in this episode, hubert devonish introduces the idea of language planning, comparing it to urban planning in the way both shape how communities live and interact. together, he and cecile emeke explore how language informs personal and collective identity, with a focus on black british english and jamaican patois. they discuss generational shifts, the political stakes of language in jamaica, and the role of education in addressing these issues. the conversation highlights the push for a standardized writing system and technical vocabulary, framing language as not only a tool of communication but also a matter of justice, rights, and cultural representation. woven throughout are personal reflections and cultural insights that ground the dialogue in lived experience.

00:00 Navigating Language and Identity

03:01 Reflections on Age and Experience

05:58 Cultural Connections and Cricket

08:54 Political Dynamics and Language in Jamaica

12:00 Language Planning and Its Implications

14:51 The Case for Jamaican as an Official Language

17:52 Understanding Language Structure and Writing Systems

33:03 The Complexity of Vowel Systems

36:11 Establishing a Standard Writing System

38:19 Variability in Jamaican Grammar

41:31 The Challenge of Vocabulary Development

49:53 Corpus Planning and Language Efficiency

56:46 The Importance of Technical Terminology

01:01:18 Language Planning in the Modern Context

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