What is language? -- When language began -- How language changes-- sound change -- How language changes-- building new material -- How language changes-- meaning and order -- How language changes-- many directions -- How language changes-- modern English -- Language families-- Indo-European -- Language families-- tracing Indo-European -- Language families-- diversity of structures -- Language families-- clues to the past -- The case against the world's first language -- The case for the world's first language -- Dialects-- subspecies of species -- Dialects-- where do you draw the line? -- Dialects-- two tongues in one mouth -- Dialects-- the standard as token of the past -- Dialects-- spoken style, written style -- Dialects--the fallacy of blackboard grammar -- Language mixture--words -- Language mixture-- grammar -- Language mixture-- language areas -- Language develops beyond the call of duty -- Language interrupted -- A new perspective on the story of English -- Does culture drive language change? -- Language starts over-- Pidgins -- Language starts over-- Creoles I -- Language starts over-- Creoles II -- Language starts over-- signs of the new -- Language starts over-- the Creole continuum -- What is Black English? -- Language death-- the problem -- Language death-- prognosis -- Artificial languages -- Finale-- master class.