Journeying into gender with Words for Granted!

Hot on the heels on my previous podcast appearance, I joined Ray from the popular and long-running etymology podcast Words for Granted to talk about grammatical gender – what it is, why it exists, where it comes from and how English managed to completely lose it!

You can listen to the episode in full here:

The History of the Alphabet: Interview with Danny Bate – Words for Granted – An etymology and linguistics podcast

*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(–header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" tabindex="-1" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:b809e0fb-b7ad-4dbe-93b8-3ddb4110f218-3" data-testid= "conversation-turn-2" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn= "assistant"> In this episode, author Danny Bate walks through the alphabet's evolution from its origins in Egyptian hieroglyphs to the letters of the English alphabet familiar to us today. He explains why English spelling became so irregular, while also arguing that non-phonetic spelling can preserve meaning and help unify diverse English dialects. The conversation also highlights memorable letter histories, including an answer to the question: Why does Q need U?  To learn more about Danny and order his new book, click here.       

1. The History of the Alphabet: Interview with Danny Bate 44:49
2. Lessons on Language with the Grammar Girl (Mignon Fogerty) 31:45
3. The Marvels of Translation: Interview with Keith Khan-Harris 37:50
4. The Power (and Omnipresence) of Rhetoric: Interview with Guy Doza 56:34
5. A Defense of "Bad" English: Interview with Valerie Fridland 50:13

The recording experience was a real pleasure; Ray is a natural host, and asked good questions that gave me the chance to explore some big ideas and even sound half knowledgeable while doing so. Gender is a massive topic and a syntactic phenomenon that I’m personally fascinated by. I’m keen also to share some of it positives and to potray it in a good light, since this might go some way to counteracting a little of the mental pain that it causes learners.

I hope you give the episode a listen and support the show. Any questions, do let me know!