Category: brain and language (page 2 of 3)

314: International Mother Language Day (featuring Ingrid Piller)

How do we keep mother languages alive?

Governments, organisations, and the public are starting to recognise the importance of maintaining home languages as a way of preserving language diversity. But how do we do this? Where are we falling short?…

273: Voice of the Apes

Why don’t monkeys talk to us?

New research tells us that if our primate cousins don’t do language, it’s not because of their vocal tracts. Those appear to be speech-ready. So if the voice is good to go, what’s the …

268: Dialect (featuring Kathryn Hymes and Hakan Seyalioglu)

Are dying languages worth saving?

That’s the concept of a new game that allows players to explore language creation, language community, and language death, all in the course of an evening. Heavy concepts. How does it work?

Linguist Daniel Midgley

265: Universal Grammar 2 (featuring Dan Everett and Lynne Murphy)

The biggest idea in linguistics is back on the table.

Is there such a thing as the Universal Grammar? Do you have to have a human brain to learn language, or is learning a language just like learning anything else? …

262: Universal Grammar

Why do all human languages resemble each other? And how do children learn language so fast?

For many linguists, the answer is Universal Grammar. It’s one of the biggest ideas in linguistics, but now it might possibly be coming unstuck. …

247: Singlish (featuring Sean Yeo)

We’re talking about Singapore Colloquial English, or Singlish.

The Singaporean government would love to wipe it out, but Singlish is gaining prestige in the English-speaking world. Oxford is even adding Singlish words to its dictionary. But what is this …

244: Brain Thesaurus (featuring David J. Peterson)

Where’s the language in your brain? Researchers have constructed a kind of brain atlas, showing the patterns of neural activation when we hear words.

And Klingon is at the centre of a legal battle. Can a language be under copyright — …

222: Brain, Body, Baby

For babies, learning language seems like child’s play.

But new research is showing us that there’s a lot going on in there, with contributions from brain, body, and memory. How does it all work?

Linguist Daniel Midgley bundles it all …

193: The Bilingual Advantage

Speaking another language is good for your brain — at least that’s what we’ve heard.

But some new research paints a less-positive picture. Should you learn another language? And how?

Linguist Daniel Midgley gets bilingual on this episode of Talk

181: Is Aussie Slang Dying out?

Is Australian slang carking it? Dying, that is.

One lexicographer is seeing fewer Aussie terms than ever in contemporary slang. Words are always going in and out of fashion, but if the Aussie lingo is changing, can we see what …

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