day. He considers the phenomenal rate at which new words enter English from other languages, especially in cosmopolitan cities like L.A. where, according to U.S. census information, 57.8 percent of people speak a language other than English at home. The appetite among young Japanese people for new English expressions is driving rapid and radical change in the Japanese language and gets a chapter of its own. Add to these discussions chapters on how hip-hop, technology, and science fiction are affecting English and you have one of the most interesting books about words that I’ve read in the past year. I highly recommend checking this one out.
by Heather on September 28, 2009
Yesterday, while many logophiles had a lovely time schmoozing with authors and publishers at Word on the Street, I and my adventurous parents chose instead to head out on one of Heritage Toronto’s historic walking tours. They were able to lure me away from Word on the Street because this particular tour was led by the charming and witty Maureen Jennings—author of, among other works, the Murdoch mysteries, which are set in Victorian Toronto.
The walk, Murdoch’s Toronto: Fact into Fiction, took us through Cabbagetown and Corktown and transported us to 1895. As in her books, Jennings shared with us the social relationships and economic realities of the working classes and the poor. Toronto society was moralistic and often condescending at the time: paupers were blamed for their own destitution, teachers who wore rational dress were labeled prostitutes, women doctors weren’t permitted to use the title before their names, and the poor stuck working in the house of industry weren’t allowed to speak…pretty much ever.
If you’re interested to know more about what the day-to-day life of regular Torontonians was like back then and you enjoy a good yarn, let me recommend that you give Jennings’s compelling Murdoch mysteries a try. The first title in the series is Except the Dying.
And here are a few more interesting things I learned about 1895 Toronto while on the tour:
- How to break up with your beau: Fold your card in half and send it to him in an envelope. He’ll get the message.
- How to effectively beat someone with a truncheon: I’m not sure I should tell you this…what if one of my entries annoys you?
- How to score cocaine: Summon the doctor to your home.
- How to annoy the chief of police: Be a scorcher (aka a cyclist). How is it that a century later we still haven’t found a sensible way to share the road?
- How to steal a purebred dog to ransom: Trail a bitch in heat past his yard and be patient.
- How to spend a free night in Toronto: Just ask the police to take you in. You needn’t commit a crime–they’re obliged to put you up and feed you!
- How to break up with a lady: This is not permitted. Either stick it out or risk a criminal charge of “seduction.”
To wrap up an informative tour on a gorgeous afternoon, we adjourned to the Dominion Pub, where we ordered pints and where Maureen Jennings was kind enough to sign my copy of Except the Dying: [click to continue…]
by Heather on June 17, 2009
Ever wondered what the dark, secret side of your city looks like? I do all the time and love to read mysteries set in Toronto like those written by Maureen Jennings, Vivian Meyers, and Pat Capponi. So when I saw that one of the Luminato events was called Gothic Toronto: Writing the City Macabre, I knew I had to attend.
While waiting outside for the doors to open, I picked up one of the chapbooks for sale at the event and was delighted to get my copy signed by each of the authors present.
The readings took place in the Music Gallery, a onetime church in the heart of downtown, and its glowing stained glass and small dimly lit nave set the mood for the readings. Let me share with you a small bit of each writer’s story and leave you some linky breadcrumbs to follow in case you want to read more of their work. [click to continue…]
