random ling

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/linguistics-name-calling.

Sticks and bones may break your bones, but names can also hurt you. And language gives us surprisingly many ways to deride, hurt and demean – from a subtly sneering intonation to hurtful and offensive names. How does such language work? And why is there so much of it around these days? Has our acerbic political culture ushered in a new era of name-calling? Or is name calling a phenomenon as old as language itself? John and Ken welcome back linguist and NPR commentator Geoffrey Nunberg, author of "Ascent of the A-Word: Assholism, The First Sixty Years."

The Linguistics of Name Calling

Following a long period in which formal theory dominated the discipline of linguistics, the endangered languages movement has revived and stimulated a keen interest in language description and empirical field research. This has been a wonderfully positive development. However, naïve ideology has led to a plethora of dubious assumptions regarding linguistic fieldwork. These assumptions, which have been accepted at face value without serious question, concern (a) the choice of language to be studied, i.e., it is better to study a small undescribed language than a larger one; (b) the object of the research, i.e., it is better to study a language in its entirety (including its associated culture) rather than focus on specific linguistic phenomena; and (c) the methodological approach to field research, i.e., it is better to collect large quantities of raw data by means of “documentary linguistics” rather than devote time in the field to analyzing materials or testing theories. The purpose of my talk is to challenge these assumptions and show how practices emanating from the endangered languages movement run counter to the tenets of linguistics as a science. I close with constructive suggestions on how to carry out endangered languages field research in a scientifically sound and productive manner.

Paul Newman is regarded as the world’s foremost authority on the Hausa language. His academic career has included positions at Yale University, Bayero University (Kano, Nigeria), Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden (The Netherlands), University of Michigan, and Indiana University, where he holds the title of Distinguished Professor. He has had short-term appointments as Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (Stanford) and the Centre for Linguistic Typology at the  Australian National University (Canberra), as Visiting Professor of African Studies at the University of Bayreuth (Germany), and as Fulbright Specialist in Law at the University of Haifa (Israel).

Law of Unintended Consequences: How the Endangered Languages Movement Undermines Field Linguistics

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/can-speech-kill.

Free speech is one of the core tenets of our democracy. We’re inclined to think that more speech is always better. Although the Supreme Court has outlined some minor restrictions to our right to free speech, the most courts are willing to admit is that speech can lead to violence—it cannot itself do violence. But is it possible for speech to do both? If hate speech is used against a marginalized group, couldn’t the speech act literally do harm? And how does the answer to this question affect our commitment to free speech in a liberal democracy? The Philosophers do no harm with Lynne Tirrell from the University of Connecticut, author of “Genocidal Language Games.”

Can Speech Kill?

Evolving English: Linguistics at the Library Podcast

Episode 1
The first episode of Linguistics at the Library introduces the British Library’s Evolving English Collection, which is a sound archive capturing the diversity of English accents and dialects. Podcast hosts Andrew Booth and Rowan Campbell are working with this archive as part of a PhD placement, and every few weeks will be bringing you a fresh discussion about linguistics and how to identify different accents. 

This week’s ‘What’s the feature?’ used a clip from:

BBC Voices Recording in Newcastle. BBC, UK, rec. 2005 [digital audio file]. British Library, C1190/32/01. Available: http://sounds.bl.uk/Accents-and-dialects/BBC-Voices/021M-C1190X0023XX-0101V0

Interesting links: 
The glottal stop in Glasgow: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/17/glasgow-accent-scottish-dialect-homogenised-london 
The Bristol ‘l’: http://blogs.bl.uk/sound-and-vision/2014/03/bristolian-my-ideal-of-an-idea-dialect.html 
An in-depth look at the Newcastle accent: http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/case-studies/geordie/

Evolving English: Linguistics at the Library - Episode 1

Evolving English: Linguistics at the Library Podcast

Episode 2

In the second episode of Linguistics at the Library, Andrew and Rowan discuss some of the differences between regional accents and ‘RP’ (Received Pronunciation), and why people might feel that they have to change the way they speak to work in certain jobs. Using clips from the British Library’s Evolving English Collection, we look at the concepts of stigma and prestige, and how social factors can influence the way we perceive accents.

Tweet us your questions! @ VoicesofEnglish

This week’s ‘What’s the feature?’ used a clip from:

BBC Voices Recording in Driffield. BBC, UK, rec. 2004 [digital audio file]. British Library, C1190/16/02. Available: http://sounds.bl.uk/Accents-and-dialects/BBC-Voices/021M-C1190X0016XX-0201V0

Interesting links:
Have you experienced discrimination due to your accent? Submit your story to the Accentism Project: http://accentism.org/ 

Peter Trudgill’s piece on modern RP: http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/trudgill.htm 

Social Mobility Commission report: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/less-affluent-kids-are-locked-out-of-investment-banking-jobs

Prejudice against English teachers with Northern accents: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/research-exposes-prejudice-over-teachers-with-northern-accents/

Overt and covert prestige: https://linguistics.knoji.com/language-and-socioeconomic-status-overt-vs-covert-prestige/

Evolving English: Linguistics at the Library - Episode 2

Professor Errington is interested in the linguistic dimensions of social life, ranging from the social implications of patterns of verbal communication, to forms and uses of sociolinguistic hierarchies, to the linguistic effects of large scale dynamics. His research and writing have focused on linguistic dimensions of modernization and identity in Java and Indonesia, reflecting his broader interests in semiotics and the politics of language. We talk with Professor Errington about his book, Linguistics in a Colonial World: A Story of Language, Meaning, and Power.

Joseph Errington: Linguistics in a Colonial World: A Story of Language, Meaning, and Power

Our first podcast features a discussion on blended online learning chaired by Head of the School of Arts, Professor Shane McCausland, in conversation with Professor Lucy Durán (Music), Dr Estrella Sendra Fernandez (Film and Screen Studies) and Dr Caspar Melville (Centre for Creative Industries, Media and Screen Studies).

Music credits:

Opening theme - Bamanaya (trad). performed on Bobo balafon by Wali Coulibaly (age 6) and Daniel Dembele (age 10). Recorded in Bamako in 2015 by Lucy Durán .
Excerpt from Sattelites, original composition by Garth Knox (2016 Inner Sunset Publishing)
Closing theme - excerpt from Sunjata's Time, original composition by Fodé Lassana Diabaté (2016 Inner Sunset Publishing)

Produced by Lucy Durán and Morgan Davies

The Digital Turn: Blended and Online Learning in the Arts at SOAS

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Law of Unintended Consequences: How the Endangered Languages Movement Undermines Field Linguistics

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