Some time ago now I came across the winged schwa. Now, you must admit, that is something nobody interested in language could possibly ignore. I had to sign up immediately.... and have stayed around.
The reason I find OE so fascinating is that at times it can be so near and other times so far; so articles that bridge the gap linguistically work for me. It’s a bonus if it links to historical content.
Ælfrics Bē manna cræftum looks interesting. Was it the script for a medieval sit com. Only joking . But it doesn’t come across as an epic poem.
So why did some spend time and money to produce it.
Thank you. Your Substack is a real treat. A lot of people on here are mostly reading about politics and have a few subscriptions to special topics of intellectual interest. I am most excited when I see you’ve dropped a new piece, and I would gladly drop all of my political reading if that’s what I had to do to continue reading Dead Language Society. It would be healthier for me too!
FYI - I completely relate to your point about nitpicking and footnotes. I am a nitpicker myself, and it is one of my less gracious tendencies. This tendency has bedeviled me in my (non-academic but highly technical) day job. I have learned the hard way, based on kind feedback, that there is a necessary trade-off between perfect accuracy and readability. When you’re just trying to communicate somethjng to an audience generally less knowledgeable than yourself, readability is far more important. The advice I repeat in my head while I’m writing is, “for the purpose of this document, if something is 90% true, or true more than 90% of the time, it is simply true.” And “footnote it and move on.”
Since I'm old now, I prefer audio. My struggles with the physical; adjusting my head to find the perfect focus line of my reading glasses, the resultant crick in my neck of the same operation, to the totality of my life experience flooding back into my brain while I'm trying to digest the text.
I typically don't read for pleasure. Being a mechanic by trade, having to consume book after book of technical material, has left my desire for reading waning.
I do however, enjoy learning about where our words originate. My interest was piqued many years ago when we had to learn Canterbury Tales for Senior English. We received a whole letter grade extra if we recited it in Old English.
I was always fascinated by why Mrs. Coffee always had us pronounce the 't' in often when no one else did.
My curiosity is triggered when reading the Bible and when a statement is made,
“…, which means …”.
What language are they referring to? Why call it by a foreign name when the text is already translated?
Since you asked: I prefer to read the articles. Reading is my medium of choice. Just sayin'. ;-))
Love having the audio version! I'd really like that to continue.
Speaking of audio - is audiobook Ōsweald Bera still in the works? I need the pronunciation help :)
Some time ago now I came across the winged schwa. Now, you must admit, that is something nobody interested in language could possibly ignore. I had to sign up immediately.... and have stayed around.
All very enjoyable. Thank you.
Congrats on a fantastic first year! Very well deserved. Here’s to many more!
Wesaþ hāl
The reason I find OE so fascinating is that at times it can be so near and other times so far; so articles that bridge the gap linguistically work for me. It’s a bonus if it links to historical content.
Ælfrics Bē manna cræftum looks interesting. Was it the script for a medieval sit com. Only joking . But it doesn’t come across as an epic poem.
So why did some spend time and money to produce it.
Thank you. Your Substack is a real treat. A lot of people on here are mostly reading about politics and have a few subscriptions to special topics of intellectual interest. I am most excited when I see you’ve dropped a new piece, and I would gladly drop all of my political reading if that’s what I had to do to continue reading Dead Language Society. It would be healthier for me too!
FYI - I completely relate to your point about nitpicking and footnotes. I am a nitpicker myself, and it is one of my less gracious tendencies. This tendency has bedeviled me in my (non-academic but highly technical) day job. I have learned the hard way, based on kind feedback, that there is a necessary trade-off between perfect accuracy and readability. When you’re just trying to communicate somethjng to an audience generally less knowledgeable than yourself, readability is far more important. The advice I repeat in my head while I’m writing is, “for the purpose of this document, if something is 90% true, or true more than 90% of the time, it is simply true.” And “footnote it and move on.”
Since I'm old now, I prefer audio. My struggles with the physical; adjusting my head to find the perfect focus line of my reading glasses, the resultant crick in my neck of the same operation, to the totality of my life experience flooding back into my brain while I'm trying to digest the text.
I typically don't read for pleasure. Being a mechanic by trade, having to consume book after book of technical material, has left my desire for reading waning.
I do however, enjoy learning about where our words originate. My interest was piqued many years ago when we had to learn Canterbury Tales for Senior English. We received a whole letter grade extra if we recited it in Old English.
I was always fascinated by why Mrs. Coffee always had us pronounce the 't' in often when no one else did.
My curiosity is triggered when reading the Bible and when a statement is made,
“…, which means …”.
What language are they referring to? Why call it by a foreign name when the text is already translated?
Pursue your passion!
Thanks for the posts, they are a pleasure to read.