The History of English Podcast

During the decade of the 1640s, England was divided by Civil War. At the same time, the sound of letter of U was also experiencing its own division, ultimately resulting in two distinct ‘long’ sounds and two distinct ‘short’ sounds. In this episode, we explore those developments and examine how the English Civil War shaped the English language.

As we conclude our look at the 1630s, we explore the events leading to Civil War in England and the expansion of the English colonies along the eastern coast of North America. We also examine the evolution of syllable stress in English and the variation in stress patterns in Modern English.

In this episode, we explore the first large-scale migration of English settlers to North America in the early 1600s. The settlers arrived in the newly established Massachusetts Bay Colony. We explore the events that led to this migration, and we also explore the linguistic connections between New England and East Anglia in eastern England.

In this episode, we explore the influence of seafaring on the English language in the early 1600s. We also look at events in the latter half of the 1620s, which included the first permanent English settlements in the Caribbean. This period saw the arrival of Charles I as the new king of England and Scotland, so we also examine his early reign and his repeated conflicts with P...

In this episode, we explore two important developments in North America. First, we examine the legendary story of the Pilgrims’ arrival in New England in 1620 and the establishment of the Plymouth Colony. Secondly, we examine the creation of the Dutch settlement in modern-day New York and New Jersey, and we explore how Dutch influenced early American English. We also examine ...