5 February 2005
Saturday 5 February 2005 22:30-23:00 (Radio 3)
Ian McMillan presents the weekly magazine about language.
Programme details
Programme details for The Verb February 5th 2005
Broadcast at 22.30 - 23.00
This week's Verb is a short programme, but it is packed with language, life and incident.
IAN McMILLAN talks to NICHOLAS OSTLER, author of 'Empire of the Word', a new book which examines world history through rise and fall of languages. Ostler traces the spread of languages across the globe, and explains some of the different ways in which they take hold. It is not a simple story. Alexander the Great's conquests took Greek to India, for a short period. Phoenician traders gave the world the alphabet which became Hebrew and Greek, but Phoenician entirely died out; military or economic or power might spread a language, Ostler argues, but cultural prestige may determine its survival. The French revolution, he claims, undermined the French language. And he confronts Ian McMillan with the prospect of the decline of English - to be overtaken in a few generations by Hindi, Arabic, Urdu and Chinese. What will become of our beloved tongue?
'Empire of the Word' is published on Feb 28th, by Harper Collins
Also on this week's programme, there is a new drama, 'House Arrest' by TOM RAY. Through this gripping and powerful short play about a man with severe learning difficulties left alone in a house, Ray explores the contrast between his character's innocent inner life and its devastating outward effects. He talks to Ian about how living with physical disabilities inspired the piece - he describes his own body as 'marginally viable' - and talks about the will to live in defiance of his limitations.
And there is a new eartoon from The Verb's sound artist, the cartoonist, musician, writer and performer PETER BLEGVAD. In the week when scientists revealed that birds are much more intelligent than has been commonly believed, Peter, in the guise of 'Static in the Attic, the two halves of the self divided' takes two sidelong looks at birdsong, bird mimics and mimicking birds.
