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The History of the English Language Podcast
The History of the English Language Podcast episodes
- The Long Story Behind English Comparatives: From Old‑English '-er' to Modern 'More'
Explore how English’s comparative forms evolved from the Old‑English suffixes -er and -ost to the modern ‘more X’ construction, tracing phonological shifts, social pressures, printing standardization, and dictionary influence. The episode traces key moments—from Chaucer’s patchwork usage to Samuel Johnson’s codification—and explains why those changes still echo in everyday speech.
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16 min - The Etymology of Anger: From Old Norse Roots to Modern Usage
In this episode we trace the word "anger" from its Old Norse origin, through Middle English and Shakespearean use, to its appearance in early dictionaries and its role in today’s digital culture. We explore how a single borrowed term survived linguistic shifts, shaped by scholars, printers, and online communities.
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17 min - Th‑Fronting: How One Sound Shift Reshaped British English
Explore the th‑fronting shift that turns /θ/ into /f/ or /v/, from its roots in London’s Cockney and Estuary English to its spread via media, tech, education and branding. We examine how a single phonetic tweak became a cultural marker and a global linguistic phenomenon.
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17 min - The Vanishing Final Schwa: How Middle English’s Silent e Reshaped Poetic Rhythm
In this episode we trace the disappearance of the final schwa from late fourteenth‑century London, its impact on Chaucerian meter, and how spelling survived while pronunciation vanished. We explore the interplay of printing technology, the Great Vowel Shift, and standardization that left a legacy in modern reading habits.
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16 min - Law & Language: Tracing the French Vocabulary of English Courts
Explore how Norman, Latin, and French roots became the backbone of modern English legal terms—from ‘plaintiff’ to ‘subpoena’—and why that heritage still matters in today’s courts.
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16 min - Contractions: The Silent Rebels That Shaped Modern English
Discover how contractions evolved from early manuscript marginalia to a staple of printed and digital language, tracing the influence of printers, prescriptive grammarians, dictionaries, and AI assistants.
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17 min - Turnpike: From Medieval Spikes to Modern Toll Roads – The Etymological Journey
Explore how the word turnpike evolved from a medieval spiked gate to today's digital toll systems, tracing its roots in Middle English and its spread across Britain and America through trust legislation, rail competition, and technological change.
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15 min - Cutting Up English: How Greek Roots Shape Modern Anatomy
From the candlelit dissections of the Renaissance to today's digital medical databases, this episode follows the journey of anatomical terms rooted in Greek and Latin. We explore how Vesalius, the printing press, and modern technology kept these words alive—and why that precision still matters across borders.
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13 min - From Bazaar to Caviar: The Persian Loanwords that Shaped Modern English
Explore how a handful of Persian terms—bazaar, caviar, carafe, sari, pajamas, saffron, cardamom, mint—traveled through Arabic scholars, Ottoman merchants, and colonial India before embedding themselves in English. We trace their routes, the cultural forces that made them stick, and what they reveal about commerce, cuisine, and cross‑cultural exchange.
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18 min - Brunch: From Victorian Portmanteau to Global Brand
The episode traces the birth of "brunch" in 1895, its journey from London cafés to New Orleans diners, and how social media turned a simple meal into a worldwide brand. We explore how a single portmanteau captured a cultural shift and became part of English’s living economy.
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15 min
About The History of the English Language Podcast
From the publisher's feed
The History of the English Language Podcast, hosted by Josh Linsk, explores how English developed from its earliest roots into one of the world’s most widely spoken languages. Each episode traces the people, migrations, invasions, cultures, technologies, and historical events that shaped English vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, spelling, and everyday speech.
The podcast follows the language through Old English, the Anglo-Saxon period, Viking influence, the Norman Conquest, Middle English, the Great Vowel Shift, Early Modern English, Shakespeare, the printing press, colonial expansion, American English, and the rise of English as a global language. Along the way, it examines where words came from, why meanings changed, how accents developed, and how English absorbed influences from Latin, French, Norse, Greek, and many other languages.
From ancient word origins to slang, dictionaries, dialects, literature, pronunciation, and modern language change, The History of the English Language Podcast brings together linguistics, history, etymology, culture, and the evolution of English for anyone fascinated by how the language became what it is today.