Geoffrey Nunberg

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg considers why actors adopt foreign or regional accents in film -- and why they sometimes speak in their natural voice, regardless of the part they play.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg tries to untangle the convoluted syntax of the Star-Spangled Banner.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg considers why actors adopt foreign or regional accents in film -- and why they sometimes speak in their natural voice, regardless of the part they play.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg considers the strange uselessness of foreign language phrase books for tourists and travelers.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg considers the use of the word "legend," which he believes ascribes too much importance to what could more accurately be described as "fame."

Linguist Geoff Nunberg believes that the American disdain for foreign language education is a holdover from our isolationist past -- and a detriment to our culture.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg tries to untangle the convoluted syntax of the Star-Spangled Banner and Pledge of Allegiance.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg considers which phrases and slang from the 1960s endured, and which ones sound dated today.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg reviews the current Broadway production of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, which stars Peter O'Toole, who, says Nunberg, turns the play from a fairy tale into a farce.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg unpacks worries about different kinds of cultural and technical illiteracy--which he believes could more accurately be described as ignorance. Nunberg says we should be more concerned with the often overlooked problem of functional illiteracy.