The Language of 1776

In 1776, Americans were not only fighting for political independence but also creating the conditions for new, distinctly American ways of speaking. Linguist Anne Curzan explores the state of the English language in the richly multilingual context of 18th-century America. Curzan traces the birth of Americanisms such as maize, backwoods, and bluff. She also illustrates how patterns of immigration shaped the American accents and dialects heard across regions and social groups today.