Hard words, best words words in use, writing the inventory of english

English, as its vocabulary confirms, is constantly on the move - both words and meaning act as witnesses to time and change, revealing the diverse pathways of contact and conflict with other nations, as well as changes in culture and identity. Please Note: Technical difficulties interrupted the recording. We apologise for this disruption. This talk, by Lynda Mugglestone, Professor of the History of English and Fellow and Tutor in English at Pembroke College, looks at the history of the English language, examining not only the ways in which it changes (and continues to change), but also the challenges of trying to represent English in dictionaries, not least since popular notions of 'the dictionary' often tend to assume that it is a simple and non-problematic entity, neutrally telling us 'the truth' when we look up words and meanings.