The History of English Podcast
The Spoken History of a Global Language. A chronological history of the English language, examined through the historical events that shaped it.
1 question answered · 6 episodes indexed
Recent episodes
Jun 30, 2026 · 1h 20mEpisode 190: Union, Division and Unusual USet against the English Civil War of the 1640s, this episode explains how the letter U split into several distinct long and short sounds. Kevin traces the origin of the difference Apr 30, 2026 · 1h 23mEpisode 189: Stressed OutWraps up the 1630s with the run-up to the English Civil War and colonial expansion along the North American coast, then looks at how syllable stress has shifted in English and why Feb 27, 2026 · 1h 24mEpisode 188: Old England and New EnglandFollows the early 1600s migration of English settlers to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and explores the linguistic ties between New England and East Anglia, showing how regional EngDec 31, 2025 · 1h 13mEpisode 187: Islands and SeaLooks at how seafaring vocabulary entered English in the early 1600s, alongside the settlement of the Caribbean and Charles I's early clashes with Parliament.Oct 31, 2025 · 1h 26mEpisode 186: A Dutch TreatCovers the Pilgrims at Plymouth and the Dutch settlement of what became New York and New Jersey, and documents the Dutch words that made their way into American English.Sep 1, 2025 · 1h 18mEpisode 185: Spelling Says a Lot (Part 2)Continues the survey of early 1600s letter sounds from K through Z, tracing how each sound changed through the Modern English period and what that means for pronunciation today.
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