I wrote The language of yoga (part I) over a year ago, and meant to follow it shortly with a “part II”. I’ve said it before, and will say it again (appropriately, for a post about repetition): better late than never! Part I was a historical and etymological dive into Sanskrit. This post takes an…
I was a yoga skeptic for years, until I got pregnant and tried a prenatal yoga class. The teacher was magnificent. I attended once a week throughout pregnancy, and although physically I grew heavier and heavier, each class left me feeling buoyant. After my son was born, I went back for “mama and baby” classes,…
This last post on accents and dialects summarizes an editorial by linguist, academic, and popular writer John McWhorter. McWhorter’s linguistics research focuses on sociohistorical language change and creoles, but he has published multiple articles and books about race relations as well. Here, he tackles a combination of those subjects with Black English (taking a particular…
In this second of three posts on accents and dialects, I summarize a relatively short article about the universality of accents. Article: “Everyone Has an Accent” (The New York Times) Contrary to popular belief, it’s not actually possible to speak a language without an accent. What’s more, our approval of certain accents and scorn of…
