Lynne Murphy: How the English Language is changing

From proficient to efficient: the changing English language

This talk looks at the ways in which written style has changed over the past century or so, making different use of the grammatical possibilities that English offers. What it lacks in length, it makes up for in information and informality. And it leaves us with a whodunnit mystery. Who or what is making English  pithier? Is it editors? Americans? Social media? 

Is English  shrinking? Probably, yes. But maybe not in the way you were thinking.

Lynne Murphy is  Professor of Linguistics and Head of the Department of English Language and Linguistics  at the University of Sussex. She runs the blog Separated by a Common Language under the username Lynneguist, and has written five books.