Why Does English Sound the Way It Does?

English, like all other languages, changes over time and varies according to place and social setting. The way a person sounds — such as with the southern drawl or dropping their r's — immediately conjures up a sense of the place where they come from. But how we speak is influenced by many factors: not only our geographical roots, but our social and educational background, our working environment, our friends, our sense of identity and even our political views all affect how we sound. In this lecture, we will examine English dialects and accents from around the world and how they changed over time. We will wonder what Shakespeare sounded like and how we can know that. We will observe how English speakers can manipulate the way they speak to emphasize their identity. 

Asya Pereltsvaig received a degree in English and history from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a PhD in linguistics from McGill University. She taught at Yale, Cornell and Stanford universities and has taught in lifelong education programs since 2010. Her expertise is in language, culture and history, and the relationship between them. Asya has published five scholarly books with Cambridge University Press. 

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people ages 50 and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

Register

Register by Jan. 13, at 3 p.m. PST