| Other author/creator | McCrum, Robert. |
| Other author/creator | MacNeil, Robert, 1931-2024 |
| Other author/creator | Cran, William. |
| Other author/creator | British Broadcasting Corporation. Television Service. |
| Other author/creator | Meridian Education Corporation. |
| Other author/creator | MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. |
| Other author/creator | International Tele-Film Enterprises. |
| Other author/creator | Visual Education Centre. |
| Other author/creator | Films for the Humanities (Firm) |
| Other author/creator | Films Media Group. |
| Other author/creator | Kineticvideo.com (Firm) |
| Contents |
Program 1. An English-speaking world (58 min.) (36923-K) -- Program 2. The mother tongue (58 min.) (36924-K) -- Program 3. A muse of fire (59 min.) (36925-K) -- Program 4. The guid Scots tongue (58 min.) (36926-K) -- Program 5. Pioneers! O Pioneers! (59 min.) (36928-K)-- Program 6. Black on white (59 min.) (36927-K) -- Program 7. The muvver tongue (58 min.) (36929-K) -- Program 8. The loaded weapon (59 min.) (36930-K) -- Program 9. The empire strikes back (59 min.) (36931-K). |
| Abstract |
A work of profound scholarship and powerful storytelling from host Robert MacNeil, this classic nine-part PBS series remains one of the great narratives of linguistic studies. Steeped in history, geography, sociology, and political drama, The Story of English has little to do with dictionaries, official documents, or highbrow literature. It is a tale of language used for immediate needs--in street talk, popular entertainment, war, and trade--and it covers more than a millennium of civilization's ebb and flow. Vividly capturing a sense of global dynamics, the series travels to 16 countries and across 5 continents as it follows the evolutionary path of the first worldwide language. Series item number 36922-K.--from publisher. |
| Abstract |
Program 1: English is a language spoken by two billion people, perhaps even more. This program examines the prevalence of English in the world today and presents a historical overview of its rise. Focusing on the expansion of the British Empire and the emergence of English-language mass media, the program explains how widespread English usage survived Britain's post-WWII decolonization, particularly in India and Africa. It also examines the impact of American--and especially Californian--English, which has arguably become standard. Interviews with William Safire and Gloria Steinem provide insight into Americanization and the linguistic influence of feminism.--from publisher. |
| Abstract |
Program 2: The making of English is the story of three great invasions and a cultural revolution. This program shows how an early form of English was carried to Britain by invading Anglo-Saxons, how that language was all but obliterated by waves of Viking settlers, and how it was reshaped by the French-speaking Normans. The fact that English survived on the lips of people who left no written records is made clear in the program; however, the nascent literary history of the language is also presented--how it emerged in the first English plays, developed in the printing achievements of William Caxton, and flowered in the poetry of the first great English writer, Geoffrey Chaucer.--from publisher. |
| Abstract |
Program 3: As the landscape of the New World awakened England's imagination, so did a new landscape of words--in the English of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible. This program describes the spread of English to North America and explains how Shakespeare's prodigious vocabulary filled the language with startling new words, phrases, and constructions. Recording strong echoes of Shakespearean English in the little villages lying near Stratford, the program also describes the making of the Authorized Version of the Bible--the only great work of literature ever created by committee--and examines the linguistic dissent perpetrated by the Puritans.--from publisher. |
| Abstract |
Program 4: The Scottish tongue is one of the oldest in Britain, a Northern variety of English that, but for the accidents of history, might have become a separate language. This program deals with the influence of the Scots in spreading the language of their historic enemies--the Sassenachs of the South--around the world. The program begins in the 15th century, the golden age of the Scottish tongue; it follows the linguistic path of the Scots as they settled in Ulster and then crossed the Atlantic into Appalachia and the American sunbelt. A look at the English of the Scottish Highlands is also included, studying the influence of the Gaelic languages that still survive on the Outer Hebrides.--from publisher. |
| Abstract |
Program 5: Both westward expansion and 19th-century immigration affected the development of a uniquely American English. This program tells the story of that burgeoning dialect, from the Revolutionary War to the 1920s. Beginning with the Declaration of Independence, the program depicts the determination of American radicals--dictionary author Noah Webster among them--to achieve linguistic as well as political separation. While the urban, immigrant-laden Northeast is rightly viewed as a linguistic pressure cooker, the western frontier is portrayed as no less dynamic--thanks to fur traders, riverboat pilots, gold miners, Spanish-speaking cowboys, Native Americans, and the railroad.--from publisher. |
| Abstract |
Program 6: Gullah--the African-influenced dialect of Georgia's Sea Islands--has undergone few changes since the first slave ships landed 300 years ago, and provides a clear window into the shaping of African-American English. This program traces that story from the west coast of Africa through the American South, then to large northern cities in the 1920s. Studying the origins of West African pidgin English and creole speech--along with the tendency of 19th-century white Southerners to pick up speech habits from their black nursemaids--the program highlights the impact of WWI-era industrialization and the migration of jazz musicians to New York and Chicago.--from publisher. |
| Abstract |
Program 7: In the 19th century, English spread throughout the British Empire--but which English? This classic PBS program traces the roots of white Commonwealth English to Cockney, the language of London's working class. Explaining the influence of Cockney on modern, standardized speech, the program shows how, in fact, the accents of BBC English are gradually becoming modified by Cockney speech characteristics like the glottal stop. Resemblances between the accents of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and the Falkland Islands are also explored, highlighting major aspects of the colonial language--along with traces of aboriginal tongues nearly eclipsed by English.--from publisher. |
| Abstract |
Program 8: The Irish experience reflects two language traditions, English and Gaelic. This program shows how English was first established in Ireland in the 17th century and how, in cases of violent cultural conflict, language can function as a weapon. Exploring the west of Ireland today, the program identifies traces of Irish Celtic culture, despite the historical decline of the Gaelic tongue. Typical Irish accents in Cork are examined, with examples containing strong echoes of Elizabethan speech. The impact of Cromwell's rule and the catastrophic famines of the 1840s--both of which forced many Irish into exile, further distancing them from their native language--is also studied.--from publisher. |
| Abstract |
Program 9: Will standard English, as it was known in the 20th century, disappear? Will English continue as the global tongue, or will its numerous varieties become, as offshoots of Latin did, a host of mutually unintelligible languages? This program features new varieties of English that have transcended British and American influence. The program focuses on some of the most successful examples of "New English," including Jamaican creole, the English of India, and the pidgin of Melanesia, brought to Papua New Guinea by maritime trade. The program concludes with the possibility that the world's first global language will endure alongside its unrecognizable descendants.--from publisher. |
| General note | "Films Media Group: Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Cambridge Educational, Meridian Education, Shopware."--Disc label. |
| General note | Originally broadcast on PBS in 1986. |
| General note | "FFH36923-K to FFH36931-K"--Containers. |
| Technical details | DVD-R. |
| Language | Closed captioned for the hearing impaired. |
| Genre/form | Documentary television programs. |
| Genre/form | Television programs for the hearing impaired. |
| Genre/form | Video recordings for the hearing impaired. |
| Genre/form | History. |
| Other title |
Cambridge educational. |
| ISBN | 9781421360867 (series) |
| ISBN | 1421360861 (series) |
| ISBN | 9781421360874 (Program 1) |
| ISBN | 142136087X (Program 1) |
| ISBN | 9781421360881 (Program 2) |
| ISBN | 1421360888 (Program 2) |
| ISBN | 9781421360898 (Program 3) |
| ISBN | 1421360896 (Program 3) |
| ISBN | 9781421360904 (Program 4) |
| ISBN | 142136090X (Program 4) |
| ISBN | 9781421360911 (Program 5) |
| ISBN | 1421360918 (Program 5) |
| ISBN | 9781421360928 (Program 6) |
| ISBN | 1421360926 (Program 6) |
| ISBN | 9781421360935 (Program 7) |
| ISBN | 1421360934 (Program 7) |
| ISBN | 9781421360942 (Program 8) |
| ISBN | 1421360942 (Program 8) |
| ISBN | 9781421360959 (Program 9) |
| ISBN | 1421360950 (Program 9) |
| Publisher number | 36923--36932 Films for the Humanities & Sciences |
| Technical rpt number | 1357234 |
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