The story of human language
(DVD)

Course guidebooks include lecture outline, timeline, glossary, and bibliography.

Producer, James Blandford ; director, Jon Leven ; academic content supervisor, Pam Greer ; camera, Tom Dooley, Jim Allen, Amanda Carter.

Thirty-six lectures of thirty minutes each by lecturer Professor John McWhorter, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

Language is fascinating. It defines humans as a species, placing us head and shoulders above even the most proficient animal communicators. Professor McWhorter explores many of the common questions about language, such as: Why isn't there just a single language? Or, How does a language change, and when it does, is that change indicative of decay or growth? In short, everything about a language is eternally and inherently changeable, from its word order and grammar to the very sound and meaning of basic words, while word histories reveal the phenomena of language change and mixture worldwide.

DVD.