Jack of all Languages

JackOfAllLanguages

A show about the amazing languages of the world. We explore themes like language change, languages in society, endangered languages, writing systems, and more.

Episodes

  1. Oct 22

    Why does Sicilian sound more like Latin than Italian does?

    PATREON: patreon.com/JackofallLanguages INSTAGRAM: @jack_of_all_languages BUY ME A COFFEE: buymeacoffee.com/languageswithjack *** This week, we take a look at how we got from Classical Latin's ten-vowel system to Sicilian's system with just five vowels. Grazii pi taliari! *** Sources: - Bonner, J. K. (2012). Principal differences among Sicilian dialects: Part I. Phonological differences. Times of Sicily. - Ledgeway, A. (2016). The dialects of southern Italy. In A. Ledgeway & M. Maiden (Eds.), The Oxford guide to the Romance languages (pp. 246–269). Oxford University Press. - polýMATHY PLUS. (2022). Does Latin have lax vowels? Refuting the qualities [ɪ] and [ʊ] for ĭ and ŭ in Classical Latin [Video]. YouTube. - Rohlfs, G. (1966). Grammatica storica della lingua italiana e dei suoi dialetti: Fonetica. Einaudi. - Sicilian language. (Updated October 2026). In Wikipedia.

  2. Oct 6

    How Hittite proved the existence of these “lost consonants” in Proto-Indo-European

    PATREON: patreon.com/JackofallLanguages INSTAGRAM: @jack_of_all_languages BUY ME A COFFEE: buymeacoffee.com/languageswithjack This week, we hear the fascinating story of how linguist Ferdinand de Saussure "predicted" the existence Proto-Indo-European's laryngeal consonants – a prediction that was later confirmed after the deciphering of Hittite! Sources - Lehmann, W. P., & Slocum, J. (n.d.). Hittite online. Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas at Austin. - Laryngeal theory. (Updated September, 2026). In Wikipedia.- Indo-European ablaut. (Updated August, 2026). In Wikipedia. Images - F. Jullien Genève, "Ferdinand de Saussure," before 1913. [Public domain] - Bill Williams, "Indo-European Language Family Branches in Eurasia," 2021. [CC BY-SA 3.0] - Nissrpska, "Hittite kingdoms," 2026. [Public domain] - Ikonact, "Map Hittite rule," 2013. [CC BY-SA 3.0] -"Jerzy Kuryłowicz," Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. [SANU F-590/1]

  3. Sep 22

    How did nouns work in Hittite?

    In this third video in our Hittite series, we take a look at a very exciting topic... nominal morphology! I.e., how nouns change form when they are used as different parts of speech. PATREON: patreon.com/JackofallLanguages INSTAGRAM: @jack_of_all_languages BUY ME A COFFEE: buymeacoffee.com/languageswithjack Sources: - Lehmann, W. P., & Slocum, J. (n.d.). Hittite online. Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas at Austin. - van den Hout, T. (2011). The Elements of Hittite. Cambridge University Press. - Luraghi, S., & Inglese, G. (n.d.). Morphology – Part 2: Nominal inflection [Lecture slides]. University of Göttingen. - Hittite grammar. (Updated August, 2026). In Wikipedia. - Latin grammar. (Updated September, 2026). In Wikipedia. - Wiktionary. (n.d.). Appendix:Proto-Indo-European declension. In Wiktionary, the free dictionary.Images - Mx. Granger. "Hittite Cuneiform Tablet." Wikimedia Commons. [Public domain] -Koba-chan. "Indo-European migrations." Wikimedia Commons. [CC BY-SA 3.0]

  4. Sep 8

    How did verbs work in Hittite?

    PATREON: patreon.com/JackofallLanguages INSTAGRAM: @jack_of_all_languages BUY ME A COFFEE: buymeacoffee.com/languageswithjack Sources: - Lehmann, W. P., & Slocum, J. (n.d.). Hittite online: Series introduction. Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas at Austin. - van den Hout, T. (2011). The Elements of Hittite. Cambridge University Press. - Lauffenburger, O. (2008). Hittite grammar (Version 0.4.7). - Hittite grammar. (Updated August, 2026). In Wikipedia.

  5. Aug 25

    What did the Hittite language sound like?

    PATREON: patreon.com/JackofallLanguages INSTAGRAM: @jack_of_all_languages BUY ME A COFFEE: buymeacoffee.com/languageswithjack This week, we begin a mini-series on the ancient Hittite language -- beginning with its phonology and writing system. Sources: * Lehmann, W. P., & Slocum, J. (n.d.). Hittite online: Series introduction. Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas at Austin. * Rydgren, E. (2022). Hittite language. EBSCO Research Starters. * Hittite language. (Updated July, 2026). In Wikipedia.

  6. Aug 13

    On the alphabet, history, and loving languages - with Dr. Danny Bate

    Join on Patreon to watch the full interview: patreon.com/JackofallLanguages Follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/jack_of_all_languages/ Danny Bate's website: https://dannybate.com/ Purchase Why Q Needs U: https://geni.us/WhyQNeedsU A Language I Love Is... (podcast): https://dannybate.com/podcast/

  7. Aug 3

    The Gothic language: A glimpse into Germanic past

    YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@languageswithjack PATREON: patreon.com/JackofallLanguages INSTAGRAM: @jackofalllanguages BUY ME A COFFEE: buymeacoffee.com/languageswithjack IPA chart with audio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet_chart Sources: William H. Bennett, An Introduction to the Gothic Language, 1980. Joseph Wright, Grammar of the Gothic Language, 1954. Lyle Campbell, Historical Linguistics: An Introduction, 1998. “Grimm’s Law,” Wikipedia, updated May 2026. “Verner’s Law,” Wikipedia, updated July 2026. “Germanic umlaut,” Wikipedia, updated April 2026. “Examples of Grimm’s Law,” University of Pennsylvania - Department of Linguistics (handout) “Gothic verb paradigms,” The Online Chrestomathy of Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Written Records (Ivanè Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University). Jackson Crawford, “Gothic: The ‘Aunt’ Language of English and Norse,” 2021. All images from Wikimedia Commons. #linguistics #language #gothic #germanic #medieval #history

  8. Aug 3

    Lithuanian: The most conservative Indo-European language?

    YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@languageswithjack PATREON: patreon.com/JackofallLanguages INSTAGRAM: @jackofalllanguages BUY ME A COFFEE: buymeacoffee.com/languageswithjack This week we take a look at a language that has been called the most conservative of the Indo-European languages. Link to Baltic etymological dictionary: https://archive.org/details/derksen-etymological-dictionary-of-the-baltic-inherited-lexicon-2015/mode/2up Sources: “Lithuanian language,” Wikipedia, updated June 2026. Yuriy Kushnir, “Structure of Lithuanian,” 2016. Peter Arkadiev, Axel Holvoet, Björn Wiemer, Baltic linguistics: state of the art, July 2015. Antanas Klimas, “Some unique features of Lithuanian,” Lituanas, Fall 1984. Antanas Klimas, “The Lithuanian participles: Their system and functions,” Lituanas, September 1958. Antanas Klimas, “Lithuanian and Latin,” Lituanas, Spring 1987. Leonardas Dambriūnas, “A general characterization of the Lithuanian language,” Lituanas, Fall/Winter 1964. Rick Derksen, Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon, 2015. Laura Spinney, Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global, Bloomsbury, 2025. Ricky Germain, “The Morphosyntactic Origins of the Definite Adjectives in Old Lithuanian,” (Master’s Thesis at Concordia University), July 2018. All images from Wikimedia Commons. #language #linguistics #indoeuropean #lithuanian #philology #sanskrit #greek #latin

  9. Aug 3

    Croatia's little-known Romance language

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@languageswithjack Join my Patreon page to get access to weekly bonus content related to my videos: https://www.patreon.com/JackofallLanguages Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/languageswithjack Sources: Antonio Ive, I dialetti ladino-veneti dell’Istria, 1900. Domenico Cernесса, “Analisi fonematica del dialetto di Valle d'Istria,” 1967. Domenico Cernесса, “Morfologia del dialetto di Valle d'Istria,” 1974. Sandro Cergna, “Dai manoscritti di Giovanni Zaneto Obrovaz: La narrativa bucolico-boschereccia in dialetto istrioto di Valle d’Istria,” 2016. “Istriot,” Wikipedia, updated March 2026. “Bale, Croatia,” Wikipedia, updated April 2026. All images from Wikimedia Commons. #language #linguistics #romancelanguages #croatia #italian #italy #history

  10. Aug 3

    Who was the last native speaker of Latin?

    Who was the last ever native speaker of Latin? Is it possible to know? Join my Patreon page to get access to weekly bonus content related to my videos: https://www.patreon.com/JackofallLanguages Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/languageswithjack YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@languageswithjack Sources: Michel de Montaigne, Essais, 1580. Michel de Montaigne, The Journal of Montaigne's Travels in Italy by Way of Switzerland and Germany in 1580 and 1581, published posthumously in 1774. George Hoffman, “Montaigne’s Education,” Oxford Handbook of Montaigne, 2016. “Michel de Montaigne,” Wikipedia, updated March 2026. Karolis M. Lyvens, Living Latin (1880 – c. 2000): ideology and identity, University of Manchester, 2023. “Arcadius Avellanus,” Wikipedia, updated February 2026. Timothy J. Pulju, “History of Latin,” Rice University. All images from Wikimedia Commons. #latin #history #europe #montaigne #linguistics #language

  • 10 Episodes

About

A show about the amazing languages of the world. We explore themes like language change, languages in society, endangered languages, writing systems, and more.

Information

  • Creator
    JackOfAllLanguages
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    10
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © JackOfAllLanguages
  • Show Website
    Jack of all Languages