Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

Daniel Midgley, Ben Ainslie, and Hedvig Skirgård
  • 4.6 (90)
  • SOCIAL SCIENCES
  • UPDATED TWICE MONTHLY

A podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

  1. 5 DAYS AGO

    125: Friends With Words (live with Martha Barnette and friends)

    Martha Barnette is one half of the linguistics podcast A Way With Words, and author of the new book Friends With Words: Adventures in Languageland. Her lifelong love of language has led her through some of the toughest questions lexicography has to offer, and she's answering questions from our live listening audience. Why do we FALL pregnant? How can we use PRETTY to say something is "pretty ugly"? And once and for all, why do we really say "the whole nine yards"? Video for this episode: https://youtu.be/aPikLncj2xI Timestamps (audio) Start: 0:00 Cold open: 0:27 Intros: 2:02 Chat with Martha about Friends With Words: 5:42 On Martha's life and language: 11:10 Related or Not: 36:27 Questions for Martha: 56:25 The Reads: 1:25:40

    1h 31m

  2. 23 AUG

    124: Algospeak (with Adam Aleksic)

    Creators have to be mindful of what to say and what not to say in their content. This affects the language we're exposed to — and what we say IRL. But it's part of an old process. Popular LingToker Adam Aleksic breaks it down. He's the author of the new book Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language. Timestamps Start: 0:00 Intros: 1:42 News: 12:25 Related or Not: 29:59 Interview with Adam Aleksic: 44:07 Words of the Week: 1:15:10 Comment: 1:37:56 The Reads: 1:39:56

    1h 50m

  3. 3 AUG

    123: Conscious Language (with Karen Yin)

    We've all seen style guides that tell us what to say and what not to say. Has a style guide ever asked you what you wanted to say? Or challenged you to examine your thinking? This one does. It's the Conscious Style Guide by Karen Yin, and she joins us for this episode. Timestamps Cold open: 0:00 Intros: 0:35 News: 5:52 Related or Not: 31:13 Interview with Karen Yin: 48:43 Words of the Week: 1:30:10 Comments: 1:44:07 The Reads: 1:47:45 Outtake: 1:54:06

    1h 54m

  4. 12 JULY

    122: The Interaction Engine (with Stephen Levinson)

    How did language start? What do all languages have in common? How does language really work? Many answers have been posed to these questions, but one thing is for sure: interaction is the combustion chamber where everything happens. We're having a chat with linguistic lion Stephen Levinson, author of The Interaction Engine. Timestamps Introductions: 0:19 These fascinating facts about language will make you (or Dr Levinson) a hit at any party: 3:47 The mechanics of speech production: 06:01 What's going on when we're talking or listening? 8:46 Cultural differences in conversational norms: 20:33 Universals of interaction: 22:10 Metaphors of space may have been a motivator for language: 25:53 The role of gesture in language development: 28:47 Cooperation and empathy in language: 34:59 What one thing explains the most about language?: 45:56 Disclosure: Hedvig is employed at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, where Dr Levinson is an emeritus director.

    56 min

  5. 29 JUNE

    121: Learning from LLMs (with Adele Goldberg)

    How do large language models (LLMs) do their thing, and it is anything like how we do our thing? What can we learn about human language from this software? The answer might involve constructions — pairings of form and meaning that we use to make language. And here to discuss it with us is constructionist pioneer and linguistic legend, Professor Adele Goldberg. Timestamps Intros: 1:14 News: 7:13 Related or Not: 34:18 Interview with Adele Goldberg: 46:40 Words of the Week: 1:38:19 The Reads: 1:56:50 Bonus chat with Adele Goldberg: 2:03:16 Outtakes: 2:13:11

    2h 23m

  6. 10 JUNE

    120: Gesture! (with Lauren Gawne)

    Gesture is everywhere. We wave our hands when we talk, even if we're alone. Signed languages are, of course, full languages that use gesture. And it could even be argued that emoji are the online equivalent of gesture. It's inescapable. And why would we want to do without it, when it's so useful? So we're talking about gesture and language with Dr Lauren Gawne, author of Gesture: A Slim Guide. Our chat with Lauren is available on video, so you can see all the gestures! Link: https://youtu.be/kHPgyXhl8Kk Timestamps Intros: 0:19 News: 7:42 Related or Not: 23:20 Interview with Lauren Gawne: 44:10 Words of the Week: 1:32:53 The Reads: 1:48:10

    1h 54m

  7. 18 MAY

    119: Eurovision Goes to Uni (with Paulette van der Voet and Solveig Bollig)

    It's Eurovision season! We love to talk about what we can learn about language from this international song contest, but even we didn't realise that there was so much to learn. Language choice, language policy, language and gender and metaphor — and all of this has been packed into a unit at Umeå University: Linguistics and the Eurovision Song Contest. Paulette van der Voet and Solveig Bollig are heading up the course, and they're here to tell us all about it… and nerd out with Hedvig besides. Timestamps Cold open: 0:00 Intros: 0:39 News: 7:39 Related or Not: 26:41 Interview with Paulette and Solveig: 38:53 Words of the Week: 1:30:08 Comment from John: 1:49:18 The Reads: 1:53:53 Outtakes: 2:02:25

    2h 15m

  8. 12 MAY

    118: The A.I. Con (with Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna)

    Artificial intelligence (so-called) is typified by its boom and bust cycles, and we're in a boom now. But as more and more money pours in with decreasing returns, we're going to see a shakeout, and hype is rushing in to stoke the enthusiasm. In other words, the con is on. Dr Emily M. Bender and Dr Alex Hanna are co-hosts of the podcast Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, and the authors of The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want. They join us for this episode.

    51 min
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4.6
out of 5
90 Ratings

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A podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

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