| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (59 min. 8 sec.) ; 358683304 bytes |
| Summary |
*Coarse Language*Language is what defines humans from other species, and with our planet home to around 7,000 different languages, words have played a crucial role in our evolution. Renowned wordsmith and host of this series, Stephen Fry, is the perfect guide for this fascinating exploration of language in all its forms: from cutting edge linguistic research to the glories of world literature. The series travels the globe as Fry takes viewers on a journey through the thousands of years since man first mastered speech to the cyber world of today with its HTML, codes and texting. Revealing how language is used, abused and continues to evolve, Fry's Planet Word looks at whether we are any closer to understanding the most complex activity of the human brain.What is it that defines us? In the second episode Stephen argues that above all, it's the way we speak. Be it a national language, a regional dialect or even class variation - we interpret and define ourselves through our language.From markets in Kenya, to call centres in Newcastle, Stephen charts the shifting patterns of lingua franca and the inexorable spread of Globish (global English). As many of the world's 6000+ languages are threatened with linguicide, Stephen seeks out examples of this rise and fall.In Ireland he learns how TV soaps are keeping the Irish language alive; whilst in Southern France, Provencal and other languages are struggling to survive after 200 years of suppression by Parisian orthodoxy and the heavy hand of the Academie Francaise.But even amidst the imminent death of some, other languages like Basque, survive whilst Hebrew in Israel is reborn. Variety is the spice, and in Bradford poet Ian McMillan teaches Stephen the subtle variations of dialect, whilst in Norwich he finds his ultimate sense of identity in the chants of his beloved football team, the Canaries.PRODUCTION DETAILS:A Sprout Pictures production |
| Event |
Broadcast 2012-03-18 at 21:30:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: M |
| Subject |
Acade?mie franc?aise.
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Basque language.
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Hebrew language -- Revival.
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Multilingualism -- Study and teaching.
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Occitan language -- Dialects.
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Yiddish language -- Study and teaching.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Davidson, John-Paul, director
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Fry, Stephen, host
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