English Just for the Fun of It

I am almost ashamed to say that I was a teacher of English (high school and college) for twenty years. That was work. Now, I can enjoy and appreciate the wild and wonderful language that I used to try to whip into shape. Now, I celebrate a language that resists the efforts of teachers and lawmakers who try to keep it under control. Join me.

Where English Began

Fæder ure, þu þe eart on heofonum, Si þin nama gehalgod. To becume þin rice, gewurþe ðin willa, on eorðan swa swa on heofonum. urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg, and forgyf us ure gyltas, swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum. and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge, ac alys us of yfele. Soþlice.

Yes, we are speaking/writing English. Once I tell you that the þ is the equivalent of modern th, you can probably figure out Fæder ure (Father of ours), þu þe eart on heofonum (Thou that are in Heaven). You can continue with the text here.

Wild and Wonderful English Words

Barack Obama? Hurricanes? Dinosaurs? Our language, English in this case, is fundamental to all of our experience. Enjoy these rambles through the English language:

Barack Obama: A Sinister Candidate for President
How Do Dinosaurs Get Their Names?
Lie or Lay? Sit or Set? Put Your Verbs to Work
Subjects and Verbs Must Agree, Agreed?
Thee, Thou, and You-all: How to Talk to You
Use the Subjunctive Mood of Verbs to Write Precisely and Elegantly
Where Do Hurricane Names Come From?

Prefixes and Suffixes: the Building Blocks of English

How to Enhance Your Vocabulary with Adjective Suffixes
How to Enhance Your Vocabulary with Noun Suffixes
How to Increase Your Vocabulary with Fractional Prefixes
How to Increase Your Vocabulary with Numerical Prefixes
Improve Your Vocabulary with Verb Suffixes
Increase Your Vocabulary with Negative Prefixes
Increase Your Vocabulary with Prefixes with Opposite Meanings
Increase Your Vocabulary with Latin Prefixes
Increase Your Vocabulary with Greek Prefixes
Vocabulary Skills for Home School - and Any School

More Fun with English

I am certainly not the only author - oops, source - on Associated Content to write about language. Of the others, two particularly stand out for me. One, Branwen66 (source page here), draws on a wealth of classical learning to explore the mysteries of mythology, poetry, and language. Another, Linda Louise Johnson (source page here), offers a daily "Vocabulary Vitamin," not so much to challenge her readers as to enlighten them. Both offer knowledge and reading pleasure.

English: Where Will It End?

Who knows? The old language seems to be going strong as the de facto language of the Internet and the legal language of international aviation. Despite those who would imprison the language in arbitrary rules, English manages to keep on growing for the joy but sometimes frustration of its users around the world.

With this celebration of English, I want to point out that our language and our culture are enriched, not threatened, by people from many cultures, many languages, and many lands. I rejoice that Spanish is no longer a foreign language but our second language, and I have enough confidence in our language and ourselves to believe that we do not need ethnocentric "English only" laws. If such a law had been in effect centuries ago, we would still be saying, Fæder ure, þu þe eart on heofonum...