Patricia T. O'Conner on Shakespeare's English

The Leonard Lopate Show | Jul 17, 2012

Our word maven Patricia T. O'Conner Discusses Elizabethan speech—the language that Shakespeare and his actors used, circa 1600, and how it was originally pronounced, which sounds similar to the English spoken by Americans and by the Irish today. She’ll also answer questions about language and grammar. An updated and expanded third edition of her book, Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English, is available in paperback, as is  Origins of the Specious, written with Stewart Kellerman.

We're playing clips from “Shakespeare’s Original Pronunciation: Speeches and Scenes Performed as Shakespeare Would Have Heard.”

If you have a question about language and grammar, leave a comment or call us at 212-433-9692!

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