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Language A to Z
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
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Publisher's summary
Linguistics, the study of language, has a reputation for being complex and inaccessible. But here's a secret: There's a lot that's quirky and intriguing about how human language works-and much of it is downright fun to learn about. But with so many potential avenues of exploration, it can often seem daunting to try to understand it. Where does one even start?
In these twenty-four 15-minute lectures by one of the best-known popularizes of language, you'll discover a delightful way to get accessible, bite-sized introductions to language. Using the English alphabet as a unique, offbeat way to approach the subject, Professor McWhorter has crafted a hopscotch tour of some of the field's major topics, hot-button issues, and more.
You'll learn why it can actually be OK to use slang like "LOL." Why English speakers don't use words like "thou" and "thee" anymore. What makes "mama" and "papa" a child's first words-in many languages. How popular rhymes like "Eeny, meeny, miney, moe") actually derive from the words for numbers in an early relative of Welsh. Why "like" is here to stay in common American speech. And much more.
These and other fascinating topics are all delivered in Professor McWhorter's light-hearted yet informative teaching style, which makes this series essential for anyone looking for a welcoming window into the quirks, curiosities, and intricacies of how language works. Filled with humor, whimsy, and no shortage of insights, it's a fast-paced tour of the same territory linguists tread each and every day.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
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Navigating the challenges of long-term commitment takes effort - and it just got simpler, with this empowering, step-by-step guide to communicating about the things that matter most to you and your partner. Drawing on 40 years of research from their world-famous Love Lab, Dr. John Gottman and Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman invite couples on eight fun, easy, and profoundly rewarding dates, each one focused on a make-or-break issue: trust, conflict, sex, money, family, adventure, spirituality, and dreams.
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What the F. Robot-reader???!?!?!
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Complexity
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- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
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In a rarified world of scientific research, a revolution has been brewing. Its activists are not anarchists, but rather Nobel Laureates in physics and economics and pony-tailed graduates, mathematicians, and computer scientists from all over the world. They have formed an iconoclastic think-tank and their radical idea is to create a new science: complexity. They want to know how a primordial soup of simple molecules managed to turn itself into the first living cell--and what the origin of life some four billion years ago can tell us about the process of technological innovation today.
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You won't learn anything you didn't know
- By Dennis E. Alwine on 12-26-20
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Caffeine
- How Caffeine Created the Modern World
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 2 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
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Michael Pollan, known for his best-selling nonfiction audio, including The Omnivores Dilemma and How to Change Your Mind, conceived and wrote Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World as an Audible Original. In this controversial and exciting listen, Pollan explores caffeine’s power as the most-used drug in the world - and the only one we give to children (in soda pop) as a treat.
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Leaves much to be desired
- By Melody H on 02-02-20
By: Michael Pollan
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The Ethical Slut
- A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships, & Other Adventures
- By: Janet W. Hardy, Dossie Easton
- Narrated by: Janet W. Hardy, Dossie Easton
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For anyone who has ever dreamed of love, sex, and companionship beyond the limits of traditional monogamy, this groundbreaking guide navigates the infinite possibilities that open relationships can offer. Experienced ethical sluts Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy dispel myths and cover all the skills necessary to maintain a successful and responsible polyamorous lifestyle.
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The information and advice is 100% totally solid!
- By Troy on 07-28-15
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Call Me Tuesday
- Based on a True Story
- By: Leigh Byrne
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At eight years old, Tuesday Storm's childhood is forever lost when the death of her older sister Audrey sends her family spiraling out of control into the darkest of dysfunction. In the wake of the tragedy, Tuesday's mother, distraught and looking for a scapegoat, singles Tuesday out from her siblings to take on the blame for Audrey's death, and then targets her for unspeakable abuse.
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loved it, so glad she shared her story.
- By Olivia Telles on 05-01-16
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Buddhism for Beginners
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This user’s guide to Buddhist basics takes the most commonly asked questions - beginning with “What is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings?” - and provides simple answers in plain English. Thubten Chodron’s responses to the questions that always seem to arise among people approaching Buddhism make this an exceptionally complete and accessible introduction - as well as a manual for living a more peaceful, mindful, and satisfying Life.
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Amazing introduction to Buddhism
- By chad d on 07-02-15
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Medieval Myths & Mysteries
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The 10 enlightening (and often humorous) lectures of Medieval Myths and Mysteries will show you how far from the “dark” times of legend these centuries were. Uncover the facts about the Knights Templar. Reveal the truth behind the tales of legendary creatures like the Questing Beast and the unicorn. Trace the events of the Black Death and the ways it altered the world in its wake, and much more. With Professor Armstrong, you will dig deep into the ways that later generations reshaped the narrative of the medieval years and perpetuated the myths.
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Interesting, but centered on Britain
- By Ximena on 04-10-20
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The Complete Book of Five Rings
- By: Miyamoto Musashi, Kenji Tokitsu - editor/translator
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The Complete Book of Five Rings is an authoritative version of Musashi's classic The Book of Five Rings, translated and annotated by a modern martial arts master, Kenji Tokitsu. Tokitsu has spent most of his life researching the legendary samurai swordsman and his works, and in this book he illuminates this seminal text, along with several other works by Musashi.
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Best translation I have encountered.
- By DW on 05-27-16
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Mythology: Mega Collection
- Classic Stories from the Greek, Celtic, Norse, Japanese, Hindu, Chinese, Mesopotamian and Egyptian Mythology
- By: Scott Lewis
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- Length: 31 hrs and 37 mins
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Do you know how many wives Zeus had? Or how the famous Trojan War was caused by one beautiful lady? Or how Thor got his hammer? Give your imagination a real treat. This Mega Mythology Collection of eight audiobooks is for you....
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An interesting set of introductions.
- By Kevin Potter on 05-30-19
By: Scott Lewis
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The Price We Pay
- What Broke American Health Care - and How to Fix It
- By: Marty Makary MD
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One in five Americans now has medical debt in collections and rising health care costs today threaten every small business in America. Dr Makary, one of the nation's leading health care experts, travels across America and details why health care has become a bubble. Drawing from on-the-ground stories, his research and his own experience, The Price We Pay paints a vivid picture of price-gouging, middlemen and a series of elusive money games in need of a serious shake-up.
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Very important book!
- By Wayne on 05-17-21
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The Prophet
- By: Kahlil Gibran
- Narrated by: Riz Ahmed
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On the face of it, a simple book of 26 poem fables sharing one man’s wisdom. But The Prophet is so much more than that. It has inspired people from John F Kennedy to The Beatles and became the '60s Bible of counterculture – all because of the timeless truths it shared. Each poem takes a different theme – pleasure, beauty, freedom, joy and sorrow – as the fictional Al Mustapha shares his thoughts and experiences as he prepares to travel back to his island home.
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Riz Ahmed's Narraration Is So Moving!
- By Dee Tree on 09-12-21
By: Kahlil Gibran
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Eating is an indispensable human activity. As a result, whether we realize it or not, the drive to obtain food has been a major catalyst across all of history, from prehistoric times to the present. Epicure Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said it best: "Gastronomy governs the whole life of man."
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I wanted to like this course
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The Foundations of Western Civilization
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Not Engaging or Very Interesting
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Can literature change our real world society? At its foundation, utopian and dystopian fiction asks a few seemingly simple questions aimed at doing just that. Who are we as a society? Who do we want to be? Who are we afraid we might become? When these questions are framed in the speculative versions of Heaven and Hell on earth, you won't find easy answers, but you will find tremendously insightful and often entertaining perspectives.
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A very enjoyable and educational audiobook
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What listeners say about Language A to Z
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Carole T.
- 01-22-15
Gobsmacked!
Now this is something fun and different from the venerable "Great Courses." I love them, but they tend to be considerably longer and more scholarly than "Language A to Z".
Not that Professor McWhorter doesn't know his stuff. He is a speaker who helps put the "great" in these courses! I've listened to more than one of his audios and really respect his knowledge and teaching ability.
Whether or not you are interested in linguistics, I would recommend listening to this course. It goes by in a minute (every lecture is only 15 of them!), and there's lots of pop culture references and interesting revelations about the origins of some of our strangest sayings.
This is a great highway listen - and an enjoyable way to learn something in 15 minutes!
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24 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 06-13-14
A lecture series as entertainment
This is an interesting topic read by a skilled lecturer. No bad stuff happens in it - you won't cry, although you might laugh - and you can forget about politics and global warming and warfare for awhile - and just learn about something that evolves naturally - language. Each lecture is 15 minutes long, so there are no great demands on your time if you can only listen in bits and pieces. Well worth the credit.
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6 people found this helpful
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- kwinebold
- 05-03-14
Trival Pursuit: Language Edition. Loved it!
A quick introduction to the evolution of languages. Fun and fascinating. Definitely going to pick up some more McWhorter. He was a great lecturer/narrator, and the information was almost as much fun as he was.
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1 person found this helpful
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- S. Boyd
- 07-06-16
Wow
Fun, entertaining and very interesting. Heroes a good job at communicating his thoughts and ideas. It's my first book on linguistics so for those more versed in the area you may find it to be very basic. However I absolutely loved it and would enjoy hearing more about linguistics.
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- IngridH
- 05-16-14
Entertaining and Interesting
If you could sum up Language A to Z in three words, what would they be?
Engrossing. Entertaining. Appetite-rousing.
What other book might you compare Language A to Z to and why?
I know of no books or lectures like this collection.
What about Professor John McWhorter’s performance did you like?
Prof McWhorter is fun and entertaining. He has a playful personality and his passion for the subject makes a great subject all the more riveting.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
If only I could have!
Any additional comments?
A lot of fun tidbits, not enough in-depth detail. Too short. Could have easily been three or four times as long and I might still want more. Extremely interesting. I will be re-listening at least once.
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- SamanthaG
- 05-07-14
Just Swell!
That is, to use a term that I learned has almost dropped out of our language to describe something good. So many tidbits of interesting information. What it made me realize is the huge difference between spoken and written language and the relationships between languages that you wouldn't suspect. For instance Maltese, which apparently sounds very much like Italian and uses some Italian words, is more closely related to Arabic, though it uses the Latin alphabet.
As others have noted, this does move very fast and I would probably have to listen again if there were a final exam and I wanted to pass the course. Fortunately, Audible does not have final exams! I may listen again anyway.
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- Winifred Rosen
- 05-06-15
Outstanding!
What made the experience of listening to Language A to Z the most enjoyable?
John McWorter is a brilliant linguist and a positively riveting lecturer.
Who was your favorite character and why?
His knowledge is encyclopedic.
Which scene was your favorite?
He is witty and very hip.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
There isn't a dull moment in the entire series.
Any additional comments?
Bravo!
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- martaelisity
- 07-16-20
Way funnier than expected!
The narrator is a funny guy! It was a delightful listen and truly interesting. I have learned quite much from it.
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- Travis Baublitz
- 08-01-22
Amazingly informative
Professor McWhorter makes learning about a subject like language so informative and enjoyable. Something I never expected or thought I would say about a course on language
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- EmilyK
- 07-06-15
Fun intro to linguistics topics
Great lecturer -- funny, interesting. Worked completely fine as an audio.
I didn’t think I was particularly interested in linguistics but absolutely enjoyed this lecture series, so I would recommend it to any Great Courses fan. It was episodic – more like a podcast – rather than a systematic look at linguistics. In some ways, though, that made it better for listening while commuting, since each topic was well-contained.
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6 people found this helpful