The Great Vowel Movement (with Onnalee Kelley)

Phonies

This week on Phonies, Mari is joined by Leslie Kumquat (Onnalee Kelley), a historian of the English language and one who chooses her words very carefully. She blows our minds explaining her gifts for seeing words, fallen vowels and The Great Vowel Shift, how the Vikings created the English language, how romantic the letter “f” is and how horrible the letter “p” is, how diphthong is a diphthong, the Fire of 1666, and how the Queen told people to figure their shit out and start writing things down. Plus, Mari offends her, which was to be expected. Leslie even reads some early excerpts of the English language and shares an early rap! We are the history™