Scotch Literature Festival 2007 > Kate
Prof. Kate Burridge
Kate Burridge completed her undergraduate training in Linguistics and German at the
University of Western Australia. This was followed by three years postgraduate study at the University
of London. Kate is Professor of Linguistics at Monash University, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy
of Humanities. Her main areas of research are grammatical change in Germanic languages and the structure
and history of English. Kate is a panel member on ABC TV's Can We Help and also a regular presenter of
language segments on ABC Radio.
So is this like where English is heading?
(Year 11 & 12)
The clues to how our language is developing are all around us in the infinite variation
that is part of everyday speech - the "slipshod" pronunciations, mistakes in grammar, coinages, new-fangled
meanings and so on. These are the basis for real change. The majority of them will drop by the wayside, but
some will catch on, be used more and more and will eventually form part of the repertoire of Standard English.
New forms on the increase are more prevalent in younger speakers, whereas forms on the way out are more apparent
in older speakers. So where is our language heading now - what clues do today's voices from the classroom provide?
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