English Language Studies

From NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/science/study-finds-literary-mood-reflects-previous-decades-economy.html?_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/science/new-light-on-the-roots-of-english.html?_r=0

http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-02-05/across-several-languages-people-are-opting-um-over-uh

A recent study is suggesting just that:
http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2015/01/22/o-canada-in-new-orleans/

An informative article in the New York Times from a few years ago, written by Guy Deutscher, considers the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in light of new evidence:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

This article suggests a number of places in Britain to visit if you are interested in the history of the English language:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/56688/11-places-visit-tour-english-language

The “recency illusion”, a term coined by Stanford University Professor Arnold Zwicky, names the fact that we believe that if we have just noticed a linguistic phenomenon, it is of recent origin (even though it may be very old). Here are some words that have been with us with their contemporary meanings for much longer than you might think:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/01/words-much-older-than-you-think-language

An historian of the English language would be able to explain the reasons for all of the variant pronunciations in this poem, but it would require considerable expertise. You can have fun trying to read it out loud.
http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2011/12/23/english-pronunciation/