In a well-known example of the linkages among language, culture and politics, Noah Webster compiled his much-touted dictionary in 1806 to free America from linguistic and cultural dependency on Britain and to forge a thoroughly “American” political identity. Like Shakespeare before him who made fun of the many idiosyncrasies of English spelling and pronunciation, Webster…

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.— Hebrews 13:8 (NIV) We recently transitioned from full time work in the town where we raised our children to retirement in a new city where we knew few people. All my daily routines shifted and there were many disorienting changes like new bank and utility…

92 year old Mrs. Grace Farley sat nested in her mossy brown suede-covered recliner chair – electric remote in hand to raise or lower her legs or back. In a second floor room with large window high above the garden lawn that sloped away from the home, her bright intelligent eyes darted to me as…

50th High School Reunion 10th reunion 8_22_1978 Rough and Ready 1 I’ve scanned the program cover to a musical Canajoharie High School produced, “Rough and Ready,” as well as a couple of things of interest to maybe just a few of us 1968 graduates.

Recently, Hernan Diaz, a well-spoken young man in command of at least three languages that he happened to mention did a fascinating segment on The New Hours (IMHO) about accent prejudice, specifically stigmatization of accent in English. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/we-stigmatize-accents-but-language-belongs-to-everyone As a linguist, I know that some of my older colleagues pride themselves on being able to…

When we were separated by 12,000 miles and 12 months from June 1975 to June 1976, Mike and I wrote hundreds letters (yes, snail mail letters on thin aerogram paper). He was in a grueling internship in the huge and busy Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, and I was in graduate school in Albany,…

Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp Randall Fraser and Jou Ying — both are audacious heroines of current blockbuster TV series: “Outlander” in the English-speaking world and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” in the Chinese-speaking world. Perhaps I am the ONLY person in the world currently watching BOTH series. So far I’ve seen all of Outlander Seasons 1 through…