Episode 188: Old England and New England
Summary
This episode explores the 1629 King James Bible’s role in distinguishing the letters J and V, alongside the emergence of contractions like "it's" and "y'all." It details the Puritan migration to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, driven by religious persecution and economic hardship in East Anglia. The host explains how these settlers established town-centric communities, naming places after their English origins, which influenced the traditional non-rhotic New England accent.
Topics discussed
Introduction: Mass migration to Massachusetts Bay Colony
Orthography: Distinguishing I/J and U/V in the 1629 Bible
Puritan dissent and economic hardship in East Anglia
Founding of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Maine
Linguistic shifts: New contractions like it's and y'all
Robert Cotton's library and the Magna Carta
The Great Migration and settlement patterns in New England
Dialect features: Non-rhoticity and vowel shifts from East Anglia
Grammar and vocabulary: Tarnation, do, and shared terms
Shared vocabulary: Housen, teeter-totter, and rural speech
Listen ad-free on Castria