Transcript del audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xJ4Kxk1hgoUecNmSig3jHGXCpKZSkgID/view?usp=drive_link

Videito de Jonas on phonetics and phonology: https://youtu.be/80d2CEeMyQQ?si=i-4iMB1XJvdOnh54

P.S. Por cierto, I have a newsletter called The Bean-Sized Bulletin. It's a cozy space para eternos aprendices, entusiastas de los idiomas y mentes curiosas. Está lleno de contenido curado, reflexiones y descubrimientos interesantes. This year, I have a goal to reach 50 subscribers, así que si te interesa, te invito a suscribirte aquí: https://buttondown.com/rosecoolbeans

Linguistic Gems, Issue #35

TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are an evolving genre of media: short-form, vertical videos that take up your whole screen and are served to you from an algorithm rather than who you follow. This changes how people talk in them compared to earlier forms of video, and linguists are on it! 

In this episode, your host Gretchen McCulloch gets enthusiastic about the linguistics of tiktok with Adam Aleksic, better known on social media as etymologynerd. We talk about how Adam got his start into linguistics via etymology, the process that he goes through to make his current videos get the attention of people and algorithms, and how different forms of media (like podcasts vs shortform video) relate differently to their audiences. We also talk about the challenges of writing a book about language on the internet when it changes so fast, comparing the writing process for Adam's upcoming book Algospeak with Gretchen's book Because Internet. 

Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice: https://episodes.fm/1186056137/episode/dGFnOnNvdW5kY2xvdWQsMjAxMDp0cmFja3MvMjExNjQ1NTgxMA
Read the transcript here: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/786832938503405568/transcript-episode-105-linguistics-of-tiktok

Announcements:
In celebration of our 100th bonus episode we've decided to go back into the vault and revisit our very first bonus episode - with updated sweary commentary! We've made this extra bonus bonus version available to all patrons, free and paid, so feel free to send it to your friends: https://www.patreon.com/posts/131301144

In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about your linguistics questions! In honour of our 100th bonus episode of Lingthusiasm, and because our first advice episode was so popular, here's another episode answering your advice questions, from the serious to the silly!

Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 90+ other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds: https://www.patreon.com/posts/125727177

For links to things mentioned in this episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/786832701937303552/lingthusiasm-episode-105-linguistics-of-tiktok

105: Linguistics of TikTok - Interview with Adam Aleksic aka EtymologyNerd

This conversation discusses the book, "The Tyranny of Words," by Stuart Chase, (https://amzn.to/4eLodVS) and explores semantics and the challenges of clear communication, arguing that language often obscures reality. It begins by contrasting how animals and infants derive meaning from direct experience with how humans, through language, create abstract concepts that can lead to misinterpretations and "word magic." The author critiques various fields, including philosophy, economics, and law, for their reliance on high-order abstractions and formal logic that lack concrete "referents" in the real world. Ultimately, the text advocates for a scientific, operational approach to language, emphasizing the importance of grounding words in verifiable facts and observations to foster better understanding and survival.

The Tyranny of Words: A Semantic Journey

We asked you if a burrito was a sandwich, and you said 'no'. We asked you if ravioli was a sandwich and you said 'heck no'. We asked you if an ice cream sandwich was a sandwich and things...started to get a little murky. This isn't just a sandwich problem: you can also have similar arguments about what counts as a cup, a bird, a fish, furniture, art, and more! 

So wait...does any word mean anything anymore? Have we just broken language??  It's okay, linguistics has a solution! 

In this episode, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne get enthusiastic about why deciding what's in and what's out of the definition of a word is so dang tricky, why people love to argue about it, and how prototype theory solves all the "is X a Y" arguments once and for all. 

Note that this episode originally aired as Bonus 9: Is X a sandwich? Solving the word-meaning argument once and for all. We’ve added an updated announcements section to the top and a few new things about prototypes and meaning to the end. We’re excited to share one of our favourite bonus episodes from Patreon with a broader audience, while at the same time giving everyone who works on the show a bit of a break.

Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice: https://episodes.fm/1186056137/episode/dGFnOnNvdW5kY2xvdWQsMjAxMDp0cmFja3MvMjEzMjEwMjkwNw
Read the transcript here: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/789370350172602368/transcript-episode-106-is-x-a-sandwich-bonus

Announcements:
In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about fictional gestures with Eric Molinsky, host of Imaginary Worlds, a podcast about sci-fi, fantasy and other genres of speculative fiction! We talk about the Vulcan salute from Star Trek, the Wakanda Forever salute from Black Panther, and the three-finger Hunger Games salute, and how all three have crossed over with additional symbolism into the real world. We also talk about gestures that have crossed over in the other direction, from the real-world origins of the Vulcan salute in a Jewish blessing, the two-finger blessing in the Foundation tv series from classical Latin and Greek oratory via Christian traditions, as well as religious gesture in the Penric and Desdemona series, smiles and shrugs in A Memory Called Empire, and more.

Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 100+ other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds: https://www.patreon.com/posts/133185606

For links to things mentioned in this episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/789369946731937792/episode-106-is-a-hotdog-a-sandwich-the-problem

106: Is a hotdog a sandwich? The problem with definitions

This discussion covers Noam Chomsky's "Syntactic Structures," including its introduction and various chapters, alongside a modern introduction by David W. Lightfoot to a later edition and a review by Robert Lees. Chomsky's foundational work introduces a new approach to linguistic analysis, proposing that a language's grammar can be understood as a formal system capable of generating all grammatical sentences and none of the ungrammatical ones, challenging earlier models like finite-state Markov processes and simple phrase structure grammars. The book argues for the necessity of transformational rules to account for the complexities and underlying relationships in language, such as active-passive voice and negation, which simplify the overall grammar. While initially focused on formal precision, the subsequent discussions and analyses highlight the profound implications of Chomsky's theories for understanding human cognition and language acquisition, viewed as a biological capacity rather than merely learned behavior. The texts collectively illustrate the evolution of generative grammar from its "snowball" beginnings to its significant influence on the cognitive revolution, emphasizing the autonomy of syntax from semantics and the goal of developing an evaluation procedure for grammars based on simplicity and empirical adequacy.

Syntactic Structures by Noam Chomsky

This conversation covers Peter Duke's Substack article, "A User's Guide to Neuro-Linguistic Defense." It explores Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), a method that reveals how language shapes our perceptions and beliefs. The author explains that NLP, initially based on Noam Chomsky's "deep structure" linguistic theories, was developed to quickly train individuals in language manipulation. The piece highlights how linguistic patterns such as deletions, distortions, and generalizations are used to induce cognitive dissonance and influence beliefs, particularly through cause-effect and complex equivalence statements, and thought-terminating clichés. Ultimately, the article serves as a guide for recognizing and defending against these weaponized linguistic techniques by fostering critical thinking and encouraging the use of interrogative questions to challenge established "knowledge" and resist manipulation. Link: https://thedukereport.substack.com/p/bots-react-to-neurolinguistic-defense

A User's Guide to Neuro-Linguistic Defense

When we try to represent languages on a map, it's common to assign each language a zone or a point which represents some idea of where it's used or where it comes from. But in reality, people move around, and many cities are host to hundreds of languages that don't show up on official records. 

In this episode, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne get enthusiastic about urban multilingualism! We talk about a recent book we've been enjoying called Language City by Ross Perlin, about the over 700 languages spoken in New York City, as well as how we've noticed urban multilingualism for ourselves in Melbourne, Montreal, and elsewhere. We also talk about organizations that work with communities interested in reclaiming space for their languages, what linguistic rights are, and how to tell if yours are being taken away from you.

Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice: https://pod.link/1186056137/episode/dGFnOnNvdW5kY2xvdWQsMjAxMDp0cmFja3MvMjE1NzMxNzE3Mg 
Read the transcript here: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/792539370903207936/transcript-episode-107

Announcements:
In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about linguistic landscapes! We talk about contrasts between the signs in the Chinatowns of Montreal and Melbourne, renaming streets from colonial names to names in First Nations languages, how signs can show the shifting demographics of tourism in an area, and how bi- and multilingual Lost Cat signs show what languages people think their neighbours understand. We also talk about our most absurd sign stories, including the Russell Family Apology Plaque, and creative imaginings of official signage, such as the Latin no-smoking sign in a modern-day British train station.

Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 100+ other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds: https://www.patreon.com/posts/135199073

For links to things mentioned in this episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/792539190192635904/lingthusiasm-episode-107-urban-multilingualism

107: Urban Multilingualism

Lingua Lab Podcast

Linguistic research has its highs and lows: from staging a traditional wedding to learn about ceremonial words to having your efforts to found a village school disrupted by civil war. Linguistic research can also be about highs and lows: in this case, looking at how high and low tones in Babanki words affect their meaning. 

In this episode, your host Lauren Gawne gets enthusiastic about the highs and lows of fieldwork in Babanki with Dr. Pius Akumbu, who's a linguist from Babanki, Cameroon, and a Director of Research in African Linguistics at CNRS in the LLACAN Lab (the Languages and Cultures of Africa Lab) in Paris, France. We talk about Professor Akumbu's documentation work on a wide variety of topics from the relationship of Babanki to other Grassfields and Bantu languages, what happens when words have a mysterious extra tone that is only produced under the right circumstances (floating tones), to that time he staged a false wedding to document traditional wedding ceremonial language – and led to a real couple opting for a traditional-style wedding of their own. We also talk about the process of founding a school in his home village to ensure that children have access to primary education in their own language.

Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice: https://pod.link/1186056137/episode/dGFnOnNvdW5kY2xvdWQsMjAxMDp0cmFja3MvMjE3Mjk5MTM2Mg
Read the transcript here: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/795823209951936512/transcript-episode-108

Announcements:
Lingthusiasm has more than twenty interview episodes, and you can find them all together on our Topics page, where we have a category for our interviews. We also have over 100 bonus episodes for patrons, with a few interviews there as well.

In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about the joys and challenges of translating internet slang with Miguel Sánchez Ibáñez, linguist and translator of Because Internet into Spanish! We talk about why Because Internet was the toughest and also most entertaining book he's ever translated (for some of the same reasons), from coming up with localized Spanish versions of vintage internet memes to making the silly names of pretend people in the example sentences just as silly in Spanish. We also talk about leaving breadcrumbs for future translators in the original text and the special challenge of translocalizing the title: Arroba Lengua isn't a literal translation of Because Internet, but it fits similarly into Spanish internet slang.

Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 100+ other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds. https://patreon.com/posts/137995510

For links to things mentioned in this episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/795082104011669504/lingthusiasm-episode-108-highs-and-lows-of-tone

108: Highs and lows of tone in Babanki - Interview with Pius Akumbu

Tema 1 - História do conhecimento linguístico; Tema 2 – Sociolinguística e Dialetologia; Tema 3 – Diferença entre a fonética e a fonologia; Tema 4 – Estudos do Léxico

Histoire des idées sur le langage et les langues - Ep 01

Produtor de conteúdos linguístico-literário. Professor de língua portuguesa, inglesa, espanhola e francesa e Terapeuta junguiano. Amante das artes, culinária e globetrotter.

A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. "A fascinating listen that will change the way you see everyday communications." –New York Times. "Joyously nerdy" –Buzzfeed.  

Weird and deep half-hour conversations about language on the third Thursday of the month.

Listened to all the episodes here and wish there were more? Want to talk with other people who are enthusiastic about linguistics? Get bonus episodes and access to our Discord community at www.patreon.com/lingthusiasm 
Shownotes and transcripts: www.lingthusiasm.com

New tracks tagged #Linguistics