91 episodes

A podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language‪.‬ Daniel Midgley, Ben Ainslie, and Hedvig Skirgård

    • Science
    • 4.7 • 11 Ratings

A podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

    96: Language City (with Ross Perlin)

    96: Language City (with Ross Perlin)

    New York City is home to a lot of languages! Sometimes a sizeable language community can live on just a couple of floors of an apartment building. Dr Ross Perlin is working to find and promote minority languages in NYC. He's the co-founder of the Endangered Language Alliance, and author of Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York. Ross joins us for this episode.
    Intro: 0:36
    News: 8:13
    Related or Not: 32:52
    Interview with Ross Perlin: 43:12
    Words of the Week: 1:24:13
    The Reads: 1:39:54
    Show notes: http://becauselanguage.com/96-language-city/
    Support the show: http://patreon.com/join/becauselangpod/

    • 1 hr 45 min
    95: Why the Far-Right Demagogues Language (with Caitlin Green and Maureen Kosse)

    95: Why the Far-Right Demagogues Language (with Caitlin Green and Maureen Kosse)

    Language authorities. Right-wing politicians. White supremacists and feminists. What do they have in common? They're all working together to fight gender-inclusive language. But why bring language into this fight? What extra does this give them?
    Dr Caitlin Green and Maureen Kosse join us to explain on this big episode.

    • 1 hr 44 min
    93: Stop! Grammar Time (live with Ellen Jovin and friends)

    93: Stop! Grammar Time (live with Ellen Jovin and friends)

    In honour of Grammar Day (4 March), we are joined live by special guest Ellen Jovin, who regularly dispenses grammar advice and wisdom from the Grammar Table. Now she's testing our grammatical mettle and answering our questions. 
    YouTube video of this episode:
    https://youtu.be/C1l8Alk3Ptc?si=7pnGnuKcy9YY-mhR

    • 1 hr 28 min
    92: In the First 600 Milliseconds (with Rachel Nordlinger)

    92: In the First 600 Milliseconds (with Rachel Nordlinger)

    What are your eyes doing when you describe a scene? It may depend on your language. 
    New research from Dr Rachel Nordlinger and team shows that we do a lot of planning and scanning very quickly, and it follows the requirements of our language. She's studied Murrinhpatha, an Australian Aboriginal language, to see what its speakers do.

    • 1 hr 45 min
    90: Enpoopification (with Grant Barrett and Tim Brookes)

    90: Enpoopification (with Grant Barrett and Tim Brookes)

    We’re talking words, and no one has a way with words like Grant Barrett. He’s here to tell us what it’s like at Dictionary.com, and what went down at the annual American Dialect Society Words of the Year 2023 vote. And perhaps he can help forestall Hedvig’s planned mass human extinction.
    Also: World Endangered Writing Day is upon us! It’s a fantastic initiative, and author Tim Brookes of Endangered Alphabets is here to lay out the case for preserving writing systems.

    • 2 hrs 5 min
    89: Words of the Week of the Year 2023 (with Cory Doctorow and friends)

    89: Words of the Week of the Year 2023 (with Cory Doctorow and friends)

    The public has voted, and a winner has been decided! We're looking all the words chosen by the various dictionary bodies, and counting down our Words of the Week of the Year. 
    And there's a very special interview with author, blogger, activist, and inventor of words Cory Doctorow.

    • 1 hr 53 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
11 Ratings

11 Ratings

AvenSarah ,

Fun, informative, and eclectic

This is one of my favourite podcasts. Though not aimed at a specialist audience, it rarely oversimplifies issues, and presents the nuances of current debates in linguistics and related fields, often with the help of experts. It also features great music, and fun conversation; and I like that it's current, and addresses things in the news right now.

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