Category: names

373: Mailbag of Processes

We’re opening up the Mailbag for another episode.

  • Are sneezes written the same way everywhere?
  • Do all languages have rhyming name games?
  • Can all languages do all the things?
  • Why does “this and that” sound normal, but “that and this”

370: Named Wrong (Live Q&A)

Names are what they are, and as long as they work, they work.

But sometimes in the history of naming, people name things in a manner inapt to their nature or origin. So what’s the story behind words like atom

343: Moon Moons and Reduplication Reduplication

There are some things so nice we say them twice. And when we do, we’re using reduplication.

But this handy device can handle a surprising range of functions in the world’s languages, and it can pop up in the …

342: Mailbag of Vague

We are once again diving into our voluminous mailbag.

Was the QWERTY layout designed to slow you down? Is English a creole language? Why does a word keep popping up over and over after you first hear it? And what is …

335: One Hundred Things (featuring Emily Bender)

Language is tough. Unless you’re a human! If you’re a computer, it’s another story.

Fortunately, one professor is taking on the task of helping computational researchers understand how semantics informs human communication.

We’re having a chat with Emily Bender of …

326: Linguistics in the Pub (live with Pint of Science, featuring Amy Budrikis and Troy Reynolds)

It’s a Talk the Talk live show!

We’re working together with Pint of Science to bring science to the pub. But we’re not alone — we’ve got early-career researchers Amy Budrikis and Troy Reynolds to talk about their work in …

322: Sense of Direction (featuring Alice Gaby)

North and south? Left and right? Or something else?

Different languages have different ways of talking about space. Sometimes this has to do with the environment of the people who speak them. But what happens when the environment changes?

Daniel

301: Mailbag of Wonder

We’re taking your questions on this episode.

What’s happening with tildes and Facebook? Can you have a big huge balloon, or could it also be huge big? And if you move a meeting forward, is it later or …

269: Mailbag Episode

You asked. We answer.

Why do we talk the way we do? Where do our words and phrases come from? And why are they sometimes so very strange?

Linguist Daniel Midgley has something for everyone on this episode of Talk

266: Names

What’s in a name?

Names contain a great deal of history, including our own personal history. Does your name have a meaning? How do names come about, and what are the conventions of naming in other places? And what about …

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