Kate Burridge

Kate Burridge is Professor of Linguistics in the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics (Monash University) and a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. Kate has authored / edited 22 books on different aspects of language, focusing on grammatical change in Germanic languages, the Pennsylvania German spoken by Anabaptist communities in North America, the notion of linguistic taboo and the structure and history of English. She is a regular presenter of language segments on radio and TV.

Workshops ( Years 11 & 12 ): Linguistic change: from manuscript to internet

Language change does not occur at a constant rate. As the history of English shows, there are times of speeding up and of slowing down. When reading and writing became educational necessities, this had the effect of retarding, even reversing, normal processes of change. These days, however, writing no longer has the same hold on our minds and changes that have been lurking in the wings now have a far greater chance of taking hold.