1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so much 3 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: for tuning in. Let's give a big shout out in 4 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:38,159 Speaker 1: the English language to our super producer, mister Max Williams. 5 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,159 Speaker 2: What'sh there? They are? 6 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: There, they are. That's mister Noel Brown. I am Ben Bullen. 7 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: We are coming to you in a language called English. 8 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, the English language, Modern English. Like the band We're 9 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 3: gonna stop the world and melt with all of you. 10 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: There it is, there, it is, and that's an amazing 11 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: thing to do, because language itself is amazing one of 12 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:09,120 Speaker 1: the cornerstones of all advanced human life. There are thousands 13 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: of languages, as we know, and many of them are 14 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:17,040 Speaker 1: mutually unintelligible. But it's when you think about it, language 15 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:21,680 Speaker 1: is the bedrock of society. Coupled with the absolutely Bonker's 16 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: idea of writing stuff down, you guys, language is something 17 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: like time travel, teleportation, telepathy, and necromancy all tied up 18 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 1: and one thoroughly ridiculous bow. 19 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 2: I had no idea. It was so spooky, Ben. 20 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: It's a little spooky, right, you know. Think about it, Noel. 21 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: The last time you read a piece by your favorite 22 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: dead author. That person from beyond the grave is communicating 23 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: directly with you. 24 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's true. I mean that is sort of the nature. 25 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 3: You always talk about the game of telephone. That is history, 26 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 3: but that applies to language as well, because language does 27 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 3: not exist in a vacuum. It was created by people 28 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 3: over the course of time, and it is an evolutionary 29 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 3: thing in and of itself. 30 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 2: And sometimes the medium is the message. 31 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 1: Oh very Marshall mcluan of you. Yeah, the medium is 32 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,080 Speaker 1: the massage. Shout out to that book and apologies to 33 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 1: the library. And I stole that from back. 34 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 2: In the days. 35 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: So this week's series, Noel, we are exploring one language 36 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,880 Speaker 1: in particular. It's the one we're speaking now. Spoiler. It 37 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:37,799 Speaker 1: is a paradoxical, piratic mixtape, all kinds of weird mismashed sounds. 38 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: They're represented by an arcane collection of specific, squidly and 39 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 1: straight lines with a little handful of sprinkling, a dab 40 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: and a dash of punctuation marks. Collectively, we call this weird, 41 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 1: weird thing the English alphabet. 42 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 3: So why don't we take this episode and I think 43 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 3: maybe a second episode to discuss exactly how this English 44 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 3: language alphabet specifically thing came about. 45 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, let's see how we got there, and maybe, just 46 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: for a treat, we might talk about the future as well. 47 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:24,399 Speaker 1: All right, right, okay, so what the heck is an 48 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: alphabet to begin with? I think it's fair for us 49 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 1: to say, to understand the English alphabet, we have to 50 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: understand the again cartoonishly bizarre idea of writing things down right. 51 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 3: At its most basic level, all in alphabet is is 52 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 3: a set of you know, pictures to pictographs, I guess right, drawings, characters, 53 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 3: brushstrokes as in the case of Japanese characters, you know, 54 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 3: where there really is an art to it, and it's 55 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 3: very bespoken, handmade. That can of course be the case 56 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 3: with other alphabets as well. This is used to represent 57 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 3: in some cases actual concepts, you know, ideas, whole words 58 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 3: and phrases. But on its most basic level, in alphabet 59 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 3: is designed to represent the phonemic structure of a language. So, 60 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 3: in other words, certain lines and curves that comprise these 61 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 3: different characters are designed to let the reader know what 62 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 3: sound they're supposed to make out their mouths. 63 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,719 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, you nailed it. And then it also lets 64 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:38,160 Speaker 1: you know what context occurs. How does this R sound 65 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 1: or how does this M or this in or this 66 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: B sound exist on its own, and how does it 67 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 1: tie into other sounds indicated before or after it. It's 68 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:53,840 Speaker 1: an amazing process, especially when we realize how quickly this 69 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: happens for practiced readers, you know what I mean? Like, Oh, 70 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: we should also mention since we love etymology. The origin 71 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 1: of the English word alphabet is not technically from English. 72 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: It's a bit of a portmanteau, arriving from the first 73 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 1: two letters of the Greek alphabet alpha and beta, and 74 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 1: they stole that from somewhere else. As we'll see, it 75 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: was first used in its Latin form alphabetum, by a 76 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:28,480 Speaker 1: guy named Tertullian and a guy named Saint Jerome because 77 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,279 Speaker 1: he was one of the very many saints of the 78 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: Catholic Church. 79 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 3: Yes, but not all alphabets are created equal. 80 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 2: There are some that have way more symbols than others. 81 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 3: There's some that really kind of thrive on sort of 82 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:42,599 Speaker 3: an economy of language type model. 83 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 2: Modern English. The idea not the band, but also the 84 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:47,280 Speaker 2: band is. 85 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 3: A Latin script alphabet comprised of twenty six characters, but 86 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 3: some writing systems take a different approach to, you know, 87 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:01,840 Speaker 3: kind of creating this written mishmash sounds yeah yeah. 88 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 1: For instance, let's consider the alternative system of the syllabary. 89 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:11,479 Speaker 1: An example of this would be the Cherokee language. Written 90 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:16,919 Speaker 1: symbols there are meant to represent syllables of sound, and 91 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: to your earlier point, Noel Japanese language uses at least 92 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: one form of syllabic writing as well. The oldest system 93 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 1: of writing anything is what we call the logogram from 94 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 1: the Greek logos or word and gramma quote that which 95 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: is drawn or written Chinese. To the earlier point, that's 96 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 1: a great example of this. Idiograms characters that represent full ideas, 97 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: and then you see earlier examples of this like the 98 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,280 Speaker 1: Egyptian hieroglyphs or Quinea form. 99 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 3: However, the biggest difference is that the symbols in an 100 00:06:54,640 --> 00:07:01,839 Speaker 3: alphabet and syllabic systems they represent sound directly. They don't 101 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 3: in and of themselves have any meaning, unless, of course, 102 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 3: you're using them as like exhibits like ABCD, etc. You 103 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 3: can of course use them that way. So you could, 104 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 3: for example, read the letter B and think, well, I 105 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 3: see that letter in a lot of things, but on 106 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,679 Speaker 3: its own without any other letters. It is just a sound. 107 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 3: I'm going to need a little bit more than that 108 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 3: to communicate an entire idea or thought. 109 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 1: Just so, and if we look at the ancient history, 110 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: we'll see that writing is humanity's principle technology even now, 111 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: for collecting, manipulating and story data and transmitting information. It 112 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:46,160 Speaker 1: is a crazy idea. It's classic human So it's no 113 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:49,320 Speaker 1: surprise we talk a lot about parallel thought. It's no 114 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: surprise that this concept was invented or discovered multiple times 115 00:07:55,280 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: independently in the Near East, in China and throughout Mesoamerica. 116 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 2: That's right. 117 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 3: The Cunia form script, you know, collection of characters that 118 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 3: was created in Mesopotamia aka present day Iraq circa thirty 119 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 3: two hundred BCE, was very very first to the party, 120 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 3: the language party, and it's also the only writing system 121 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 3: that can be traced to actual prehistoric roots. Like its 122 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,679 Speaker 3: earliest prehistoric origins, first writing was used as a tool 123 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 3: in order to help aid in things like math, and 124 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 3: that earliest form of writing itself actually dates back to 125 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:39,320 Speaker 3: an eighth millennium BCE system of numbers using clay tablets 126 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 3: clay tokens consisting of multiple different shapes. So why don't 127 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 3: we go to our buddy, James Wright, an editor over 128 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:51,599 Speaker 3: at International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences. 129 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 2: James Wrights rights, he does do that, Ben, he does 130 00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 2: emailed it. Give us James writing, Ah. 131 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:06,679 Speaker 1: Yes, So James Wright says that you can trace, like 132 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: you were saying, Noel, the invention of kinea form over 133 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:15,439 Speaker 1: a period of ten thousand years, from the prehistoric predecessor 134 00:09:15,559 --> 00:09:19,560 Speaker 1: to the present day alphabet, and James sees it as 135 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: a division of four phases of evolution. First, you have 136 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:27,839 Speaker 1: the clay tokens we mentioned earlier, and they represent units 137 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:32,319 Speaker 1: of goods. There are three dimensional tokens. People are literally 138 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:37,319 Speaker 1: handing these back and forth. Then they get transformed into 139 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:43,840 Speaker 1: two dimensional pictographic signs representations of the tokens without actually 140 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: needing to have the tokens. And again, for cartoonishly long 141 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: amount of time, this script was just very counting. It 142 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:57,960 Speaker 1: was just for nerds. It didn't change until much later 143 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 1: when they started using phonetic signs to talk about the 144 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:07,400 Speaker 1: names of individuals in that civilization. That's right, and like 145 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,680 Speaker 1: those clay tablets we talked about the tokens. The pictographic 146 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: script we're talking about now actually served a very specific 147 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: kind of mathematical purpose in the practice of accounting, and 148 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:22,440 Speaker 1: that's from thirty five hundred to three thousand bcees, so 149 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 1: it's a pretty ancient profession being an accountant. We had 150 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 1: phonetic signs that were introduced then to transcribe the names 151 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 1: of individual people. That marked a very important turning point 152 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: when writing started to actually emulate sounds, those phonemes that 153 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 1: we were talking about the way we hear language spoken. 154 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 1: And as a result, this kind of became applicable to 155 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:50,680 Speaker 1: things beyond just counting. It became applicable to expressing all 156 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:53,960 Speaker 1: manner of thoughts and ideas. With two dozen letters each 157 00:10:54,080 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 1: representing a single vocal sound, the alphabet perfectly represented a 158 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: rendition of human speech. It was able to do a 159 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 1: pretty good job of that. 160 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:10,200 Speaker 3: So after these concepts that we've kind of previously outlined ideography, logography, 161 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:13,080 Speaker 3: I think I got that right, and syllabarries, this new 162 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 3: alphabet really was a massive step forward into integrating much 163 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:26,079 Speaker 3: much more advanced ways of communicating ideas into a written form. 164 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: One hundred percent, that's right. 165 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 2: Right. 166 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: Until this is going to happen often. 167 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:41,199 Speaker 2: It's gonna Yeah. 168 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,959 Speaker 1: So until the third millennium BCE or so, as we 169 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: were saying, writing is for accounting, and it really changes 170 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:55,480 Speaker 1: as war, spiritual minded people in Sumerian civilization start using 171 00:11:55,920 --> 00:12:02,319 Speaker 1: some form of visual depiction or engraving for funerary inscriptions. 172 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:06,600 Speaker 1: At every step in this evolution we see a steady 173 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 1: progression in the abstraction of data. So you start off saying, 174 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: here's a way to write, you know, the number seven. 175 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:17,640 Speaker 1: Here's a way to write the number four, and if 176 00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:19,920 Speaker 1: you take four from seven, here's a way to write 177 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:25,600 Speaker 1: the number three. Now we are talking about increasingly complex ideas, 178 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: all of which eventually lead us to the alphabets we know, recognize, 179 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 1: and practice today. So what happens next? How do we 180 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,839 Speaker 1: get to the How do we get from a bunch 181 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:41,440 Speaker 1: of nerdy boffins who are very good at numbers to 182 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 1: the modern alphabet. We've got some steps along the way. 183 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 2: That's right, the rise of the English alphabet, building on 184 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 2: this foundation created by our ancient predecessors. 185 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:57,320 Speaker 3: The very first widely used alphabet adjacent ish esque thing 186 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 3: was developed by Semitic peoples, the Phoenicians. Does that make 187 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:06,959 Speaker 3: Does that ring any bells? Anybody phonetics Phoenicians about seven 188 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,760 Speaker 3: hundred years later, right, consisting of twenty two letters, all consonants. 189 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 3: At this point, this Semitic language spread all throughout the 190 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:19,720 Speaker 3: Mediterranean region, and that includes the Levat, North Africa, Southern Europe, 191 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:23,920 Speaker 3: and the Iberian Peninsula. The Greeks at this point built 192 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:28,520 Speaker 3: further on Phoenician alphabet by adding vowel sounds. Remember we 193 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:32,079 Speaker 3: only previously had consonants. 194 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 2: That's exactly very guttural, right, that would create a guttural thing. 195 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 2: And if you think about it, the vowels are what. 196 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 3: Makes language a little more mollifluous, right, a little more 197 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:42,079 Speaker 3: melodic beautiful. 198 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, that only happens about seven fifty BCE. The are Pals, 199 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 1: the Greeks, they took letters from this Phoenician alphabet ish 200 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:58,200 Speaker 1: thing and they said, look, these these certain symbols represent 201 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: stuff that does not exist in Greek speech. So we're 202 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:05,640 Speaker 1: going to change them, and we're going to make them 203 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:10,840 Speaker 1: our new vowels, our predecessors of aeio U. And sometimes 204 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: times why sometimes sometimes why why is it tricker? What 205 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: this is the creation of the first true alphabet, meaning 206 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: both vowels and consonants are explicit symbols in a single script. 207 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: In the early years, we already see fragmentation. There were 208 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: so many variants of the Greek alphabet, and as a result, 209 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: many other different alphabets evolved from these differing systems. We 210 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: see this time and time again. Dude, everybody wanted a 211 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: single system of language, but they all wanted it to 212 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:49,440 Speaker 1: be the one they had made. 213 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:53,520 Speaker 2: What could go wrong, what could go wrong, and many things. 214 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 3: It turns out the Latins that later were known by 215 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 3: the Romans, of course, you know, with their sandals and whatnot, 216 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 3: they were super into this idea and they you know, 217 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 3: this is another language thing that happens, a lot of pinching, 218 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 3: you know, picking and choosing from other cultures and other alphabets. 219 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 2: They did this from the Greeks, as they did with 220 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 2: lots of other things. We know. The Romans were notorious 221 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 2: idea thieves, but they did. 222 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 3: You know, they did improve a lot of things, wouldn't 223 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 3: you say, Ben, But they're spin on it. 224 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 2: Yeah. 225 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:27,120 Speaker 1: Yeah. They also looked at Etruscan civilization and they said, 226 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,440 Speaker 1: we like what those folks are doing. Let's take this 227 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: Grecian alphabet and let's add the letters F and S 228 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: just like our friends down the way, and ancient Latin 229 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: did not have the letters G, J, V or U 230 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,400 Speaker 1: as they will call it, W, Y and z. But 231 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: by about the third century CE, the Roman alphabet started 232 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: to look very similar to what we would call modern English. 233 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: They had every letter except for J U or V 234 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: and W and V and you just by the way 235 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: ridiculous historians, V and you have a cartoonish shared history. 236 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:16,200 Speaker 1: Both were used throughout the Middle Ages, and until relatively 237 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 1: recently they were considered a single letter, so you kind 238 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 1: of had to read on context. That's why every Dan 239 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: Brown esque Indiana Jones esque film you see that has 240 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: old Latin. 241 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 4: Is it a V? 242 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 2: Is it a W? 243 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: That That's why people were just freestyling exactly right. 244 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 3: The history of writing in Britain actually, however, begins with 245 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 3: the Anglo Saxons, and that was in the fifth century CE. 246 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 3: They had significant ties to Scandinavia and other cultures from 247 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 3: the North Sea regions. The ancient Anglo Saxons had a 248 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:59,680 Speaker 3: form of writing called oh my goodness futhorc. 249 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: You gotta say it with your chestthorp. 250 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:09,840 Speaker 3: It's like a rodos yes just right, dragon shouts shout out. Indeed, 251 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 3: this k of dragons shout out. It was a It 252 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 3: totally is, man, It's a runic language. That's what the 253 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 3: dragon shouts were. If you've ever played the game, which 254 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 3: is a lot of fun, although it pisses me off, man, 255 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 3: because I'm at a place again where I'm gonna have 256 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 3: to start over because I've gotten to a game breaking 257 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:29,200 Speaker 3: place in my save and my old saves are too old, 258 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 3: and I just am not gonna I don't know if 259 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:32,399 Speaker 3: I'm gonna do it. 260 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 2: Man, I love the game so much, but it keeps 261 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:34,640 Speaker 2: letting me down. 262 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,919 Speaker 1: It's okay, you'll always end up being a stealth archer. 263 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:40,119 Speaker 2: That's true. I am a little bit of a you 264 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:40,440 Speaker 2: know that. 265 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:47,000 Speaker 1: Where the game takes you. I mean, flexible ruines kept 266 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: getting added to this foothork and when what we see 267 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 1: is a pretty stunning evolution. Fouthort just appeared in England 268 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: with twenty six character and by the time it went 269 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,720 Speaker 1: out of fashion around the eleventh century Common era, it 270 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 1: already had thirty three characters total. So people kept adding 271 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 1: rooms to depict abstract ideas. And you know, around this 272 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:19,919 Speaker 1: time too, there's event diagram always happens with language. So 273 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: if we go back from the eleventh century to the 274 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:28,000 Speaker 1: seventh century. We'll see that the Latin alphabet was introduced 275 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:32,760 Speaker 1: by Christian missionaries and it began to take hold. The 276 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 1: first formal list of all the letters or all the 277 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:41,479 Speaker 1: symbols or characters in the Old English alphabet comes around 278 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: ten eleven CE. It had a lot of the hits. 279 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:47,080 Speaker 1: It had a lot of the hits. 280 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:48,120 Speaker 2: That's right. 281 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 3: It included all of our modern English letters, including j, 282 00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:58,160 Speaker 3: U or V and W. This wasn't a modern alphabet yet. However, 283 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:00,720 Speaker 3: we do want to give a show out to everyone 284 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:05,040 Speaker 3: who's encountered this firsthand in high school, in your high 285 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:09,359 Speaker 3: school classroom, or perhaps in college, where students may still 286 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:12,480 Speaker 3: to this day be forced to read the likes of Beowulf, 287 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:15,240 Speaker 3: which I think is pretty cool. He's got a monster, 288 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:20,159 Speaker 3: it's got a muscle man, our hero, Beowolf. But the 289 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:24,120 Speaker 3: language is a bit let's just call it not a challenging. 290 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,720 Speaker 2: Isn't even the right word? Yeah, Ben, Yeah, no. 291 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:33,960 Speaker 1: I propose that we collectively prank ourselves and Max get 292 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: in on this if you want. But we have included 293 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:40,960 Speaker 1: a written Old English sample of the first part of 294 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,320 Speaker 1: BeO Wolf. So here's what I'm thinking we'll all get 295 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:47,919 Speaker 1: a little of this. Let's read part of it, and 296 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:50,520 Speaker 1: let's just do our best. A lot of these characters 297 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 1: are unfamiliar, and then right after we will play a 298 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: clip of someone reading it accurately. Sound good. 299 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:03,200 Speaker 3: Oh gosh, I love this game so much. Right, Okay, Ben, 300 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 3: you found this. You gotta start. 301 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:12,120 Speaker 1: Okay, here we go. What the gardana ingarda gum singa 302 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:17,960 Speaker 1: berm garfernoon wo die please eiliing frem. 303 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 2: Okay, what are you like? The the arm from twin Peaks. 304 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 2: It sounds like you're reading backwards. I am the arm. 305 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:31,760 Speaker 5: Off sklid scaffing, scappiana, pritum monogum magpum made us said, 306 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 5: flash off your eggs soda. It's like sounds like Latin 307 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:41,600 Speaker 5: eggs oda er la siur and nearest weird the s 308 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 5: funding he pas pro frey gibod Vaux underwelcoming. 309 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, let's do it all right, back you doing, you 310 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:52,000 Speaker 1: do it so we all get it? 311 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:58,800 Speaker 6: Yeah, welcome underwelcoming, paw odd pat him egg. 312 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 4: Well yes, the betting dra just power through it. 313 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:05,880 Speaker 1: Bro. 314 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 7: I'm gonna offer hot not hind boom ban hot wow, 315 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,960 Speaker 7: good scion. 316 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:21,399 Speaker 4: It actually gets easier to keep keep going, keep going. 317 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 4: That was the end. That was. 318 00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:28,280 Speaker 1: All right, the arm yes, so we we hope you 319 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 1: enjoyed that, folks. Clearly we're having the time with it. 320 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,439 Speaker 1: We're gonna take just a second and play, uh a 321 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,919 Speaker 1: rendition of those lines as the boffins say they're supposed 322 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: to sound. Are we ready? 323 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 7: Yest way, God, Dana and your dog. 324 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 2: We did a perfect job. 325 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 4: Whiss chilled shaving. 326 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:59,479 Speaker 1: We don't have the guitar, want to go through off eggs. 327 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,879 Speaker 4: So the old loss suit an artist? 328 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 1: Pretty good, pretty good. 329 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:15,680 Speaker 2: Hey, that's throw about him. That's my favorite word, right there? 330 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:17,400 Speaker 4: A shooter. 331 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:23,679 Speaker 2: That was good, That was good. 332 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,200 Speaker 1: All right, we're so good. 333 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:32,840 Speaker 4: No, that is not what that line says. 334 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,320 Speaker 3: That was good signing right there, boys, let me tell 335 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 3: you what that is not. 336 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:40,600 Speaker 1: How it's written, like well done, well done. 337 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:43,520 Speaker 2: Other than that line, I think I was absolutely perfect. 338 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 2: So you were spot on. All thank you you're seven 339 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 2: all right. 340 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:51,359 Speaker 1: Tough crowd, tough crowd. 341 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:53,600 Speaker 2: I give you a nine to five then, thank you, sir. 342 00:22:53,720 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 1: I appreciate that. I will pay you in bed bucks. 343 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,520 Speaker 1: We can already tell you, guys, this is not the 344 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: English most people speak today. And I'm sorry that I 345 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: keep go fiing and giggling and stickert at this, but 346 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:15,640 Speaker 1: I love that we were able to explore that with 347 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: with our audience. To get to modern English, we got 348 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:22,440 Speaker 1: to go through Middle English. And this is still weird, 349 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:27,480 Speaker 1: still weird, still very weird. This is a period of 350 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:33,000 Speaker 1: English development that we owe largely to warfare, the Norman invasion. 351 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 3: That's right, Shortly after the olding the Chaphabet was first 352 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,840 Speaker 3: writ down writ large and or small. 353 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 2: The Normans invaded. 354 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:44,959 Speaker 3: Ten sixty six CE, and English as a language was 355 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 3: then at this point considered something of a I don't know, 356 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:54,640 Speaker 3: a feature of the low. The low bore nobility, clergy, scholars, 357 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 3: and other top dogs. They were speaking in Latin, that 358 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:03,719 Speaker 3: was the fan. The lads used to speak Norman or Latin. 359 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 3: But by the thirteenth century, when writing in English began 360 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 3: to become a bit more prominent, the language started to 361 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:14,080 Speaker 3: reflect this these centuries of Norman conquest and rule. 362 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, old English letters that used to be just for 363 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 1: the poor and the hoi poloi, things like tharn and 364 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 1: eight were replaced by the sound t h and then 365 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:30,680 Speaker 1: ving or win eventually became. 366 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:38,080 Speaker 3: Uh or w right and the other English letters were jettison, no, 367 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 3: no need go home. Get yeah, I don't even go home, 368 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 3: just jump in a well for all it. And this 369 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:46,639 Speaker 3: stuff is definitely still challenging. 370 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:48,399 Speaker 2: And as we're going to see with I know what 371 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,640 Speaker 2: you pulled here, Ben, I know this body. 372 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:55,520 Speaker 3: Bits mitt it's your favorite part. It's so fun to say, 373 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 3: and it really does. Remember we were talking about, like, 374 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:01,640 Speaker 3: you know, a language composed entirely or largely of consonants 375 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:06,600 Speaker 3: is gonna have this gruff, like absolutely grinding grading kind 376 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:08,840 Speaker 3: of quality. But when you introduce a lot of these 377 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:12,840 Speaker 3: these you know, vowel sounds, you get a very sing 378 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,680 Speaker 3: songy thing, and this Middle English really does kind of 379 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:19,119 Speaker 3: drive that home. What we're talking about, of course, is 380 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 3: Chaucer's famous work that you were also probably forced to 381 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:26,200 Speaker 3: read excerpts of in school, The Canterbury Tales. 382 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, and we are we are clearly delighted with 383 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: some big Friday energy to share with you our and 384 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 1: excerpt from our favorite part of The Canterbury Tales, which 385 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,480 Speaker 1: was never completed. No, here's what I think. Let's have 386 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: you just for the fun man, let's have you give 387 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,920 Speaker 1: us the excerpt from the Miller's tale the sauciest bit 388 00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:54,920 Speaker 1: in Middle English and the max if we could lean 389 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 1: on you, maybe give us the modern translation. 390 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:00,720 Speaker 3: Ben, that's so generous, it makes be very happy. I 391 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 3: swear my big weird Friday energy will not go to waste. 392 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: And again, folks, this is the Middle English version. You 393 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,679 Speaker 1: can still hear the rhyme, but please listen carefully as 394 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:14,159 Speaker 1: Noel continues. 395 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 3: Yes, and listen for the dirty innuendos. 396 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 2: There we go the window. She on death, and that 397 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:27,080 Speaker 2: in haste have to quote she come off and speed 398 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:32,480 Speaker 2: the faster, lest that our neighbors the espie a spy. 399 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:38,680 Speaker 8: Perhaps this absalom Gan whippy, his mouth full dry Dirk 400 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:43,080 Speaker 8: was the night as peach or as call. And at 401 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 8: the window out she put down here hole and absalom 402 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:52,920 Speaker 8: him feel no better anywheres. But with his mouth he 403 00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 8: Kisseda here naked airs. 404 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:59,280 Speaker 1: Air spelled e R s S. 405 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 2: Get the vibe. It was a big mistake he aired 406 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:04,639 Speaker 2: in kissing her naked ass. 407 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:07,680 Speaker 1: And I don't want to you know. It's very I'm 408 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,000 Speaker 1: going to be honest with you guys, very difficult for 409 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:14,400 Speaker 1: me as a nerd to not jump in and finish 410 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,680 Speaker 1: this in Middle English but so everyone understands as we're 411 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: getting to the English alphabet. Luckily, our super producer Max 412 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,119 Speaker 1: has his own big yes and energy. Max, could you 413 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:29,840 Speaker 1: give us the modern English translation of what we just heard, 414 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:33,840 Speaker 1: and please please lean into the most ridiculous voice possible. 415 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 6: Accents are okay, the windows, she undoes, and that in haste, 416 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:43,479 Speaker 6: get done with it, said she Come on and hurry 417 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 6: up lest our neighbors as be thee. 418 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,320 Speaker 4: I guess we don't have a translation for that one. 419 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:50,840 Speaker 1: Power through it. 420 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:56,840 Speaker 7: But this ab so lone wiped his mouth very draw 421 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:02,520 Speaker 7: doc with the night as pitch or as the coal, 422 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:10,280 Speaker 7: and at the window out she put her hole and 423 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 7: absolon to keep him happen dead, no better nor worse. 424 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:23,320 Speaker 4: But with his mouth he kissed herd naked ass. 425 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:24,960 Speaker 1: A plus ap plus. 426 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,400 Speaker 2: I don't know what that voice was, Max, I love it. 427 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 1: It sounds like it terrified. It's a I'll tell you 428 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:35,160 Speaker 1: who it is. It's a guy from the northern Peninsula 429 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 1: of Michigan who's talking to the afternoon regional news. 430 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 3: I think it's a dude who finds us on our 431 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:43,720 Speaker 3: canoe trip in the woods and tells me I got 432 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:45,680 Speaker 3: a pretty mouth, right. 433 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:50,760 Speaker 6: I think it's your super producer trying to read a 434 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,480 Speaker 6: English translation of Gipperish. 435 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 2: You know, hey, we get We get the gist though, guys. 436 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 3: It's says she sticks her out the window and make 437 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 3: some kiss kiss her on it, right in the right, 438 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 3: in the whole. 439 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: Oh, I'm so fabulous because you have racy stuff, chaucer, 440 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: you scamp, but butt jokes aside. We can clearly I'm 441 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: not above it. 442 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 2: We can. You're believing it. In fact, yes, I'm up 443 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:20,760 Speaker 2: there with it. 444 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:23,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, we could clearly see and hear the similarities in 445 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:27,800 Speaker 1: Middle English. Right, we're off to the races linguistically. Yet no, 446 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: old fellow ridiculous historians, we are not quite done. Middle 447 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:36,239 Speaker 1: English is already the result of thousands of years of 448 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: warring cultures and translations and mistranslations and invasions. It still 449 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:46,320 Speaker 1: needs one more revolution to reach what we call modern 450 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:51,240 Speaker 1: English today. And this time the revolution is not warfare. 451 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: The revolution is technology. 452 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, and the revolution will not be televised, but it 453 00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:59,080 Speaker 3: certainly will be broadcasts in a sense. 454 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:04,920 Speaker 1: Yes, we are going to learn more about the invention 455 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: of the printing press, and we will do that in 456 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:13,640 Speaker 1: the second part of our weird exploration of the English 457 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:18,600 Speaker 1: language and how it became a thing. No, Uh, you 458 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: and I are on the road pretty often, and uh 459 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 1: we have as everybody knows, we have a great love 460 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:30,280 Speaker 1: of museums and libraries. And I gotta tell you still, man, 461 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,880 Speaker 1: I am baffled by Old English, like I am baffled 462 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:36,560 Speaker 1: by Beowulf. And I think we did an okay job 463 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:37,080 Speaker 1: reading that. 464 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:38,840 Speaker 2: Oh it was a delight to do it. 465 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,880 Speaker 3: Ben, Would you say that there are some similarities between 466 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:46,520 Speaker 3: Old English and Welsh? Yes, Like there's a lot of 467 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:50,360 Speaker 3: those same weird phonemes that exist, and a lot of 468 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:52,240 Speaker 3: like extra consonants and stuff. 469 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:54,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a lot of Uh, there's a lot of 470 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 1: script and uh sound the script to sound when you 471 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:02,120 Speaker 1: look at it? You think you get there, buddy. As 472 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:07,720 Speaker 1: as I've probably mentioned too often, I am still phenomenally 473 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:12,160 Speaker 1: baffled by the way the Welsh used the letter F. 474 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 1: That's one, there's two f's And. 475 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 2: What is it for? What is it? What is it 476 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 2: good for? A for sure? 477 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: And speaking of F words, thank you so much to 478 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:30,120 Speaker 1: everyone for tuning in joining us for part two of 479 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:34,520 Speaker 1: the English Alphabet. Speaking of our favorite F word, big 480 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:38,240 Speaker 1: big thanks to our pal Jonathan Strickland ak the quister. 481 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:43,640 Speaker 1: Yeah Baby Jay, big big thanks of course as well 482 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 1: to our super producer and newest favorite voice actor, mister 483 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: Max Williams. 484 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:51,000 Speaker 2: Thanks to Alex Williams who composed our theme. 485 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,960 Speaker 3: Christopher Aciotis needs the chef codes here in Spirits and 486 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 3: uh geez, well, we'll keep a short This is a 487 00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 3: two part we can think the rest of them part two. 488 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 3: Thanks to you Ben for your linguistic sojourns and spelunkings 489 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:07,480 Speaker 3: into the topic of the English alphabet and the wherefores 490 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:10,360 Speaker 3: and the whys and the how tos of its creation. 491 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 1: Yes, yes, uh vos who held to you which apparently 492 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:16,960 Speaker 1: means being good. 493 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:20,720 Speaker 2: Health and with hughes as well. Then we'll see you 494 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:21,480 Speaker 2: next time, folks. 495 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:32,320 Speaker 3: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 496 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:34,520 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.