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MAKING WORDS
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Program 09-10-18-A |
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There's something magical about making words. Ask any parent what their baby's first word was. Chances are they'll remember. Words are what set us apart from all the other animals. And they're endlessly fascinating. In this hour of To Best of Our Knowledge we'll meet a variety of people dedicated to the well-chosen word: from a woman who worked for thirty years with a grey parrot named Alex, to a linguist who's fluent in Klingon.
SEGMENT 1:
Patricia O'Conner is a former editor at "The New York Times Book Review" and the author of "Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English." She tells Jim Fleming that what Americans think of as a British accent is a fairly recent development. Also, Roy Blount Jr. is a humorist, word maven and the author of "Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words and Combinations Thereof; Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips and Secret Parts, Tinctures, Tonics and Essences; With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory." He tells Anne Strainchamps about the title of this program.
SEGMENT 2:
Dan Everett went to the Amazon as a young Christian missionary and became captivated by the Indian people he'd come to convert and their totally unknown language. He describes his time with them in a book called "Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes," and talks with Steve Paulson about the Piraha culture. Also Arika Okrent is a linguist and the author of "In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Logian Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language." She tries her Klingon out on Jim Fleming and explains why people make up languages.
SEGMENT 3:
Irene Pepperberg teaches animal cognition at Harvard and is an associate research professor at Brandeis. For thirty years, she worked with a remarkable grey parrot named Alex. She's chronicled their relationship in a book: "Alex & Me: How A Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence – and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process." Pepperberg talks about her work with Alex with Steve Paulson, and we hear recordings of them at work.
CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 09-10-18-A.
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| Roy Blount Jr. Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof; Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips and Secret Parts, Tinctures, Tonics, and Essences; With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory (FSG) | |
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Patricia T. O'Conner Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's
Guide to Better English in Plain English (Riverhead Books) |
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| Irene M. Pepperberg Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence - and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process Collins | |
| Daniel L. Everett Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle Pantheon |  |
| Arika Okrent In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language Spiegel and Grau |  |
- Arika Okrent website
http://arikaokrent.com/ - Patricia T. O'Conner website
http://www.grammarphobia.com/books_woe.html - Roy Blount Jr. website
http://www.royblountjr.com/
- after O’Conner: Respighi:
Spring (from 3 Botticelli Pictures) Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/Neville
Marriner EMI CDC 7 47844 -2 after Blount: Beyond Six String, Harp Guitar
Music, James Kline, “Theme from Redwood Variations HGM CD 001 www.harpguitarmusic.com
- after Everett: huayucaltia Amazonas “Apurimac
Sikuri” ROM Records ROM 26012
- after Okrent: Dohnanyi: Serenade in C Major, Op. 10,
Romanza-Adagio non troppo, quasi andante
- after Pepperberg: Respighi: “The Birds” Prelude Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/Neville Marriner EMI CDC 7 47844 -2
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